Sales professionals currently call themselves Relationship Managers. What does this give us that we didn’t have as sales people? Does it change our jobs? Nope. We just expect to be perceived as more caring, or more professional.
Here’s the problem: sellers do a fine job of understanding need, presenting solution data, following up, and closing. But the focus of solution placement is targeted to the last 10% of what buyers must address before choosing one solution over another.
The sales model ignores 90% of what buyers must address regarding their idiosyncratic and hidden change management issues. We learned in 6th grade that systems (and yes, a buying environment is a system, regardless of whether it’s a small personal item or a large complex sale) – the people, rules, relationships, beliefs, history etc. – won’t allow anything new in that will cause disruption. Sales tries to pull the old out and put in the new, ignoring the disruption it causes.
BUYERS MUST MANAGE CHANGE BEFORE BUYING
So yes, the prospect might need new software and yours fits. But how will they avoid downtime during implementation? Or meld the old technology with the new? How will they hire a project manager? Where will they get budget to bring in an outsourced group to manage their current work, or lead the integration of the new solution? Buyers take 8 times longer than necessary to buy as they figure all this out. And we’re not helping them, just sitting and waiting while they do it themselves, all the while keeping them in our pipeline. Buyers have to do it anyway, with us or without us. And instead of sitting and hoping, we can be real Relationship Managers who facilitate change as well as sell.
Do you want to sell? Or have someone buy? They are two different activities. You’re only addressing one of them. But you can close a lot more sales, faster, if you learn Buying Facilitation® and add it to your sales skills.
Contact Sharon Drew for information on how she can best serve your team as a keynote speaker or trainer. Sharondrew@sharondrewmorgen.com
