For some reason, it’s very difficult for sales people to think beyond ‘need’ and ‘solution:’  We tend to think that because the buyer’s need matches our solution, and because we’re professionals who ‘care,’  the only thing buyers need to do is choose our solution.
But if it were that easy, buying decisions would get made more often in our [...]

Where do our prospects go when they say, “I’ll call you back?” Most of us guess, but really, we don’t know where they go.
Where they go, in fact, is to get ahold of their colleagues and figure out how to get agreement for whatever outcomes the new solution will cause within the  buyer’s environment. We rarely [...]

What is the difference between selling and helping someone buy?
A lot. But not what you think.
When I began talking about helping buyers buy in 1988, people thought I was a little nuts (and what does that have to do with anything?). I persisted, and finally, about 3 or4 years ago, people began using the phrase [...]

Since I’m the Queen Contrarian, I’d like to say that the ‘need’ we think that buyers have is not a real need.
First of all, we often meet them at the wrong end of their buying decision – when they are just starting their search for a possible solution. Not only have they not committed to [...]

Buyers have lots to do before they buy. And it has little to do with your product or their need.
You know those times when buyers show up and, barely before you can ask them what they need, buy? That’s because they’ve already done what they need to do BEFORE they contact you and they are ready. Unfortunately, the [...]

A prospect of one of my coaching clients - the sales manager of a small manufacturing company – joined our coaching call at the request of my client Joe. Joe wanted me to use my Buying Facilitation method on the manager to find out why he hadn’t purchased a sales training program after 6 months of conversation, given he had an ’obvious [...]