Relationship is Key, Right?

Ok, we can all agree on that one.

However, we might not all agree on the why, when, and how regarding building a relationship.

Here are some of my thoughts.

Why. If our purpose for creating a relationship is to get the prospect to buy from us, then we end up with a synthetic relationship. Too many prospects will see it as fake, which limits trust.

When. Same problem if we push for a relationship too early, while we are still strangers. Start with business, and let the relationship unfold over time. Don’t be in a rush.

How. Let the relationship be built on listening and acceptance, not talking and pushing.

We would all love to hear your thoughts and experiences regarding relationships and selling. Please put your thoughts in comments on this blog post.

Seminar Selling and High Probability Selling – An Open Discussion on Zoom, Wed 1 Mar 2023

Seminar Selling is when you make a presentation to an audience about what you offer, with the hope that some people will buy from you.

We will talk about what happens when you combine High Probability Selling with Seminar Selling.

We will use Zoom video conferencing.  The discussions will be led by Paul Bunn and Carl Ingalls. Recordings will be made available to participants only.

We are offering this meeting twice, on Wednesday 1 March 2023, at 10am and again at 4pm (USA Eastern Time). No charge.

If you want to attend, please send us your email address, and let us know which time. 

High Probability Selling Versus Human Nature

High Probability Selling demands that we stop trying to control others, and this goes against some parts of our human nature. 

We begin life as babies who manipulate people in order to get the care that we need.  It’s a natural survival tactic that works. 

As we mature, we gradually learn alternative ways of interacting, ways that are less manipulative and more cooperative, but we never completely let go of trying to control other people. 

And this can get in the way of being successful with High Probability Selling.  Even the most proficient practitioners occasionally find themselves drifting into old habits. 

The trick is to learn to recognize when we are drifting, and to have a way of getting back into the High Probability way of being.

Different people have different ways of doing that.

How do you manage it?

Rediscovering High Probability Selling – An Open Discussion

Let’s talk about Rediscovering High Probability Selling.  There are new developments in areas like Inbound Prospecting and Social Media, plus a new way of teaching. 

We also want to hear about people’s experiences with High Probability Selling. 

We will use Zoom video conferencing.  The meeting will be led by Paul Bunn and Carl Ingalls, and will be recorded. 

We are offering this meeting on the following dates and times (USA Eastern Time): 

  1. Wed 15 Feb at 2pm
  2. Thu 16 Feb at 7pm
  3. Fri 17 Feb at 9am

If you want to attend, please reply to this email, and let us know which date. 

What a High Probability Appointment Looks Like

by Jacques Werth, edited

We were in a large meeting room in a nice hotel, in a suburb of Seattle.  Twelve successful Realtors were attending a Real Estate Sales Mastery workshop.  They were an unusually well-dressed group for a two-day offsite workshop.

At our request, one of the participants had borrowed a sample front door and door frame from a builder.  It was in the front of the meeting room and it was braced to stand on its own.  The outside of the door was to the right, and to the left of the inside of the door we had a kitchen table and some chairs.  Those were the props that we needed to begin the first exercise.

One of the workshop participants was asked to role-play how she approaches a visit to a homeowner who wants to sell his house.  The instructor played the part of the home owner.

The first Realtor walked up to the outside of the door and knocked.  The instructor opened the door and said “Hello.”

The Realtor flashed a big smile, held out her hand and said, very cordially, “Mr. Smith, it is so good to meet you.  I am Pam Jackson with XYZ Real Estate.  How are you today?”

The instructor invited her in and offered her a chair in the “kitchen.”

“Your home is very lovely.  I really like what you did with the kitchen,” said Pam with delight, while looking all around.

The instructor stopped the role-play at that point and thanked Pam.  He asked her to switch roles.  She would now play the homeowner and the next participant would play the Realtor.  That participant was even more effusive than Pam.  Each successive Realtor tried to out-do those what went before them in their attempts to impress the prospect with their enthusiasm, charm and likeability.

During those role-plays, the other Realtors watched intently and remained very quiet.  Several preened their clothing and hair before it was their turn.

For the second part of the role-play the instructor played the part of the Realtor, with Pam playing the homeowner.  The instructor knocked on the door, and the Pam opened it.  “Yes?’ she said.

“I’m Joe Instructor with HPS Realty.  Are you Pam Jackson?”

“Yes, I am,” she said, reaching to shake his hand.  “Come in. I suppose you want to look over the house.”

“Before we do that, we need to get to know each other and determine whether we have a mutually acceptable basis for doing business.”

Homeowner: “Okay, we can sit in the kitchen, here.”

Realtor: “When we spoke on the phone we agreed this meeting would take about ninety minutes of uninterrupted time.  Have you arranged for that?”

Homeowner: “Yes, I turned off my phone and put the dog out in the back yard.”

Realtor: “We agreed that the purpose of our meeting is to determine whether we have a mutually acceptable basis for selling your home.  Is that your intention?”

Homeowner: “Yes.”

Realtor: “And, we agreed that if we can meet your conditions of satisfaction for the sale of your home, we will make a decision about that today.  Is that still your intention?”

Homeowner: “Yes, it is.”

The instructor thanked Pam and asked her to rejoin the rest of the group.  Then, he asked the entire group, “What did you notice about the way I just approached Pam, the prospect?”

They called out their answers:

“You were very straight-forward.”
“You were dignified.”
“You were very relaxed.”
“You were authentic.”
“You were not acting.”
“You were in control.”
“You asked for and got commitments.”

Pam then capped it off with, “I felt privileged to be your prospect.  I felt respected, and I felt respect for you.”

The above article was copied from an earlier post on this blog, and recently edited by Paul Bunn and Carl Ingalls. 

When Is a Sale Considered Lost?

by Paul Bunn

A student recently asked us what they should do with a list of “lost deals”.  And at what point is a deal or sale “lost”?  In their case, a lost deal equated to a person who didn’t purchase what the student was selling, in the timeframe the student wanted them to buy.

This inquiry got me thinking about one of the fundamental parts of High Probability Selling that is often overlooked; the words and language we use casually that either enhances or detracts from an effective HPS mindset.  Discerning this fundamental part requires listening to ourselves, specifically the words we choose.

My thinking and intuitive feel on the subject of a lost sale, is that a real loss only occurs if that person at that company says they never want to hear from you again.  Everyone else who doesn’t want your service now falls into “not now”.

And although we commonly use “lost” in our sales language, there is really no such thing.  You can only lose something you actually had in your possession in the first place. 

And quite clearly, although our long-conditioned sales brain may initially say otherwise, when a person says “not now” it’s obviously not about losing a sale that we had in our possession.  A sale we had in our imagination, a sale that existed in our mental map of the future perhaps, but an actual completed transaction?  I think not.

Back in prehistoric days (the late 1900’s), I would drive past a McDonald’s and the sign would say over 10 million sold.  The sign did not say that 50 million drove past a McDonald’s that century and never stopped.

What they paid attention to, and yes I used to work at McDonald’s, was the interaction with those people who stopped and bought a burger or two and some fries and a coke.  A Quarter Pounder that nobody purchased was not a lost sale.  It’s only part of an ongoing equation.

Another consideration is that sales is a person to person activity.  Companies and businesses and organizations don’t buy anything.  People are the ones who buy, or make the sale.  And they do it for their own reasons in their own time.  The goal of a High Probability Salesperson is to be in communication with them as close as possible to whenever their reasons align with the outcomes that our products or services provide, during the timeframe in which they are ready to buy.

So, at what point is a sale considered “Lost”?  So infrequently, we never really measure them.

And what do we do with a list of “lost” deals?  Continue prospecting to them like anyone else on your list.

Workshop on the Trust and Respect Inquiry (TRI), 3 Sessions, Starting Thu 22 Sep 2022

This what we do in High Probability Selling (HPS) in place of building rapport or creating a relationship. You can read more on the HPS website, at https://www.highprobsell.com/workshops/tri1/

This sales training workshop is 3 sessions, about 2 hours each, spaced 1 week apart. It is conducted as a live video meeting on Zoom, led by Carl Ingalls. It includes demonstrations and exercises. The meeting will be recorded, and the recording will be made available to the participants.

The total price is $382 USD per person.

If you want to take this course, please contact Carl Ingalls. Phone +1-610-627-9030 or email Ingalls@HighProbSell.com.

See the High Probability Selling Calendar for an updated schedule.

How Often Should You Call?

First, get rid of the word “should”.  High Probability Selling is something you choose to do, not something you are supposed to do.

Jacques Werth recommended 3 to 4 weeks between prospecting calls to each individual on the list.  Today, I recommend a 3 to 6 week spacing between calls to the same person.

The main advantage for the longer spacing is flexibility for the salesperson making the calls, and especially if they have a long list.  Also, it may be less irritating for the prospect, and they may be less likely to tell you not to call them again.

The main disadvantage of the longer spacing is that it will take longer to deliver multiple prospecting offers to each recipient, and we know that the probability of a sale increases with the number of offers presented.  Second, calling less frequently means that the prospect is less likely to maintain that “front of mind awareness” of what the salesperson offers.  Third, it increases the chances that another salesperson will be in contact with the prospect when they are ready to buy.

Remember.  It’s not a should.  It’s a choice.

2 Marketing Guiding Principles that make no sense

Here are 2 guiding principles that make NO SENSE to most but are absolutely fundamental to really doing work that matters.

The marketing “tough” guys and gals out there will flick it off like a used-up virtue-signaling bandaid.

But, for those who want to know, here they are.

1.) Instead of obsessing over the money your customers or clients may give you…why not “obsess over” the service you bring to the table?

Bring back the humanity to what you offer.

Get in their world by calling a cease-fire on using your over-the-moon “results” that may or may not be relevant to their market, list, offerings, etc.
&
2.) Our best prospects need to be discovered (period). Your main gig is to find them. And for your truest top prospects, they won’t be “molded”, “gotten”, or “pushed” into buying.

They’re already educated about their needs, wants, and budget.

They know their business…well.

They’re even aware of the problem(s) they see hence their desire to buy from the right person if their conditions of satisfaction are met. (this one very few know to do or do it consciously)

Maybe that’s you and maybe it ain’t.

That’s ok.

If you start with service on the mind over dollars, you gain both.

And how you get there friends – is by being a market listener, leading with empathy, & determining IF what you have is the answer or not.

Want more?

Actionable Tip: Think about how YOU buy something…is it at first sight?

Or does it take some time to mull things over after watching a video, listening to an expert opinion, looking up reviews, having a few website ganders, and all that?

Until next time, keep learning, keep growing!

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