by Jacques Werth
I got a call from someone who wanted to learn High Probability Selling. “What do you sell?” I asked him.
He said, “I don’t sell anything. I’m the Engineering Manager.”
“Why do you want to learn High Probability Selling?” I asked.
“I’m the youngest manager in a huge division. All the other managers are at least ten years older than me. They don’t take me seriously and some even resent me. I can’t get my job done well without their cooperation. I read your book and I want to learn how to communicate the way top salespeople do.”
During the HPS course, the “product” he was selling was the redesign of all division software using a modular structure, which enabled quick, inexpensive program changes and add-ons. That is what he designed his prospecting offers around and that is what he used in all of his role-plays.
After he completed the twelve week course, he used High Probability Prospecting to get cooperative, one-to-one meetings with each of the other managers. It took frequent contacts, each time with a different “prospecting offer” before he was able to meet with all of them. During those meetings, he used High Probability Selling to learn what the conditions of satisfaction were for each manager, which had to be met in order to gain their full cooperation.
This approach was so successful that he now has two job titles. He is still the division’s Engineering Manager, and he is also the Special Assistant to the division Vice President. He will become the division’s Deputy Vice President when his replacement is fully trained to take over his engineering manager job.
Selling is about effective communication, and so is management.
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