My client was a visionary. He knew Buying Facilitation® would differentiate them, and give them higher closing ratios and shorter sales cycles. We were able to enlist the appropriate Buying Decision Team members, get the necessary buy in and create the change management container before we started. But in the end, one of the “C” level people – not ‘directly’ on the Buying Decision Team – was the decider. He was the one who had most to lose by changing.

CSO AS UNCHECKED LEADER

The CSO was quite a despot. Somewhat smart, but certainly ruled the roost in a very mainstream way, and with such seeming passion (turned out to be fear) that folks just did his bidding, regardless of whether he was doing the best thing for the company. And since there was no time for anyone to check, his ideas were just accepted. To the company’s detriment, it turns out.

Constantly in self-imposed motion, this man gave the go-ahead to do my training but never read my book  Dirty Little Secrets to get an understanding of what I’d be teaching and the implications for  the organization.

Turned out that the CSO was quite a negative player. He routinely called people late at night and wielded his power through tantrums and denigration. Folks were afraid of him and did his bidding, never questioining the efficacy of his decisions.

FUNNY NUMBERS THAT EVERYONE BELIEVED

As part of my training, I spend quite a bit of time with sales managers to deeply understand how they sell, and their numbers. But this group didn’t have real numbers. They claimed to close 17% of their sales but I couldn’t figure out where this number came from. Finally I spoke with enough of the sales managers to put together a picture, and it wasn’t pretty.

Actually, their sales process made it difficult for them to succeed. They:

• spent 3 months (and appx 15 calls each, and over 90% of their time) getting 97.5%  ‘no’s’ and 2.5% appointments (that mostly led nowhere) to present product data,
• pushed extremely hard to close, with a huge discount at the end of the quarter, which was industry knowledge so  buyers waited to get the best deal,
• were fired if they didn’t make their numbers.

They counted their close rate  from the time they got their first appointment. Of course, that presupposes that none of the first 97.5% of the leads/names would have purchased, because if any of those could have been buyers, then you start counting from #1, not #97.6. They actually had a .6758% close.

When I told the CSO the real numbers, he had a tantrum. “That can’t be true. Who told you that?! Don’t tell anyone else!!!” Of course not. If the CEO or Chairman of the Board knew the real numbers he’d be fired (and of course he sandbagged the targets to match what he could achieve, thereby diminishing the company’s possible ROI).

I discussed this with my client, who agreed with my results once he saw the real numbers. He was further committed to Buying Facilitation® training as it would bring in 35% close from the first name/lead, with no end-of-month push or price break. We’d easily be able to double business within a year.

PROTECTING FAILURE

One week prior to the training (which the CSO had rescheduled already, two days prior to the original scheduled event), he called late one night and fired me (even though he wasn’t my direct client). “I told you not to tell anyone the numbers.” “I didn’t” I said. “I just called the managers that gave me the numbers to check on their accuracy one more time. And they are accurate.” “But I told you not to talk to anyone. You’re done.”

Then I sent notes with all of the numbers to the CPO, one of the advisory board members, and the CSO’s coach. No one called me back, except their lawyer who wanted to ‘clear up a few loose ends.’ No idea what those were as I never took the calls.

So here are the most confounding thoughts:

1. this man is keeping the company’s ROI down dramatically because everyone is following his lead. The ROI would be SO much higher if they stopped attempting to get appointments (and throwing out the first 97.5% of their prospects) as their first contact;
2. no one knows this man is inflating the numbers by counting from an artificial beginning. Indeed, there were NO numbers to show how many calls were being rejected, how many times a sales person had to call (up to 15) to get an appointment, and how much time was being wasted.
3. the company has a horrific reputation in town for being abusive to their sales people – a truth that the CSO thought was funny: “Yup. I”ve heard that a lot myself. hehehehe.”
4. everyone colluded to maintain the status quo and stand behind this man. No one was willing to stand up to the CEO and offer the truth.
5. a whole system was built around doing sales his way: probably 40% more sales people were hired than were necessary, and they were losing market share and reputation. Buying Facilitation® would have given them a closing rate at least 400% more than the one they were currently experiencing.
6. this man was putting his ego needs above the company’s success.

The entire company’s ROI is a fraction of what it could be. And I was fired for speaking the truth. And the senior people in the company either don’t know, don’t care, or don’t realize they could be so much more successful. They certainly aren’t willing to do anything different because they were ‘meeting their numbers’.

How many times does this sort of thing happen to external consultants? They are the bearers of the Truth, and get let go because the company wants to maintain their secrets – at all costs. And what is the real cost here! To the companies, the consultants, to the people (customers and staff). Is there no way to circumvent these sorts of issues? And what has to be true for a company to prefer to be far less successful and maintain their status quo rather than change and be successful?

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To find out how you can make sure you have the skills/tools to get the highest ROI for your company, read sample chapters from my latest book and then buy it! And then call me (512-457-0246) so we can train your sales folks to close 40% of their lead population.

The Consultant as Whistleblower is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

For the first 10 years I sought partners by making cold calls and using Buying Facilitation™ on whoever answered the phone. I also wrote my first books, Sales on the Line; SOMEBODY makes a difference, and Selling with Integrity.

For 5 of those years I spoke at Spirituality in Business conferences (often paying my own way and getting a suite with books because no one would invite me to speak) to audiences who didn’t believe it was possible to make any money if they were to be spiritual. I was not welcomed.

I managed to get in front of small groups who argued with me (or walked out or cancelled membership in organizations that would hire someone as blasphemous as me), and wrote articles that got hackles up and noses bent. Occassionally people would be excited.

THE VOICE OF SERVANT-LEADERSHIP IN SALES

I knew at some level that my job, my life’s work if you will, was to bring a servant-leader, change management model into sales – a field whose foundation was a greed-filled, manipulative enterprise that had no inkling that it was possible to close a lot more sales by helping buyers manage their internal change, and also to make money by doing good.

It’s been a bit easier lately. For the past 10 years, I have trained many global corporations, consulted to dozens of sales forces, licensed a few folks around the world (none in the US to date, unfortunately), written over 1000 articles and 420 blog posts, and put  ’decision facilitation’  ‘the buying decision process’  ’how buyers buy’  ‘Buying Decision Team’ ‘facilitative questions’  ’buyer’s journey’ and ‘Buying Facilitation™’ into the industry parlance. Not everyone knows that I am the innovator behind these concepts.

Through it all there have been visionary clients, hard-core friends, readers and fans, who have all applauded my efforts and kept me going, even when I lost heart. I keep on my desk a couple of reminders:

Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have. - Margaret Mead

The mighty oak was once a nut that held it’s ground.

Life shrinks or expands in relation to one’s courage.

There certianly have been times I doubted myself, when I wanted to cave in to mainstream thinking, or get a real job: people have not always been kind, and I must keep reminding myself (daily, sometimes) that I’m a change agent, and that change agents aren’t always loved or accepted (although I have always longed for acceptance); for decades, I fought what felt like the world. I constantly hope that I won’t end up in a coffin with one ear, poverty stricken like Van Gogh.

I LIVE WITH A VISION

But I’ve always had the vision – since I’ve been 11 years old – that I have a piece of what people need to attain Excellence: I’ve known that my job has been to lead the way, to develop material to enable change and to make it possible for us serve each other.

And now, finally, the world is finding me. Thankfully, folks in the change management industry as well as Buying Psych and negotiating folks, marketing folks and customer service folks, systems thinkers and educators. are seeking me out to develop programs and technology. My model is finally becoming recognized as an important addition to sales, change management, and communication. My dream is to have an institute in which I teach parents, and couples, and teachers, and and and … My dream is to develop the skills so everyone can serve each other in making their best decisions.

As the new decade nears, I predict that 10 years from now I won’t be writing a blog. My Buying Facilitation Method® will be taught to all sales people as part of the sales process. It will be taught in business schools that won’t talk to me now, in companies that currently use only solution-focused selling methods, in sales training companies along with consultative selling models. Smarter people than I will move the material forward, just as consultative selling has gone beyond its creator Linda Richardson.

I close the decade with a sense of satisfaction: I’ve taken an idea, developed it, developed it more, made it useful and usable, put it into sales and change management and decision making, customer service and negotiating. I’ve developed technology to help buyers through their decision making, and programs to help sellers through their learning.

I can sit back with the knowledge that I’ve made a difference. And, after the dark years when I wondered if I would ever actually ‘see the light’ aside, I’ve found the sunshine. And I’m happy.

Thanks, everyone. Thanks for your belief in me, your patience with me, your openness to change and being flexible, and your true care for people and each other. I’m honored to have taken the journey. It was a life worth living.

As I write my final Monday blog for the decade, I wish you all happy holidays. Remember to care for each other and the earth. Remember that if there aren’t any voices that shout the cranky, strange ideas, no change can occur — and find those people and support them as they fight the status quo.

And then imagine that the world we’re building will have people who serve each other. At the end of the day, that’s all there is. Just you, and me. And between us, we can heal the world.

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Sales, decision making, and the new decade is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

I approach both speaking and training with extreme passion and dedication to change:

1. I adore doing keynotes (I love provoking new thinking, and giving old thoughts a nudge or two), and blowing apart business myths that hinder true success and Excellence.
2. I work very much with the energy of the audience. We all end up feeling like we’re in a living room together, no matter whether there are 150 people or 1500 people. We learn, play, laugh, reconsider, stretch, while new ideas form and old ideas get questioned.
3. My audiences walk away debating new ideas for days, adopting new ideas immediately, passionately disagreeing with my thinking – but questioning their own as a result. I see the world differently – I can explain every human aspect of a buyer’s decision journey, or a change management implementation, or a collaboration, or a negotiation, and show how it can be influenced, with integrity.
4. My talks – regardless if the topic is sales, or buying, or buy-in, or the economy, or change –  move folks beyond their status quo: I’m not called a Thought Leader for nothing! I genuinely see the world in systems, and can notice where they are stuck, or need to expand, to enable possibility and Excellence.
5. My clients have been global and across industries and professions: I’ve trained and spoken to sales professionals, negotiators, management teams, coaches, lawyers, and even dentists (folks need to decide to floss, right?). If you want to think differently, get ready for change, or learn how decisions get made and  how to influence them, pick me.

WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT?

I’ve actually coded the decision making process underlying all unconscious/conscious change and have developed a scalable model that can help others navigate through their choices with integrity. It’s a great way to enter the off-line world of the buyers and help them navigate through their buying journey. A wonderful tool to help managers work together effectively, have supervision and leadership skills, and run efficient meetings. Very important for customer service people. Amazing for buying teams and procurement officers. Even wonderful for helping people involved in coaching, parenting, or in any influencing situation. My work has been used in large negotiations, taught at a well-known university in the Leadership Development area, and used by a group of PhD Educators to develop parent/teacher programs.

I’m fun, passionate, and very very alive. I’ll run a training program that teaches lifelong skills and promotes real change and very impressive results. I’ll do a keynote that will make your group re-consider and challenge their current behaviors and status quo, with plenty of action items. At the very least, I’ll incite very relevant conversations that will encourage your own new ideas.

Here are a couple of videos of me speaking. Have a look/listen, and get back to me with questions: SharonDrew@newsalesparadigm.com. And if you’re looking for an exciting speaker to have you view the world with different possibilities, let me know.

Speaking Topics | Testimonials

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Initial 5 minute clip:

Speaking/Teaching video:

Recommending…….. Me! is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

Do you believe that because you can see their problem, and your solution fits, and they seem to be a prospect, that you know the best solution?

I have a story to share.

Years ago I was training a telemarketing group in a call center making calls on behalf of a well-known technology company. As part of my training with them, every participant did some real-time calls with me. It was 5:10 on a Friday afternoon – in Rochester NY, in December. Got the picture? Snow up to your nose, and everyone bundling up to leave for the weekend.

I was working with John M. As his next call, he was referring to a write-in coupon with a name on it of someone who wanted more information about an accounting package. Although I taught my students that the name on the coupon was not necessarily the potential prospect, and to ask for someone who might be needing the accounting software they were selling (not to mention, they sold 5 different packages for construction companies with accounting being only one of them), John asked for Lou, the person whose name appeared.

A woman answered. “Lou isn’t here. He’ll be back on Monday.’

John said Thanks, and hung up. What happened? John assumed it was a secretary. “Call her back and let me talk,” I said. And John redialed.

The same woman answered. Here is what happened.

SDM: Hi. My name is Sharon Drew Morgen, and I’m calling from XYZ. I wonder if you’re seeking to add any new business software or accounting packages to the software that’s currently helping you with your business?

MRS. LOU: We better be or I’m getting a divorce on Wednesday.

SDM: Excuse me?

MRS. LOU: Our accounting person left last May, and I said I’d take over the accounting job for a month – and that was 7 months ago. And I told Lou that if he didn’t hire someone by Wednesday, I was leaving him. Do you have an accounting package? Because if you do, I’ll buy it right now.

SDM: Yup,we do. But….

MRS. LOU: Excuse me one moment. HEY LOU!?!? YOU JUST GET IN? PICK UP THE PHONE OVER THERE. YOU WANT TO SPEAK WITH THIS WOMAN. SHE’S GOING TO SAVE OUR MARRIAGE.

LOU: Hi. I’m Lou. Are you really going to save my marriage! I’m excited. Tell me!

SDM: [needless to say I was rather speechless at this point] Wow. So glad I can help! Let’s see if I really can! I’m with XYZ and we have a range of software packages for small construction businesses to help you run your businesses more efficiently. One is an accounting package. How would you know that the package we have would manage your accounting needs – or if any of the other ones could help also?

LOU: I’d know if I were still married on Thursday. I’ll buy the accounting package to start with. What else do you have?

SDM: There are 4 others packages. Maybe I can get back to you on Monday morning and explain them to you all to you – I bet you’d like some information on the accounting package you just bought as well. [At this point, John was laughing so hard he was crying because I had no idea what the software did. I was doing Buying Facilitation™ training for them, and hadn't had a lot of prep around the ins and outs of their 5 software packages other than knowing approximately what they did. I was selling stuff that I had absolutely no idea about. None.]

LOU: Not Monday. Now.

SDM: Well, to tell you the truth, I’m only the one with the mouth. The ones with the brains are at their desks or getting ready to leave. I can try to get them for you and then we can have a conference call in about 20 minutes?

LOU: We’ll be here waiting.

John and I hit the back stairs, as the elevators were full and in use. We ran our butts off to get folks before they left. We managed to grab 4 people who knew the packages in detail. We all ran back downstairs – jackets and coats and boots flying down the stairs – and I called Lou and his wife back. We then had a conference call, with me moderating and asking cogent questions, like:

With your small workforce now, a construction package that would handle 20 people would be overkill. [Lou's response: we're growing. I like what you're saying. We'll grow into it.] or

The learning curve on this is high: what would you need to get from us to make sure you were staying on track and we’d be there to support you if it got confusing? [Lou's response: I'm going to buy a few packages from you. Would that entitle me to some training?]

In the end, Lou and his wife bought 3 out of our 5 software packages. And we saved their marriage.

Lessons:

1. Don’t ask for the person you think is the decision maker. Everyone is the decision maker.
2. Don’t limit your solution sale to what you think they need; that biases and limits possibility. Let them explore the full range of possibilities and you can sell them more.
3. At the front end of the buying journey, you don’t need to know a lot of detail about what you are selling. But you need to know the elements involved in their buying decision journey.

Btw – I lost my $200 pen running up those damn stairs.

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Focusing on selling a solution limits possibility is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

Sharon Drew Morgen here. As a kickoff to my new book that gives sellers tools to help buyers make business decisions in this uncertain economy – HOW MANY HANDS ON THE ELEPHANT – I’m planning a world tour. My hope is that between us, we could figure out a way to create a half-day workshop to *introduce ways to help clients or staff successfully manage this mysterious economy *help customers learn some new decision strategies *expand our business opportunities.

My book premise is this: Given the state of the economy,  buyers are having difficulty making any decisions at all:

1.  they have no benchmarks, in this sort of economy, to make decisions from;

2 .  they’ve never had to manage risk in an information vacuum;

3.  long term strategic decisions are moot now;

4.  decision teams are shifting, jobs are falling by the wayside, and neither political capital or brain capital are relevant.

My new book introduces the different types of decisions buyers now must make - not necessarily involving product or need - and gives sellers tools to shift their conversation from solution provider to be a true Decision Strategist and servant leader. See the article below as an intro to my new thinking.

My plan is to come to major cities around the world and give a ½ day workshop (Proposed title: The new seller/buyer relationship: using the economy as the instrument to help us serve our clients and engender trust.) to start the discussion around how the economy can be used as a reason to collaborate.

Hopefully, this would help you have new discussions with your clients as well , and bring in some income for us both. I’m also seeking international business partners who might have interest in running new programs  to use this material in Negotiating, Coaching, Risk Management, Decision Making, OD.

Is it worth a conversation? You’d have to help me find participants  and venue. I’m available to run a Webinar, make conference calls, and do the ‘heavy lifting’; I don’t need to get your client emails, etc.

Thanks for your consideration. My goal is to help ensure we all have business and income during this difficult time, and find ways to serve clients in a way that puts us on the client’s decision team.

I look forward to a conversation to see what’s possible. And thanks.

Read: Selling In A Gloomy Economy

Selling in a Bad Economy / 1/2 Day Global Tour is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com