I recently discovered that one of the significant blocks to understanding HPS is that it doesn’t make sense in terms of the logical assumptions of traditional “assembly line” selling. HPS works because prospects and salespeople, aka humans, are psycho-logical, not just logical.
Linear assembly line selling, founded circa 1920, is the basis for all of the variations of mainstream selling, and it is largely assumed to make logical sense. However, in practice, it doesn’t work very well, with average true closing ratios of around 20 percent.
And also because it is based on logic which “makes sense”, no one questions the creation of the 80 percent that never want to see the salesperson again after they have tried “everything it takes” to get them to buy when they didn’t want to.
This cognitive dissonance between what’s logical and what works is very well articulated by Rory Sutherland in the first chapter of his book, Alchemy. Rory is a legend in the advertising world and has insights into marketing and human behavior that I find both fascinating AND extremely useful.
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