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?
Author
I try to watch my language. Especially the words Jacques used to talk about – like “help.” Those words frequently mask attempts at manipulation. In general – we are salespeople selling a product. We are trying to determine if someone wants, needs, and can afford our product now. We are not counselors, we are not educators, and we are not there to “solve their problems.” It may well be that what we are selling them can solve a problem – but WE are not there for that.
By the way – I seem to have lost my list of the “poison words” Jacques used to talk about. I had written them down during one of his teleconference sessions – but I can’t find them.
Could you list them here?
Hello Loren,
Take a look at https://www.highprobsell.com/articles/poison-words.html.
I don’t completely agree with Jacques. It’s not the words that are poison, it’s how we use them. For instance, “help” is a very good word to use when you say, “I need your help.” And “interested” is a very good way for a salesperson to be.
Carl Ingalls