For decades, folks who discovered Buying Facilitation™ were delighted. Finally, these visionaries said, a way to help those behind-the-scenes decisions get made in our favor instead of just sitting and waiting for buyers to come back and buy! One man, a VP of Sales at Merrill Lynch, shouted, “I KNEW IT I KNEW IT! I KNEW SOMETHING WAS GOING ON FOR THE BUYER THAT I DIDN’T KNOW.”

So I’ve lived in relative bliss. Whoever contacted me was an actual buyer. Comments were positive. It certainly wasn’t the entire world who caught on, but for those few, I was the bees knees. And these visionaries and early adopters would introduce others. And all were kind and appreciative.

ENTER MAINSTREAM SALES FOLKS

Lately, there has been a shift. As my work gets into the world,  folks unfamiliar with my ideas and who don’t understand my thinking have been, literally, coming after me: they are screaming that the world is flat.

It’s been painful. Maybe it’s my Asperger’s, but I can’t understand why people would fight against something they don’t initially understand but can easily use to be more successful once they get curious and learn a bit. Why put me down?

It’s  hard to want to keep working when I feel defeated: I’m truly trying to make the world a better place and offer more success for both sellers and buyers. If I point folks into the private world that buyers have to manage without us (and has never been a part of sales), why is it taken as a personal attack? Why don’t people get curious?

Nope. They can’t see it. It doesn’t look that way to them. That’s not the way they do it. Buyers don’t act that way. Those results aren’t possible. Hmm. Must be her. And why is she attacking me? Why does she think she’s right and I’m wrong? Who does she think she is anyway?

It’s as if they were standing on a hill facing left, seeing a blizzard; I’m looking right and seeing a rainbow, extending a hand so they could walk a few steps and experience color. And they keep yelling that I must be blind because obviously there is only a blizzard. Absolutely exhausting. Why can’t they just see both blizzard and rainbow? Why are they so attached to blizzard? Why do they feel ‘wrong’ and ‘wronged’ because my thinking is outside of their box? Why do I have to be wrong because I see something different? Why can’t we both sit down and discuss weather patterns?

I haven’t figured out yet how to ignore them when they say mean things. I’m seriously contemplating cutting off all communication to protect myself.

One man, an ardent ‘fan’, continues to ‘respectfully disagree’ as he puts me down for needing to be ‘right’ (obviously feeling ‘wrong’ rather than getting curious, or adding one more thought to his viewpoint).  One sales trainer quite mired in mainstream sales training and who fancies himself an expert, has been running around shouting ‘This is only gussied up consultative sales. And who do you think you are anyway.’

Yet they have no idea of what I’m doing. They haven’t read my books. They haven’t called to find out what I’m talking about. They haven’t listened to a podcast, or read my posts . And saddest of all, they didn’t call or write or read or get curious. They just reject, with no basis outside of their own bias, and put me down for good measure.

WITHOUT VISIONARIES, NOTHING CHANGES

Good thing visionaries have marched to their own beat, or we’d still be in the dark ages.  Good thing visionaries keep going even when being put down. Just know it hurts.

Imagine telling Bucky Fuller that it’s impossible to build a house that doesn’t have 4 walls. Or that it’s not possible for the earth to go around the sun. Or for a man to fly.

When you’re staring into the horizon, the world looks flat. When you’re staring at the ceiling, it looks as if there is no sky. But with a bit of intuition and lots of curiosity, the whole world opens up.

Imagine it’s possible to go far outside of our recognized thinking and get different results.

Imagine getting curious rather than disagreeing, or getting excited by the possibility and wanting to learn more, rather than dismissing and patronizing and condescending.

What needs to happen for folks still steeped in conventional sales to consider that it’s possible to actually be a part of the Buying Decision Team without doing any sales – and on the first call? Imagine. Or helping buyers close with no presentation or money discussion?

What would sellers need to believe differently to close twice the sales in half the time using one quarter the effort? Imagine.

Am I using the sales model? Nope. So why would people assume I am, and base their comments on their own beliefs of what’s possible rather than doing their homework, getting curious, calling me, and finding out what the heck is going on!

Maybe it’s cuz I’m a visionary, but when someone tells me something outside of my understanding is possible, I jump at the chance to learn more even if it makes me uncomfortable or wrong. After all, if I attempt to shut off and shut down that which is uncomfortable or challenging or new, I’d be a smaller person, I”d be less creative, I’d have fewer ideas. The world would be smaller, and I’d walk around seeing a flat earth.

Unimaginable. Not to mention far, far less creative. We need visionaries. Let’s nurture us.

sd