Author: Paul Bunn

Practitioner, student, and trainer and coach in High Probability Selling for over a quarter century.

The Most Expensive Lie in Sales: Selling the Outcome Without the Get

Most prospects will say they want the outcome.

Better results. More security. Increased revenue.

That’s easy.

What’s not easy — and almost never clarified — is whether they’re willing to do what it takes to produce that outcome.

In High Probability Selling, that’s the Get. What it takes to get the outcome.

And when the Get is unclear or avoided:

  • Prospects say yes too quickly
  • Pipelines fill with non-buyers
  • Deals fall apart late

Not because they didn’t want the result…
but because they were never willing to do the Get.

We took a direct look at that gap in a recent HPS Community Forum meeting.

When:  Thursday 19 March 2026
Format: Live Zoom Forum (discussion-based)
Video Recording: Available here for $25 USD

Do You Have Undiagnosed Hopiumitis?

A year or so ago, one of our HPS Forum participants introduced a word that perfectly describes a common challenge in selling. He called it Hopium.

Hopium is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas that tends to affect salespeople more than most. Its symptoms are subtle. Its impact is predictable.

Hopium is what keeps us pursuing prospects who ghost us.
It leads us to “add value” excessively in the hope that someone will buy.
It convinces us that because someone needs what we offer, they must therefore want it — and will eventually do business.

Under the influence of Hopium, we:

  • Set appointments with people who have shown no intention of keeping them.
  • Refer to prospects as “clients” or “customers” before they have ever bought.
  • Continue conversations long after intention has failed to appear.

Hopium replaces clarity with optimism.

You arrive at an appointment. The prospect says, “You’ve got 10 minutes to pitch me,” even though they previously agreed to 30 minutes of uninterrupted time.

Instead of disqualifying, Hopium whispers: Maybe I can still make this work.

So we compress, persuade, and perform — abandoning process in favor of possibility.

Hopiumitis often goes undiagnosed.
Some label it “attachment” and attempt to appear detached.
Some fill their calendars with low-probability appointments under the belief that more activity will produce more results.
Others experience it intermittently — especially when pipeline anxiety rises.

A colleague once described regularly driving up to two hours for appointments without first asking the Conditional Commitment Question. The outcome was predictable: four-hour round trips and no business. Nothing unethical. Nothing aggressive. Just an unexamined assumption that interest might convert to intention.

That is Hopiumitis.

The challenge with Hopiumitis is that it feels productive. It feels positive. It feels like perseverance.

But in High Probability Selling, clarity replaces hope.
Intention replaces assumption.
Commitment replaces optimism.

The remedy for Hopiumitis is not force or effort. It is awareness — and adherence to principle.

The symptoms may appear externally, but the cure is internal.

Every moment presents the choice:
Proceed on hope — or proceed on probability.

We discussed the ghosting problem and how it is related to Hopiumitis in a HPS Community Forum conversation on Zoom. The video recording of that meeting will be available starting 6 Mar 2026 on our online store for $25 USD. 

What do I do when unexpected events screw up my well planned HPS sales process? – Forum Discussion 8 Jan 2026

Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963, was once asked the question, “Considering all of your experience and preparation, what is most likely to blow a government off course?”

His famous reply was, “Events, my good man, events.”  Or as Frederick the Great 18th century soldier’s warning, “All is for naught if an angel pisses on your flintlock.”

No matter what you are selling, products, services, software, advice or ideas, sales is a people business. People, language, and perspective often matter more than product or service or price.

And people have a tendency to move in unpredictable ways and say unpredictable things, often at very unexpected moments.

HPS has been, since the writing of the book, first considered to be a linear process that will produce high probability sales.  And most of the time, with the right implementation and mindset, HPS works reliably well.

However, as a process alone, as our wise old Prime Minister says above, sometimes, sometimes seemingly often, “events, my good man, events” or unpredictable external events occur and we get ourselves lost as to what to do or where to go next.

The next HPS Community Forum will discuss common ways that our best laid HPS intentions can go awry, our prospects can go in completely unexpected directions.

AND, we will provide strategies and ideas on how to get your sales process back on track, both from a one-on-one sales situation, as well as a holistic perspective on the business in which sales take place.

It is essential that one’s own HPS Principles, Values, Standards, and experience are considered in the sales recovery process and we will cover those as well.

High Probability Selling Community Forum Discussion

Live and Interactive Video Discussion on Zoom,
led by Paul Bunn and Carl Ingalls

Thursday 8 January 2026
9:30 AM (USA Eastern Time)
Supported by Voluntary Donation

If you want to attend this Live Forum event, please register here. 

If you want the recording for this Forum event, please wait until the following day (Fri 9 Jan) and then order the recording from the HPS Online Store. 

Invitation: How to Evaluate Whether High Probability Selling is Right for Your Business – Thu 20 Nov 2025

In this session, we explore how to evaluate High Probability Selling as you would evaluate a new hire for your business — calmly, objectively, and on your own terms.

I’d like to invite you to a session where we’ll take an objective look at whether High Probability Selling (HPS) is the right fit for your business.  Instead of simply asking whether HPS will work for you, for which the stock answer has traditionally been “yes”, we will show you a new way to conduct this evaluation for yourself, as a business owner (even if you don’t see yourself this way, we invite you to try on that identity for this exercise). 

We will be changing your perspective from “will HPS fit what I am doing now?” and treating the question as if you’re “hiring HPS as an employee”.

When you hire someone for your team or business, you’re not just buying a service; you’re evaluating their skills, their fit with your culture, and how they’ll contribute to the long-term goals of your business.  In the same way, HPS can be considered a new hire for your business — one that could guide the transformation of your sales process and approach.

In this meeting, we’ll explore:

  1. What it means to “hire” HPS
    Instead of simply purchasing a sales methodology or a training program, what would it look like to employ HPS as an expert within your business?  We’ll discuss how to evaluate whether it’s a good fit as you would with any prospective team member: Does it have the expertise?  Does it align with your values?  Can it help your business grow in the direction you want?
  2. Shifting from “tool or thing I have to learn” to “team member”
    In this context, HPS isn’t just something you “use.”  You’re hiring an expert to integrate into your business.  This shift in perspective requires thinking beyond the individual actions and behaviors you might need to adopt and focusing on the broader, organizational impact HPS can bring.  How would you onboard and integrate HPS into your processes?  What type of culture and systems would need to be in place to successfully employ this new “team member”?
  3. Evaluating HPS from a hiring perspective
    We’ll discuss the criteria you would use to evaluate any new hire:
    • Skills and Expertise: What does HPS bring to the table, and how does it match your business needs?
    • Compatibility: Will HPS integrate smoothly with your existing sales processes, mindset, and culture?
    • Long-Term Impact: What are the expected outcomes if you decide to hire HPS?  What does success look like, and how do you measure it?
  4. Addressing potential barriers to hiring HPS
    Just like hiring a new employee, the process may require shifts in how you think about sales, systems, and organizational culture.  What are the challenges to hiring HPS?  How might existing systems, mindsets, or business philosophies create friction during the integration process?
  5. How to approach HPS as a “new hire”
    Once you’ve decided whether HPS is a good fit, we’ll discuss how to onboard it into your business and begin the implementation process.  What’s involved in bringing this “new employee” on board, and how do you align HPS with your current sales team, CRM systems, and processes?

The goal of this session is to provide a framework for hiring HPS as an expert to guide the transformation of your sales process, rather than simply adding another tool to your existing system.  We’ll help you evaluate if this “new hire” is the right fit for your needs, culture, and goals.

If you’re interested in this perspective and would like to discuss how to decide whether HPS is the right “employee” for your business, you are welcome to join us on this week’s HPS Community Forum. 

Date:  Thu 20 Nov 2025
Time:  9:30 AM (USA Eastern Time)
Where:  Zoom (instructions will be provided after registering)
Cost:  Pay what you decide

Click Here to register. 

Recognizing Leakage: The Subtle Signs of Persuasion

Leakage is when old habits and beliefs subtly intrude and interfere with what we are trying to become — an internal conflict between conditioning and intention. In High Probability Selling, we learn to recognize it, release it, and return to calm respect where real communication begins.

Leakage happens when a salesperson says they are not selling but their tone and timing say otherwise.  It shows up as tiny manipulations — the tie-down question, the overly warm laugh, the pause meant to create pressure.  Once you have seen it, you cannot unsee it. 

The human brain, especially the limbic system, detects those signals instantly.  The prospect may not know why they feel uneasy, but they feel it.  Leakage destroys clarity. 

In High Probability Selling, we learn to notice it first in ourselves.  Whenever you feel the urge to “get them,” pause.  Check your body.  Tightness in the chest, rush in the voice — those are signs of attachment.  Release them.  Return to respect. 

The goal is not to appear calm; it is to be calm.  When manipulation stops, communication becomes real again.  The prospect senses that there is nothing hidden, and the conversation becomes simple, direct, and free.  That freedom, not persuasion, is what makes agreements possible.

The Small-Town Agent and the Circle of Relationships

In a small town, every sales conversation echoes. In High Probability Selling, manipulation is not just ineffective — it’s dangerous. The small-town agent learns to stay truthful, respectful, and part of the same circle they serve.

Selling in a small town is different.  You are not the chicken dropping an egg and walking away.  You are the pig at breakfast — part of the meal.  Your life and your reputation stay inside the same circle. 

In that environment, High Probability Selling is not optional; it is survival.  Every conversation must be free of manipulation, because every prospect is also a neighbor.  A single attempt at persuasion can ripple for years. 

The small-town agent learns to qualify quickly and clearly.  “No” is not a failure; it is maintenance of peace.  Disqualifying someone for what you offer does not remove them from your circle.  It keeps the circle intact. 

The discipline of neutrality — saying exactly what is so, no more and no less — becomes a way of life.  Respect replaces performance.  When you treat each conversation as part of your ongoing community, not as a transaction, you stop chasing trust and start living inside it.

Adapted from a conversation between Paul Bunn and a student of High Probability Selling.

Protecting the Conversation: How to Keep the Container Clean

Every conversation has a container — an invisible boundary that defines safety and purpose. When persuasion enters, it becomes contaminated. In High Probability Selling, our goal is to keep that container clean so truth can be spoken without defense.

Every conversation has a container — an invisible boundary that defines safety, clarity, and purpose.  When manipulation enters, the container becomes contaminated.  The goal in High Probability Selling is to keep that container clean.

If you bring a subject-matter expert or partner into a meeting with the prospect, make sure you first tell the prospect, “I’ve asked this person to help with the details.  I’ve told them not to try to convince you of anything.  If they slip into selling, I’ll stop them right there.”  Then tell the expert the same thing.  That single statement protects everyone involved. 

A clean container allows each participant to speak truthfully without defense.  It turns the conversation from a contest into an exploration.  When people know they will not be persuaded, they begin to listen differently.  They relax.  They tell the truth.

The salesperson’s job is not to control outcomes but to maintain integrity within the dialogue.  When you respect the container, the conversation itself becomes the proof of who you are.  No presentation can match that.

You Can’t Build Trust — You Can Only Initiate Respect

High Probability Selling emphasizes the difference between trust and respect. Trust is an emotion that cannot be forced, while respect is initiated through honesty and thoughtful communication. By focusing on our behavior and maintaining a clean relationship, authentic trust can develop naturally, facilitating clearer decision-making without pressure in business interactions.

In High Probability Selling, we do not try to build trust.  Trust is a feeling, not a skill.  It arises naturally or not at all.  When a salesperson tries to “build trust,” what they usually do is attempt to control the other person’s feelings.  That becomes persuasion, even when the intent is good. 

Respect, however, is different.  Respect can be initiated.  It starts when we are truthful about what we are doing and what we want.  It continues when we ask questions that can be answered in any way — including ways that make us uncomfortable.  And it deepens when we take the other person’s answers seriously, without defending or correcting. 

Trying to generate trust puts attention on the prospect’s emotions.  Initiating respect keeps attention on our own behavior.  One can be chosen, the other cannot.  In practice, this means we speak clearly, listen completely, and accept whatever happens.  When respect is maintained, trust may appear on its own — authentic, organic, and unforced. 

The purpose of respect is not to make the sale easier.  It is to keep the relationship clean.  In that clean space, truth becomes visible.  Then both parties can decide, without pressure, whether it makes sense to do business together.

The Power of a Positive Last Impression

There was a recent blog post on the benefits of hearing a quick “no” when prospecting. Here are some additional thoughts on that concept. When non-HPS salespeople hear you accept “no” for an answer, it goes against all of their traditional and logical sales indoctrination. Some say it’s counter-cultural, counter-productive, and at least counterintuitive.

They say you’re giving up control of the sale to the prospect. That you lost a sale. The truth is that you can’t lose what you never had in the first place.

And when you stop clinging to every potential “yes,” you actually regain control of your business.

When you accept a “not now” without resistance:

  • You free yourself to find the next “yes now.”
  • Everyone leaves with a positive last impression— which matters more than you think. Even more than a first impression.
  • A positive last impression creates a future opening— a chance for the next impression. And the next and the next.

It may feel unnatural at first. But letting go of the need to get what you think you need this time opens the possibility of a next time, when the prospect is ready—and doing so with integrity throughout the process.

You have a choice in every sales conversation, and you are in complete control of your choice:

  • You can attempt to drag out a fight with reality, or
  • You can create a memory of effortless collaboration and respect.

You wanted a “yes.” You didn’t get it. That’s okay. You still get to choose how you show up.

Because by giving your prospect the power to say “no,” you also keep your power to continue.

Why do they keep talking?

I have been cold call prospected at least 3 times this week. Yes, I still answer my phone.  Yes, I was born in the 1900s with all the other Luddites. 

And although it is currently not the 1900s, one persistent belief is still alive and kicking in sales.  The innocuous act of filling out an online lead magnet for some information by email has many hidden meanings.

One of those hidden meanings to many business people is that providing one’s email address to a business is immediately equated to becoming a hot lead for their product or service.

Fearing that my interest in their offering may suddenly go cold in 20 minutes, my phone rings and I answer it.  The call begins, most recently, with me trying to comprehend who the caller is and what they are offering.

The telephone prospector, often using a far eastern dialect (or AI) speaks as if we are in the latter part of an ongoing sales conversation.  They seem to believe that I already understand who they are and which company they are representing, because they rattle it off as if it’s a household name with instant recognition.  I am now of course confused at best.

For me, their business is not a household name. I don’t even remotely understand the caller’s name, if they even mentioned it. Their voice speeds up as the call goes further, perhaps trying to get in as many words as possible before I hang up?

30 long seconds into the call, I am absorbing less and less about what they are selling or offering.  They have spoken something like 150 plus words so far, most of which I can’t understand or relate to.  My brain has closed off 90 percent of my listening at this point.

Then it is time in their script to pitch the appointment with rhetoric promising the saving of time or the saving of money, which of course everyone will agree about.  When this approach doesn’t work, they try the alternate choice close on the appointment date and time.  At least 3 or 4 times.

By this time in their process, I no longer understand what they are selling, AND I no longer care.  All I want to do is to get off the phone.

I finally get a moment where I can interject something like, “I don’t have time for this and don’t need an appointment”.

My effort to be polite is of course ignored by the caller, who continues to repeatedly push for the appointment, while also claiming their intent to be brief.

I say no thank you, I don’t want an appointment because I have no idea what they’re even selling.

They finally say something least leaning towards goodbye, but then they have to profusely thank me for taking the time to listen to them and answer all of their shallow questions while they try one more time to set an appointment!

All I can think of at this point is WHY WHY WHY do they keep talking?  Everyone advises hanging up on them, sometimes preceded by an expletive, but with my brain offline, that’s easier said than done.

It’s 2025, aren’t they tired of all this talking yet?  I sure am.