The buyer's buying process vs. the sales model: two divergent roads
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The buyer's buying process vs. the sales model: two divergent roads
by: Sharon Drew Morgen
The sales process is woefully inadequate. It merely focuses on the last 10%
of what buyers do prior to making a buying decision: managing the solution
choice.
To understand the buyer’s buying decision process, it’s necessary to learn a new
language. Not the language of sales, but the language of decision making, the
language of systems, and the language of change management: the sales model
merely manages the final destination of the buying decision (the solution
choice) and disregards the complete decision journey.
WHAT IS A BUYING DECISION
A buying decision is a series of activities that include
- collecting an entire Buying Decision Team that includes all of the
people and job functions that will touch the potential solution;
- making the relevant decisions to incorporate all of the appropriate
issues so that when bringing in something new, the status quo will be able
to maintain itself;
- review of current work-arounds and current/favored vendors to ensure
there is no possibility that familiar resources can resolve the problem;
- getting the appropriate buy-in from the appropriate people to ensure
there is support for change, no sabotage, and creativity through the unknown
the solution/vendor choice;
- agreements and implementation strategies to ensure success.
Until or unless these things happen, a buyer cannot buy.
THE BOTTOM FUNNEL – DECISION MAKING and SOLUTION CHOICE
The problem we have, in terms of lost revenue, lost prospects, leads that
come in at the top funnel but do not ‘come out’ the bottom, is that we are not
entering the complete decision journey buyers are navigating, and therefore not
entering early enough. Not to mention, people do not know what to do with
information if they haven’t already opened a place for learning, changing, or
systemic shifting.
At the ‘top of the funnel‘ you’ve collected names. We do not know if they are
leads, or prospects, or buyers. In some instances, they don’t know either. But
when we approach them, not only do we have no idea if what we are trying to sell
them is what they need (we are merely assuming and hoping), but they most likely
have no idea either. It’s far too early.
Or, if we get lucky, they’ve done all of the above work on their own. But
this is merely 5% of the leads we have. So we are pushing for appointments,
doing presentations and pitches, to 95% of the lead population who needs
something different: help with the complete buying decision journey process.
Buying Facilitation™ is a very very different skill, with a different focus,
than sales. It’s a decision facilitation model that actually helps buyers manage
the early part of their internal decision journey. Our choice is to sit and wait
for them to accomplish this, or hope that our pushing will result in a sale.
Only 1-6% of sales are now closing. Would you rather sell? Or learn a new
skill set and first help them manage their buy-in, change management journey and
THEN sell?
Or consider purchasing
the bundle: Dirty Little Secrets plus my last book Buying
Facilitation?: the new way to sell that influences and expands decisions.
These books were written to be read together, as they offer the full complement
of concepts to help you learn and understand Buying Facilitation? - the new
skill set that gives you the ability to lead buyers through their buying
decisions.
Contributor: Sharon Drew Morgen
Published here on:
Classification: Sales
Websites:
http://www.buyingfacilitation.com/
http://www.newsalesparadigm.com/
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