Selling with Integrity: Reinventing Sales Through Collaboration, Respect, and Serving [Paperback]

Sharon Drew Morgen (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 1, 1999

Selling with Integrity introduces The Morgen Buying Facilitation Method?, the first wholly new sales paradigm based on the idea that buyers have their own answers. Teaching sellers to support buyers' buying patterns, rather than teaching new selling patterns, international speaker and entrepreneur Sharon Morgen offers step-by-step guidelines, practical how-to's and numerous examples of this remarkably effective method in action. Using Buying Facilitation, you can: * Get to the right person immediately
* Eliminate unqualified prospects on the first call
* Facilitate a buyer's solution-finding process
* Stop rejection and objections
* Decrease sales cycle by at least 50%, increase revenue by 200 to 500%.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The sales floor is rarely associated with spiritual values, much less with integrity. Nonetheless, entrepreneur and sales trainer Sharon Drew Morgen believes it is entirely possible for sellers and buyers to experience both--while still meeting their individual mercantile needs. In Selling With Integrity: Reinventing Sales Through Collaboration, Respect, and Serving, she persuasively outlines a revolutionary "Buying Facilitation" approach that remakes a traditional adversarial relationship into one marked by genuine collaboration and honest consideration. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Sharon Drew Morgen, the author of Sales on the Line and a former stockbroker at Merrill Lynch, is an international entrepreneur, speaker, and sales trainer. Her current clients include IBM, Dreyfus-Mellon, Boston Scientific, Dean Witter Reynolds, The Bureau of National Affairs, and The Vendo Company.

Product Details

• Paperback: 243 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Books (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425171566
• ISBN-13: 978-0425171561
• Product Dimensions: 0.7 x 5.9 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #491,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

dirtylittlesecretsbook.com | newsalesparadigm.com | sharondrewmorgen.com

Sharon Drew Morgen is the visionary and thought leader behind Buying Facilitation® the new sales paradigm that focuses on helping buyers manage their buying decision. She is the author of the NYTimes Business Bestseller "Selling with Integrity" as well as 5 other books and hundreds of articles that explain different aspects of the decision facilitation model that teaches buyers how to buy.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars In My Experience, The Author Doesn't Practice What She Preaches August 15, 2005

By Gill E. Wagner

Format:Paperback

As I read, "Selling With Integrity," I felt that it was indeed a book for anyone who is struggling to make the conceptual switch from using manipulation to using honesty to sell. Throughout the book, using many religious undertones, Ms. Morgan places an emphasis on doing what's right, thinking of the prospect's problems first, putting your needs second and generally collaborating to identify whether a reason to do business exists. (These are all ideals with which I agree.)

My single biggest reservation comes not from the book itself, but from the response I got when I contacted Ms. Morgan with a question.

I had noticed that every example in the book ended in a positive outcome. For instance, the book conveys that, to get a great conversation with a prospect, all you have to do is call and say, "This is a sales call." So I actually tried doing exactly what the book said, and I tracked my results:

* I dialed the phone 150 times.

* I reached a gatekeeper 31 times and my prospect 21 times. (The remainder were busy signals, no-answers, auto attendants, voice-mails, etc.)

* I introduced myself and said, "This is a sales call."

* Every gatekeeper responded with some form of: "[Mr. Jones] doesn't take sales calls."

* Every prospect responded with some form of: "I don't take sales calls."

After my lack of success, I decided to contact Ms. Morgan and ask, "How many phone calls do you actually have to make before you get one of those great conversations you describe in your book?"

After dodging the question by telling me "I don't track such things," I forced the issue once more, and she finally said, "If you insist on questioning the process, then you clearly aren't committed to making it work...." (These "quotes" are from memory, so while they convey her attitude, they are probably not exact wording.)

Frankly, I expected to speak with someone who would interview me and help me decide whether her course was for me. What I got instead was more like what I'd expect from a cult leader who wanted to indoctrinate me, and who expected me to accept everything on blind faith.

I believe in a lot of what the book conveys, but the author's actions cost her a ton of credibility with me.

Gill Read more ›

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book! February 25, 2002

By James Carter

Format:Paperback

This book claims to be the follow-up to Solution Selling, by Bosworth.

There is a great deal of discussion about which book is better. In my mind, they are simply for different audiences if you want to compare them as simply 'sales books'.

Selling with Integrity is by far my #1 recommendation to someone who is not, or does not want to be, a professional salesperson. It is much more simple than Solution Selling and easy to remember in front of customers.

I own an agency for OD/HR consulting and have read HUNDREDS of books, manuals, etc on selling. I am especially interested in books about selling high dollar intangibles (HR consulting is incredibly intagible).

I am paid by a number of my consultants to provide marketing and 'sales' coaching and this is the book I recommend. If you want to go deeper and have more structure to your sales, this is not necessarily your book. Look to Selling Solutions.

However, Selling With Integrity resonates deeply with the solid principles at it's core and a new mentality of looking at sales - helping the buyer buy, or becoming a 'Buying Facilitator'.

I consider myself a professional sales person and when I need a quick boost and/or self pep talk on sales, I pick up Selling with Integrity and remember why I like it so much.

My personal litmus test is 'Would I buy the book again after I have read it, but pay double the price?'

The answer is absolutely, no question, YES!! Buy the book. For almost any price, it is an absolute bargain.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Shares A Lot of the Same Values as "Solution Selling" March 29, 2001

By biz_buzz

Format:Paperback

This book provides very useful sales advice, especially in the realm of effective cold calling. My only issue with the book is that Morgen bills her perspective early on as the next step beyond Michael T. Bosworth's "Solution Selling." I have read both books and I must disagree. "Selling with Integrity" is a useful read but "Solution Selling" is much more in depth, hands-on, and yes, addresses the same concerns with selling ethics effectively.

Morgen's "Selling With Integrity" in fact shares quite a bit of common ground with "Solution Selling"--certainly more than Morgen would agree upon. Morgen's advice regarding effective listening and questioning has notable similarities with Bosworth's "9 Steps" which guide a sales lead to "discovery" or "buying vision" depending on the jargon you prefer. Both books advise sellers not to say "We can do that" or "I have exactly what you need"--Morgen clearly agreeing with Bosworth's "diagnose before you prescribe" point. And I believe that "Solution Selling" fully addresses Morgen's very valid concerns about sales ethics and trustworthiness.

Morgen explains that her Buying Facilitation model is superior to Solution Selling because Solution Selling always strives to help guide the customer back to your product. Morgen does not assume that. My response is, what's wrong with that? I think this difference Morgen makes is not material.

Also more food for thought: would a salesperson armed with only the "Selling With Integrity" framework be effectively prepared for hardline end-run negotiation tactics from the buyer? Peruse "Solution Selling" on the subject of negotiation and you will see what I mean.

If you have read this book, I encourage you to read Solution Selling, which I believe has more in-depth tools to help people sell effectively.... And yes, with integrity too.

BTW, I have no affiliation with Solution Selling of any kind...! Good selling to all!<P(...) there is no single "one size fits all" book for selling (or any subject!), but dismissing the possibility of the buyer utilizing tough negotiation tactics to slash your price as irrelevant...(...).

BTW, I also had cut my rating from original 3 stars to 2 (...)as I realized from experience and success with Solution Selling that Morgen's book is fine, but is IMHO not the next step beyond Solution Selling as she describes it. If we could add half-stars, I'd give the book 2 1/2. Tell ya what, I'm going to split the difference and "round it" back up to 3 stars today. Anyway, I wish good selling to all! Read more ›

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Way out in Front August 24, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

In this book Sharon Drew Morgan introduces a simple concept - Stop trying to sell things to people and instead, help them to find what they need.
Codicil: If *you've* got what they need they'll buy it from you.

Simple? Yes. But totally opposite from all *conventional* wisdom. Indeed, check out the review posted on March 29th.
The reviewer asks "would a salesperson armed with only the 'Selling with Integrity' framework be effectively prepared for hardline end-run negotiation tactics from the buyer?"

This isn't a good question or a bad question - it is a totally irrelevant question.
Using Ms Morgan's approach correctly will negate the possibility of ending up in that situation in the first place.
And anyway, if, by some chance it does occur, why is it a problem?
If you're desperate to make a sale then of course you have to dive in and go head to head.
If you've understood and adopted Ms Morgan's message, on the other hand, you are in there to provide a service - NOT to make a sale, per se.

So, if the buyer tries to change the rules it simply means that you've lost rapport.
If you think it's worth it, re-establish rapport and carry on helping the buyer to find out what s/he really needs; otherwise simply let it go.

Ms Morgan also explains why striving to guide the customer back to your own goods is a mistake. It's as simple as this:

If you're offering a genuine SERVICE to your customer then you are aiming to provide the most appropriate solution to their needs - regardless of who provides that solution.
If your underlying concern is always to guide the customer to your own products then you are, in essence, still trying to SELL something rather than provide a service.... You are still, as in all traditional approaches to the sales process, putting your own needs (to make a sale) before the needs of the customer (to find the BEST solution).

Many years ago I worked in retail computer sales. One day I discovered that a certain manufacturer, whose goods we stocked, had a return rate of 25% or more. From that time on I refused to sell any items produced by that manufacturer. And I explained why
Some customers bought a different machine. Others went to another sales person or another shop.

My colleagues were initially horrified. How could I turn down cast iron sales opportunities? Before long, however, they changed their tune.

Why? Because the number of customers went up by over 50%. Sales went up by even more. Why?
Because word of mouth spread the message that we told the truth about the goods we were selling and gave good advice. We weren't just selling computers, we were providing an honest, reliable SERVICE.

By the way, this idea isn't exactly new, though Ms Morgan does present it in a thoroughly professional manner. Check out the film "Miracle on 35th Street", and you'll see what I mean.
What's new is the realisation that, as a serious, viable approach to selling IT WORKS.

Buy the book. Try it out. Be amazed!

Read more ›