October 2005 Archives

For years I've been saying that sales is focused on the wrong element of the buy/sell process, that instead of focusing on the product end, to focus on the buying end. After all, you can't make a sale without a buyer, and buyers buy only when they discover their own answers.

The missing piece for sellers has been that they haven't been able to effect the buyer's buying environment, even thought they pitch and present with great professionalism, intent, and skill. Indeed, the buyer's buying environment is filled with all of those pesky things that sellers can't see, like people's relationships and internal politics, or how initiatives create rules and roles, or how the company history creates unique stories and beliefs that people carry into their daily activities.