How DSRP, A Systems Thinking Framework, Can Make Us Better at Sales

Systems thinking is a way of looking at the world that helps solve what are often referred to as “wicked problems.” On the global stage, “wicked problems” include issues like world hunger, ongoing military conflicts, and environmental degradation. But “wicked problems” can also apply on a more modest level, such as the biggest and most difficult challenges your sales organization faces.

Systems thinking in sales can help us address problems like declining sales effectiveness, penetrating new markets, and achieving exceptional growth inside our organizations. Cabrera Labs, one of the world’s leading research labs for Systems Thinking, created a framework called DSRP to help organize and use systems thinking for all kinds of problems. Here are some ideas on how we can use that framework to get better at sales.

What Is DSRP?

DSRP is a way of thinking about “reality” and our place in it. It stands for Distinctions, Systems, Relations, and Perspectives.

Distinctions simply means that parts and systems are distinct from other parts and systems. For instance, a piano is separate from a grand piano. It is also separate from the sheet music and the person playing the piano. We can tell the piano apart from the building it is in and from a tree in the parking lot.

Systems refers to the fact that everything is both a part of a larger system and contains smaller parts (which can be systems in themselves.) Think of it as zooming in and out. For instance, the piano contains a system of keys that provide an interface for the player, a system of strings that make the sounds, and a system of physical structures that hold it all together. You can see these when you “zoom in” on parts of the piano. The piano can also be part of larger systems that may include an orchestra, the concept of “stringed instruments,” a music hall, the idea of music, or the history of music. This is what we see when we “zoom out” from the piano.

In systems, everything is both a part of a larger system and contains smaller parts.

Relations refers to the fact that systems interact with other systems. The piano interacts with the player, with the acoustics of the room, with the sheet music, and with the history of music.

Perspectives means that you can view or think about a system from many different perspectives and those different perspectives are all valid and can be useful in understanding the system. You may think about it from inside the piano: What is a piano like from the perspective of one of its strings? This information may be useful if you are trying to tweak the piano’s sound performance. What is a piano like from the perspective of an audience member, the player, or the violinist who sits across from it? What about from the perspective of a composer who is writing music to be played on a piano? All of these perspectives tell us something different about the piano and inform what we know and how we think about it.

How DSRP Can Help Us Think About Sales

Using DSRP can help us get new perspectives and insights into how our sales systems are working.

Distinctions help us understand that our sales system is distinct from our HR system, which is distinct from our customer service system. While these all interact (relations) and, hopefully, work together (systems), understanding their distinctness can help us address issues and improve performance within each one individually when necessary, just like understanding the strings inside a piano can help us address and improve the sound quality produced by each one. It’s also helpful to remember that our buyer’s buying system (defined or undefined) is distinct from other systems within their organization, and that we may need to approach each of these systems differently, hopefully with a somewhat holistic understanding.

Systems in the DSRP framework helps us understand that each element of our sales system is its own system. For instance, the technology platforms we use are their own systems. The sales process is its own system. The way we hire, manage, compensate, and fire salespeople are their own systems. This understanding enables us to “zoom in” and “zoom out” on each of these systems to discover problems and opportunities and “tune” the piano of our organization more effectively. It also helps us understand that the distinct systems within the customer organization all interact with their buying system, which can have profound impacts on how and whether our sales can proceed.

Relations in the DSRP framework helps us understand that every time one of our salespeople speaks with an individual within a prospect organization, they’re not just interacting as two humans but also as parts of two systems, which they are probably discussing ways to improve. We can understand that the conversation one of our team members has with one of theirs will become new conversations within their system and may become distorted and changed as it interacts with different systems. Understanding this can help us create relations among the parts of our system that help us facilitate a more effective sales (buying decision) experience.

Perspectives is a very interesting part of the DSRP framework for thinking about sales because it reminds us that we can look at the sales system from an infinite number of perspectives and learn something valuable from all of them. The most obvious perspective to take into account is the perspective of the customer organization. Instead of thinking about how we can better serve them, we can think about what they want and how they perceive us. This can give us valuable information for interacting with them.

Perspectives, along with the rest of the framework, also enables us to understand that each individual human within the buyer’s organization has a unique perspective on their internal systems, their role in them, and the perceived risk of making changes, as well as on our organization and sales system as a result of that. When we take the time to view the process and the system through the perspective of each element of the buyer’s system, we can glean valuable insight into how to change our own systems to interact more effectively with the buyer’s systems.

DSRP can be a valuable tool for solving wicked problems and for going after “wicked” opportunities. Where would you like to see your organization apply more DSRP?