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Ron Koss & Arnie Koss: The Earth's Best Story - Author interview

Successful twin brother partners, and entrepreneurs Ron Koss and Arnie Koss, were kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about their insightful and inspirational story of their unlikely business venture The Earth's Best Story: A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution. The authors share their entrepreneurial journey from its inception, through its troubled times, and toward its ultimate success with humor and honesty.

Thanks to Ron Koss and Arnie Koss for their interesting and informative answers. They are greatly appreciated.

What was the background to writing this book The Earth's Best Story: A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution?

Ron and Arnie Koss: Twenty years ago this past March 30, 2010, I was essentially forced out of the company that I started with my identical twin brother Arnie. It was a dramatic and traumatic time. Somehow I knew or believed that amidst the overwhelming emotion and tumult lay a powerful, personal, and valuable cautionary entrepreneurial tale that might benefit others.

I started to write. My effort was very sporadic; sometimes disappearing for years as other life events commanded my attention. But while my writing accumulated to hundreds of pages, I realized that I alone could not tell the entire story of the founding of Earth's Best Baby Foods. I needed Arnie's side of the story and the many experiences along the way that were unique to his role in our shared venture.

Once Arnie began writing and his pages began stacking up, we got together and agreed to tell The Earth's Best Story in our two voices. Three more years of dedicated cowriting and editing has yielded this "bittersweet tale of twin brothers who sparked an organic revolution." ― Ron



Ron Koss (photo left)

What led to the creation of idea of an organic baby food company?

Ron and Arnie Koss: In 1973 Arnie and I were traveling throughout California. We were fresh out of college at the time, both having dropped out. As East Coasters, the West Coast was a marvel to us. But amidst the massive redwoods and the dramatic coastal highway that we loved exploring was a vast agricultural reality overrun by aerial pesticide spraying and tractor spray rigs. It was sickening and disheartening to us.

Rachel Carson's book,Silent Spring (published in 1962), had deeply affected us. We didn't want the spring to be silent and Arnie and I left California wondering what we could possibly do to counter this malevolent and misguided pesticide paradigm.

Our answer, envisioned in an inspiring moment in 1976, was the founding of Earth's Best Baby Foods. Arnie and I began developing it in 1984 and three years later in 1987 we produced the first jars in our own 11,000 sq. ft manufacturing facility. ― Ron

How did you arrive at the company name Earth's Best?

Ron and Arnie Koss: The name "Earth's Best" was presented to us by a Burlington graphic designer working on our first label concepts. Ron and I instantly bonded with the name because it succinctly stated what our ambition was—to create the "earth's best" baby food. It could not have been simpler or more accurate.

However, like so many things we did not anticipate, many of our potential early supporters and investors strongly objected to the name "Earth's Best." It "sounds like a dirt company" was a common theme of the dissenters. "It's hard to pronounce" was another. The pressure was on to find another name, but Ron and I knew we were starting the Earth's Best baby food company and held our ground.

Today, it seems so obvious that Earth's Best is a great name, but 25 years ago we had to battle for it. ― Arnie

What were some of the challenges you faced in the initial start-up phase?

Ron and Arnie Koss: From day one, Ron and I faced start-up challenges that came from every conceivable direction, like giant crushing waves, one after the next, after the next. Most notably, we were grossly undercapitalized within a matter of seconds. Why? Multiple equipment breakdowns and failures unexpectedly depleted our meager cash reserves. Quality control issues delayed our production for almost two months and skewered our cash flow projections. Unexpected organic ingredient shortages forced us to transport tons of apples from California to Vermont blowing again what we thought was our clever and conservative budget. Distributors and retailers pocketed introductory discounts that resulted in disastrously high retail price points.

You get the picture. There was not a moment of grace or ease. The Earth's Best start-up was an intense survival moment, "to be or not to be." Ron and I had no choice but to try to adapt to our volatile start-up environment like highly evolved chameleons. ― Arnie

How did you finance your company from the idea stage to beginning production as a company?

Ron and Arnie Koss: Our starting point was pooling together several thousand dollars of savings. Arnie and I had no access to family or friend money. But when you're smitten by an idea you're passionate about and are unwilling or unable to comprehend the obstacles or challenges ahead, you simply start by taking one step forward at a time. And you keep your overhead low…very low. We rented a space for $25 a month. Our starting point was one desk using a piece of used plywood and two saw-horses. We found two broken chairs, and one electric typewriter without a working "q."

Arnie and I networked and reconnected with a very successful local businessman we had once rented a space from. This person became our first investor. And as our business plan took shape and evolved over 2 1/2 years, we found approximately $300,000 in seed capital from angel investors to do the research and development necessary to start an organic baby food company.

This momentum led to a private placement memorandum and the raising of $500,000 of equity and $400,000 in debt, which brought us finally into production. At the time in 1987, Earth's Best was the largest start-up ever in Vermont. ― Ron

How and why did you choose your company's Vermont location?

Ron and Arnie Koss: You could say Middlebury, Vermont, chose us. You could also say Arnie and I were nuts to locate Earth's Best in Vermont rather than California, where organic foods production was most established. But we loved Vermont. It was our new, long-sought-after home, after being uprooted from our childhood home in Ellenville, New York, by our parents' sudden move to South Florida.

This was the dynamic in play for us as we ventured forward in 1984 trying to bring our Earth's Best dream to life. Arnie and I arguably resisted practicality by avoiding California, but we truly believed Vermont and the East Coast could be another center of organic foods production. Our naturally ingrained entrepreneurial optimism was magnified by our attachment to Vermont as "home," and the net of that alchemy caused us to wildly misjudge the timing of the arrival of East Coast organic agriculture. Soon we would be transporting most of our raw ingredients from California to Vermont and paying a "steep" price, in every sense of the word, to do so. ― Ron



Arnie Koss (photo left)

What lessons did you learn about marketing your product?

Ron and Arnie Koss: Many entrepreneurs believe that their product is the latest and greatest and that the marketplace will embrace them like they were the "second coming." Ron and I are examples of this predisposed entrepreneurial optimism and were convinced that all parties in the wholesale-retail distribution chain would be on our side, cheering us on ― wrong assumption!

What we learned was that no matter how good or worthy any given product is (and assuming you're not a big player with big bucks), dependence on the benevolence of others to secure shelf space and favorable distributor and retail pricing is not a given. And it's probably unlikely, so don't plan on it.

To succeed, Ron and I needed an aggressive regional and national public relations campaign that was complemented by various sales and marketing strategies that included product discounting; targeted direct mail outreach to consumers and health care professionals; and the unimaginable--guaranteeing the sale to retailers so they would pull our products through the distribution channel. ― Arnie

Did you experience some setbacks and disappointments along the way?

Ron and Arnie Koss: That's a funny question, akin to asking a sailor if they saw any water while sailing across the ocean. Yes, there were many setbacks and profound disappointments in all phases of the start-up and then later on, in the day-to-day business operations. What stands out in this regard are two biggies.

First was the difficulty in getting the natural food distribution chain (distributors and retailers) to pass on to the consumer the deep discounts we were offering to stimulate trial. In the best of circumstances, we knew many consumers were going to be hit with sticker shot when comparing our ideal retail price point of $.79 per jar to Gerber's three jars for a buck. To our great dismay, promotional discounts were often pocketed somewhere along the distribution channel and Earth's Best price points to the consumer ranged from $.99 to $1.19. This was extremely damaging to our initial sales movement and cash flow, and of course was unanticipated.

Second was the egregious way Ron and I were related to by many of venture capitalist who joined the company as investors. Instead of choosing the high road where candid and collaborative behavior was the norm, they too often opted for subterfuge, deceit, and avoidance. The results were hurtful to Ron and me, but more importantly put Earth's Best in peril. The high road, as in genuine and committed relatedness, is always an option and should never be sacrificed for expediency or personal gain. ― Arnie



Earth's Best - Logo (shown left)

What advice would you give to new entrepreneurs starting a new business venture today?

Ron and Arnie Koss: Think as grand as you like, but start as compact as possible; minimize overhead; dedicate yourself to quality, networking, and communication. Be curious, get perspective, and don't put your head down and simply try to bull your way forward.

In order to succeed, you have be or become a good adapter. You have to evolve yourself and your business as reality displaces projections and assumptions that are often erroneous. Come to terms with what you tend to avoid as soon as possible. You will need more money than you think you need. Yes, even you who think your diligence has covered every base and anticipated every contingency. Money, despite its obvious necessity, is often avoided in some fashion and the consequences are never pretty.

You don't have to be "everything" or "everyone" to your business. Few, if any, can handle production and/or products, sales and marketing, and finance with the expertise required and the joy necessary for a sustainable outcome. But you do have to understand everything that is needed and be aware of your strengths and your weaknesses and respond deliberately and accordingly.

Finally, identify what you stand for and what you mission is… and stick to it. ― Ron

What do you see for the future of organic products and environmentally based companies?

Ron and Arnie Koss: Organic and environmental products have today rooted themselves throughout the consumer marketplace, but they still represent a small percentage of overall sales and market share. High price points are putting downward pressure if not a lid on the growth of these socially responsible consumer product niches.

The future opportunity and challenge for organic products and environmentally based companies lies in reaching not just those who are upwardly mobile or with access to dollars, but also those who do not have those advantages. ― Ron

What is next for Ron and Arnie Koss?

Ron and Arnie Koss: Thanks to centuries of entrepreneurial dabbling by generations of Kosses, our DNA insists that we continue to look for ways to be independent, innovate, and make a difference.

In the near term, we will be busy trying to get the word out about our book, The Earth's Best Story. We know there are many fledgling entrepreneurial initiatives out there contemplating how to manifest their big idea. Ron and I believe our story will benefit anyone perched on the precipice of doing and contemplating what lies ahead, and that especially includes students.

For some time now, we have been developing intellectual property in the form of patents and trade secrets that focuses on using frozen dessert (ice cream) as a nutrient delivery system. There are many consumer populations that will benefit from such a product and we are actively in pursuit of finding the best way to transport this idea from fantasy to reality.

Of course, there is more but that's for another day. ― Arnie

* * * * *

My book review of The Earth's Best Story: A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution by Ron Koss and Arnie Koss.

Ron Koss is a natural foods product innovator and executive vice president of Nutricopia Inc. Arnie Koss is managing partner at aio Food Group, a Hawaii-based development company. Cofounders of Earth's Best Baby Foods, they are coauthors of The Earth's Best Story: A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010).

Tags: The Earth's Best Story: A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution, Ron Koss, Arnie Koss, environmentally friendly entrepreneurship, business author interviews.

The Earth's Best Story by Ron & Arnie Koss - Book review

The Earth's Best Story

A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution

By: Ron Koss, Arnie Koss

Published: January 26, 2010
Format: Paperback, 384 pages
ISBN: 9781603582391
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing






"Organic baby food is ubiquitous today. It can be found in glass jars, portable squeeze tubes, and frozen cubes. Once upon a time there was no organic baby food", write successful twin brother partners and entrepreneurs Ron Koss and Arnie Koss, in their insightful and inspirational story of their unlikely business venture The Earth's Best Story: A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution. The authors share their entrepreneurial journey from its inception, through its troubled times, and toward its ultimate success with humor and honesty.



Ron Koss (photo left) and Arnie Koss share their successes and missteps on their way to building the first organic baby food company in America. The story is more than just a summary of how they moved from an idea to a successful business venture. While they describe, with unusual honesty, how the idea was formulated, to generating financial backing, to marketing their product, the story delves more deeply into the lives and aspirations of the entrepreneurs. The brothers write in detail how they believed in the critical importance of building an organic based company, that cared about the environment and the health of the babies who ate their product. This concern with larger issues than mere profit formed the philosophical basis for their company. The company had to become successful on ethical and environmental grounds.



Arnie Koss (photo left) and Ron Koss don't just describe a company. Instead, they intersperse their business analysis with their own personal journey as entrepreneurs and as human beings. Their growth as people, caring about the needs of others besides themselves, is part of their remarkable achievement. They set out to prove, whether stated explicitly or not, that an organic baby food company could succeed in a difficult and highly competitive marketplace. The brothers not only demonstrated an environmentally friendly company could achieve success in the industry, but that it could also be prosperous while located in rural Vermont, far from major cities and manufacturing centers. The commitment to their ideals and aspirations, despite numerous setbacks, speaks well of their character and their faith in their product line.

For me, the power of the book is how Arnie and Ron Koss share a fascinating and very reader friendly account of their entrepreneurial journey. The twins point out that the book is about how they built and operated the company, but they also point out how they made several serious missteps. Their open and frank discussion of their mistakes provides the reader with valuable lessons on which courses of action are best avoided. At the same time, the authors demonstrate how to maintain a working partnership that is able to overcome serious setbacks, and continues to operate effectively. They also provide powerful insights into how to run a family based company effectively and with a minimum of friction and dissension. Most of all, the book is a deeply personal one, told in alternative voices by each brother, from their own unique point of view. The personal nature of the book gives it a power that a more clinical analysis of the company would lack.

I highly recommend the fascinating and enlightening book The Earth's Best Story: A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution by Ron and Arnie Koss, to anyone seeking a model for creating and building a successful organic and environmentally friendly company. The book demonstrates that entrepreneurs, concerned about ethics and the environment, can compete successfully in the marketplace. For environmentally oriented consumers and parents, the recognition that organic and safe products are an important part of the future of business, is exciting and reassuring.

Read the fun account of a revolutionary business The Earth's Best Story: A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution by Arnie and Ron Koss, and discover how visionary and ethical entrepreneurs can transform the business landscape for the better. Building a better world is also good business, while creating a healthier tomorrow for everyone.

Tags: The Earth's Best Story: A Bittersweet Tale of Twin Brothers Who Sparked an Organic Revolution, Ron Koss, Arnie Koss, environmentally friendly entrepreneurship, business book reviews.

Scott R. Singer: How To Hit A Curveball - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



Investment banker, Managing Director and head of media and entertainment for The Bank Street Group LLC, and author of the practical and enlightening book How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business, Scott R. Singer, describes how unexpected changes are a part of your business and personal life. These often challenging changes, that he calls curveballs, can happen at any time and throw anyone off their game. Ge shares how to not only survive, but to thrive, when faced with uncertainty. Discover how to turn a crisis and its challenges into tremendous career and business opportunities. Learn how to look for the curveball, and hit it out of the park.

Scott R. Singer is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Thursday, April 15, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Investment banker, Managing Director and head of media and entertainment for The Bank Street Group LLC, and author of the practical and enlightening book How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business, Scott R. Singer, describes how unexpected changes are a part of your business and personal life. You will learn:

* Why changes in society make unexpected events more frequent

* How to identify these curveballs before they happen

* How to turn unexpected problems into home run opportunities

* How to avoid striking out on curveballs in your life



Scott R. Singer (photo left) has spent the past 20 years advising companies on how to adapt to change, to embrace technological advances, and to put the best strategy in place to deal with the next big thing—essentially, teaching them how to hit curveballs.

A noted media industry expert, investment banker, and strategy consultant, Scott serves as Managing Director and Head of Media & Entertainment at The Bank Street Group LLC, a boutique investment banking firm focused on providing sophisticated advice regarding mergers & acquisitions; fairness opinions; private debt, equity, and venture capital raising; as well as bankruptcies, restructurings, and turnarounds to telecommunications, media, technology, aerospace and defense, and healthcare companies.

Prior to Bank Street, Scott held prestigious leadership positions at BMO Capital Markets, Deloitte, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and TD Securities.

During his career, Scott has emerged as the change expert, focusing on corporate finance, M&A, and strategic advisory transactions totaling over $110 billion for such clients as Cablevision Systems, CBS Corporation, Charter Communications, Comcast Corporation, Discovery Communications, Hollinger International, Liberty Media, NBC Universal, News Corp., Time Warner, Viacom, and Young & Rubicam as well as many private equity and venture capital firms.

Scott is regularly called on by Bloomberg, CNBC, FOX Business, Reuters and numerous publications such as, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, CNNMoney.com, Crain’s New York Business, and Forbes.com in addition to many other industry publications as a media expert to address various domestic and global topics.

He has served on numerous industry panels and has been a guest lecturer at both Columbia Business School and NYU’s Stern School of Business. Most recently, Scott was a member of The Paley Center for Media’s Board of Governors in Los Angeles and is a Vice Chairman of Bucknell University’s $400 million capital campaign. He was formerly Chairman of the Annual Fund at The Dalton School in New York City.

Scott received his MBA in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business and his BSBA in Management from Bucknell University. He is the immediate past President and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Bucknell’s Alumni Association, a Trustee (ex-officio) of the University, and was a member of the Search Committee for Bucknell’s 16th President.

He’s currently working on his second book with Mark Levine, What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid? Scott lives in New York City and Connecticut.

My book review of How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business by Scott R. Singer with Mark Levine.

Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with investment banker, Managing Director and head of media and entertainment for The Bank Street Group LLC, and author of the practical and enlightening book How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business, Scott R. Singer, as he describes how unexpected changes are a part of your business and personal life. These often challenging changes, that he calls curveballs, can happen at any time and throw anyone off their game. Ge shares how to not only survive, but to thrive, when faced with uncertainty. Discover how to turn a crisis and its challenges into tremendous career and business opportunities. Learn how to look for the curveball, and hit it out of the park on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business, Scott R. Singer, Mark Levine, change management, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

How to Hit a Curveball by Scott R. Singer - Book review

How to Hit a Curveball

Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business

By: Scott R. Singer, with Mark Levine

Published: April 1, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN: 9781591843108
Publisher: Penguin/Portfolio










"If you want to make the majors, and have a future in either a corporate structure, as an entrepreneur, or as an independent professional, you need to be able to deal with unanticipated events and scenarios. The same is true for your personal day-to-day life", writes managing director and head of media and entertainment at the Bank Street Group, Scott R. Singer, and co-author and best selling writer Mark Levine, in their practical and enlightening book How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business. The authors demonstrate that a rapidly increasing rate of change in society, and a constant upheaval of societal norms, create an environment where unexpected events become commonplace and must be met with decisive and creative responses.

Scott R. Singer has faced a series of events in his life that he never anticipated, and they turned his seemingly successful world upside down. He was forced to deal with those unexpected events that he describes as curveballs. Drawing on a baseball analogy, the author shares his vision for meeting challenges as they arrive, in productive and positive ways. The authors write that change is inevitable, while escalating in frequency, causing anyone who fails to recognize it as it arrives to fall by the wayside. These curveballs are not entirely without value, however. The authors make clear that unexpected problems are really opportunities, to discover creative and effective solutions, and move well ahead of the competition. A curveball doesn't always result in a strike out. The same pitch, if recognized earlyenough, can be hit out of the park for a home run.



Scott R. Singer (photo left) recognizes that America is in a period of rapid transition. The old political, economic, social, and technological paradigms are changing before our very eyes, leaving many people lost between the world they knew and the new emerging systems. As Moore's Law pointed out, change is increasing at an accelerating pace, making both anticipating events and responding to them ever more challenging for people.

As change occurs, it's accompanied by other dramatic upheavals that were both unexpected and unintended by the people involved in the actions. Because Americans are used to things working as they should, and turning out for the better in most cases, they are also less resilient when faced by a cataclysmic event that was neither expected or understood immediately. These societal changes make curveballs the norm, and not the exception. As a result, the ability to recognize and hit the curveball is an essential skill in the modern world.

For me, the power of the book is how Scott R. Singer and Mark Levine, understand the critical importance of understanding and meeting the challenge of unexpected change. Through an entertaining baseball analogy and format, the principles for meeting the curveball, and even anticipating its arrival in advance, are presented in an easy to follow manner. Combining the concepts with interesting and illustrative anecdotes helps to bring the ideas to life, building a stronger foundation for embracing the ever increasing changes in our society.

The message of the book is a positive one, that despite what seems like out of control and incomprehensible upheaval, is really a set of new opportunities. A person who learns to embrace the principles of change, and who follows the steps to hitting curveballs as they arrive at the plate, will gain huge business and career advantage. Since every problem contains the elements of opportunity and success, curveballs should be welcomed and not feared, once their intrinsic value is internalized by an individual.

I highly recommend the important and must read guide to anticipating and accepting change How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business by Scott R. Singer and Mark Levine, to anyone seeking a key to deciphering the transformation of modern society into something new and exciting. Instead of being overwhelmed by the shifting winds, and striking out on unexpected curveballs, this books teaches the observant person to turn curveballs into high scoring home runs.

Read the perception altering and fun filled book How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business by Scott R. Singer and Mark Levine, and discover the many valuable and critical lessons that can alter the way you see challenges. Instead of fearing and resisting change, even though its inevitability makes it ubiquitous to our society and economy, learn how to embrace those difficult curveballs that life throws your way. Instead of striking out, become a successful curveball hitter.

Tags: How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business, Scott R. Singer, Mark Levine, change management, business book reviews.

Sharon Drew Morgen: Dirty Little Secrets - Author interview

Sales visionary and thought leader Sharon Drew Morgen, author of the groundbreaking sales transformational book Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it, was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about her book and her insightful ideas for facilitating change management for buyers and sellers. The author uncovers the real reasons why buyers don't make the expected buying decisions, and how sales people can help potential buyers make good buying decisions.

Thanks to Sharon Drew Morgen for her time, as well as for her insightful and thought provoking answers.

What was the background to writing this book Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it?

Sharon Drew Morgen: I have been writing books on Buying Facilitation(R) since my first book came out in 1992 (Sales on the Line). In Dirty Little Secrets, I finally explain it in simple terms that make it easy to understand: sales only handles needs assessment and solution placement; buyers need to manage behind-the-scenes 'stuff' privately, and don't always know the route they must take til they get there. Sellers can help if they learn a few new skills.

You point out from the very beginning of the book that this is not a sales manual. Why do you write that?

Sharon Drew Morgen: Buying Facilitation(R) is a neutral navigation, decision facilitation model that leads buyers through their behind-the-scenes decision issues (such as relationships and company/family politics, feelings, rules, vendor or partner issues) that need to be addressed to get buy-in to make a decision. It's systems based, and the goal is to help manage the private issues buyers go through internally that sales folks and outsiders cannot be privy to.

Sales manages the needs assessment/solution placement end of the buying decision. It has no capacity to help manage the behind-the-scenes buy-in issues. But because buyers have to do this anyway, sellers are left out and have no influence over the process.

That's where buyers go when they say "I'll call you back." and then disappear. And this is why only 7% of sales close. Imagine! Sales has a 93% failure rate, and we build this in to our projects because this figure is endemic in the assumption of the sales model.

You make the provocative opening statement that both sellers and buyers are not very smart. What do you mean by that?

Sharon Drew Morgen: It's a term the industry uses every moment: "Buyers are stupid." I hear this every day. Sales folks assume that because THEY can see 'the problem' and THEY have the solution and the buyer does not do 'what they are supposed to do' that the only conclusion is that they are stupid.

The book shows what the seller is missing and how to address it with a different took kit. So I'm kinda throwing it back in their face: You say the buyer is stupid, but I'm saying you're both stupid because buyers actually DON'T know how to go through the buying decision process because of all of the variables, and sellers DON'T know how to help them navigate through their decision issues because sales doesn't handle that end of the buying process.



Sharon Drew Morgen (photo left)

You state that the current sales model is incomplete. What is missing from the current sales model that would make it more effective?

Sharon Drew Morgen: Because the sales model is based on needs assessment/solution placement, I've added a decision facilitation model to the front end - an additional skill set - called Buying Facilitation(R) that helps buyers navigate through their off-line, behind-the-scenes decision issues that they must handle before they can make any decisions about a purchase. That makes it a one/two punch: first help buyers navigate through all of their decision issues and pull together a Buying Decision Team, and THEN sell.

Buyers have to do this anyway, and the time it takes them to come up with their own answers is the length of the sales cycle. They will do this with you, or without you. So you might as well add a new skill set and do it with them.

Why must sales techniques and ideas change?

Sharon Drew Morgen: Because sales only manages a very very small percent of what a buyer needs to make a decision. And, the success rate of sales, across the board, averages 7% success. there is no other field that allows for a 93% failure rate. Imagine a doctor or even a baseball player, or an airline, with a 93% failure rate.

How do buying decisions really get made?

Sharon Drew Morgen: First, Sales treats an Identified Problem as if it were an isolated event. It's not: it's part of a system that maintains it daily.

Buying Decisions get made only when the entire system lines up behind change - it's really a change management situation. Buying Decisions get made when the people, policies, rules, relationships (the system), buy-in to change, and agree to do something different. This happens only when the 'system' recognizes it will remain in balance once something new enters. This is why the sales model has such a low success rate: sales pushes solution (i.e. 'change') into an existing system that fights back if it thinks it will be unbalanced.

How can buyers be helped in their purchasing process and with decision making to make better choices?

Sharon Drew Morgen: Buying Facilitation(R) is a decision facilitation model that leads buyers through all of the internal, off-line, behind-the-scenes decision issues that they must go through privately before getting buy-in to bring in a new solution. It's based on systems thinking,and employs a form of question that I developed called a Facilitative Question that actually teaches folks how to consider and manage change - using their own values and criteria. These questions are used in a specific sequence of how decisions get made (the book explains each of the decision sequences and what happens in each).

An example of a Facilitative Question: How would you and your decision team know when it was time to bring in an additional resource for those times the ones you are using are insufficient?

In the end, how can sellers and buyers help one another to become smarter?

Sharon Drew Morgen: Using Buying Facilitation(R), the seller becomes the servant leader to the buyer, helping them navigate their decision issues well before the act of sales even begins. The buyer becomes the neutral navigator; sellers help Buying Facilitator's listen better, serve better, and think in systems. When sellers use BF, buyers can buy much quicker and more efficiently and include all of the right people with the right decisions. So sellers are helping buyers close the right business, with more prospects, and place their product into the most appropriate client situations. It becomes win-win.

What is next for Sharon Drew Morgen?

Sharon Drew Morgen: I have been teaching this material since my first program in 1989. My goal is to start an institute and teach the material to coaches, teachers, doctors and other professionals, negotiators, etc. It's a wonderful collaborative communication tool that has a universal application.

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My book review of Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it by Sharon Drew Morgen.

Tags: Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it, Sharon Drew Morgen, collaborative sales techniques, business author interviews.

Dirty Little Secrets by Sharon Drew Morgen - Book review

Dirty Little Secrets

Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it

By: Sharon Drew Morgen

Published: October 15, 2009
Format: Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 0964355396
ISBN-13: 978-0964355392
Publisher: Morgen Publishing






"At the end of the day, no matter how much our buyers have a need and we have the best solution, if they don't know how to decide to make a new choice, it doesn't matter what we've got", writes sales visionary and thought leader Sharon Drew Morgen in her sales transformational book Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it. The author uncovers the real reasons why buyers don't make the expected buying decisions, and how sales people can help potential buyers make good buying decisions.

Sharon Drew Morgen understands that sales people are very often frustrated by low sales success rates. Instead of blaming the sales technique, the author delves into the often hidden circumstances that drive the buyer to make decisions that may appear irrational on the surface, but are logical within the context of their own company buying system. A failure on the part of sales people to understand the buyer's perspective, as related to their company politics, rules, and regulations, causes a failure to close the sale. Sharon Drew Morgen calls these norms on the buyer's side a "system", and as such is very powerful in maintaining the status quo, regardless of the validity of the resulting buying decisions. Unless there is change in how the system influences the buyer, there is little chance of success for closing any sale.



Sharon Drew Morgen (photo left) recognizes that the forces to maintain the system status quo are very powerful, and require skill and cooperation on the part of both the buyer and seller to create change. The author considers the only way for a system to change is for the buyer to generate the change within that system. Sharon Drew Morgen presents the Buying Facilitation (R) model, that uses what she calls Facilitative Questions, that helps buyers understand their own buying environment so as to create the necessary change to result in better buying decisions. To assist the seller in guiding the buyer through the process of systemic change, the book describes ten steps that are common to all buying decisions. When these steps are understood and internalized, a buyer can facilitate the internal changes necessary to overcome the status quo.

For me, the power of the book is how Sharon Drew Morgen provides a fresh, groundbreaking approach to understanding why buyers make decisions based on factors rarely considered by sellers. The concept of drilling down into the systemic constraints placed on buyers, so as to create change within that process, turns the entire world of traditional selling techniques upside down. Instead of focusing the sales effort on standard selling practices, the author proposes a collaborative method where seller and buyer work together to facilitate a transformation of the buying system for the benefit of all stakeholders. As Sharen Drew Morgen makes clear, the book is not a sales book, but a study on change management. Without the cooperative challenge to the system, the buyer is simply unable to make the best buying decision. This book helps guide both the sales representative and the buyer to the fastest and most efficient path to making the right decision.

I highly recommend the insightful and revolutionary book Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it by Sharon Drew Morgen, to anyone seeking a more in depth analysis, into the real reasons for why buyers make their decisions, than is usually presented in traditional sales books. The author shares a new approach that helps both seller and buyer arrive at a solution through collaboration and change management of existing systems. The end result is an easier way for buyers and sellers to complete the sales process, while achieving satisfactory results that meet the buyer's real needs.

Read the essential and pioneering book Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it by Sharon Drew Morgen, and move beyond the often shallow and superficial concepts taught in most courses about sales. The author encourages sellers and buyers to turn the process upside down, and examine the system from the inside out, resulting in enriched understanding of the real system and constraints placed on buyers. By thinking in a change management and facilitation model, rather than with a conventional sales mindset, the entire sales process is streamlined and expedited. A more rewarding experience, for all stakeholders in reaching the final buying decision, is the positive win-win outcome.

Tags: Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it, Sharon Drew Morgen, collaborative sales techniques, business book reviews.