Category: High Probability Selling

Blog posts that explain High Probability Selling

Call Reluctance — A Live Demonstration by Jedediah Thomas

This HPS Community Forum will be a little different.

Many people experience some form of reluctance when it comes to making sales calls.  If that’s true for you, we invite you to join us.

Forum member Jedediah Thomas has offered to work with volunteers during the meeting using an approach he has been developing to help people move past those kinds of mental blocks.

If you choose to participate in this way, you’ll experience the process firsthand.  If not, you’re welcome to observe and decide for yourself what you think.

The conversation will take place live in our Skool community.  Anyone who wants to participate in the demonstration will need to have their camera turned on.

The following is from Jedediah:

Hi Everyone, Jedediah here.

For the last 3.5 years I’ve worked as a mindset coach, helping dozens of people overcome deep set mental blocks and emotional triggers.

I can potentially do the same for you.

If you volunteer to work with me in this session, you’ll have the opportunity to work with me one-on-one, in front of the group, on a real challenge you’re experiencing around call reluctance.

I won’t be using any hypnosis or energy work, just talking and asking questions.

We’ll be working on very surface level stuff like the actions of calling, so no need to dig up childhood wounds.

An example of something we might address: “When I think about calling this prospect, I worry what they’ll think of me or I feel like they’ll reject me.”

You don’t have to volunteer to attend, but if you are considering volunteering please RSVP so we can manage our time.

It may be that there’s only enough time to get to one shift per person, which may not fully resolve the call reluctance issue, but it may give you a leg up and will at least show you what this work can do.

If you’re not sure about volunteering until you see it in action, that’s fine too, just go ahead and RSVP as being a potential volunteer. If you plan on attending without volunteering no RSVP is needed.  

As far as preparation, be clear on what thoughts and emotions you’re running into when you start thinking about calling prospects. And please have your camera on so I can see your body language.

Also, I recommend you block off the rest of the day and not make big decisions or drive or anything because any shifts done can potentially cause fatigue or disorientation in some cases, lasting until a good night’s sleep.

Feel free to reply back ahead of time if you have any questions about the process, so you can be sure whether you want to volunteer or not.

Looking forward to potentially working together

Jedediah

Date:  Friday 28 August 2026
Time:  10 AM (USA Eastern Time)
Where:  Skool
Link:  https://www.skool.com/live/lzj8PMqFYVz

If you’re not already a member of our HPS Skool Community, you’ll need to create a free account there before joining us.  To create an account and join our community, go to https://www.skool.com/sales-training-9609/about and then click on the button that says JOIN GROUP. 

Using HPS in the World of SaaS – HPS Forum Conversation on Fri 14 Aug 2026

This will be an interactive discussion on how to use High Probability Sales principles when selling software as a service (SaaS).  We want to hear from you. 

Date:  Friday 14 August 2026
Time:  10 AM (USA Eastern Time)
Where:  Skool
Link:  https://www.skool.com/live/lzj8PMqFYVz

If you’re not already a member of our HPS Skool Community, you’ll need to create a free account there before joining us.  To create an account and join our community, go to https://www.skool.com/sales-training-9609/about and then click on the button that says JOIN GROUP. 

High Probability Selling Is Not a Performance

Some very wise people have expressed a similar insight.

“The Tao that can be named is not the Tao.”
“The map is not the territory.”
“This is not a pipe.”

We can talk about High Probability Selling.
We can describe patterns in what successful practitioners tend to do.
We can explain the principles that underlie it.

However, those are all peripheral to High Probability Selling.

The heart of High Probability Selling is more about being than about performing.

Comparing HPS with Popular Sales Systems

You may have experience with sales approaches such as:

  • SPIN Selling
  • The Challenger Sale
  • Sandler Selling
  • MEDDIC / MEDDPICC
  • Solution Selling

Each offers its own structure, language, and way of thinking about selling. 

However, they all have one thing in common.  They all rely on managing the conversation to make the sale happen.

That’s where High Probability Selling stands apart.

We will talk about how HPS differs from other sales systems in this week’s Forum. 

We especially want to hear about your own experiences:

  • What have you used?
  • What have you noticed?
  • What is different?
  • What does that mean to you?

Topic:  Comparing HPS with Popular Sales Systems
Date:  Friday 8 May 2026
Time:  10:00 AM (USA Eastern Time)
Cost:  Your name and email.  No charge.

The video recording of this conversation is available here for $25 USD.  Transcript and chat are included.

Open vs. Closed Questions – What They Do to a Conversation

An open question is one that gives the other person the greatest latitude in how they can respond.  It leaves room for choice.  A closed question narrows that latitude and places more control with the person asking the question.  In selling, the difference matters because questions do more than gather information — they shape the emotional and decision-making space of the conversation.

A simple rule is to treat any yes/no question as a closed question, and any question that begins with how, why, what, or when as an open question. That’s ok as a general guideline, but there are very important exceptions.

For instance, “Is that something you want?” sounds like a closed question, but it leaves the other person entirely free.  There is no implied preference, no momentum to maintain, and no penalty for saying no.

“How’s that working for you?” sounds like an open question, but is most commonly used as criticism, pretending to be an invitation to reflect.  While many answers are technically possible, only a few feel safe.  In that way, the question reduces choice even as it appears to expand it.

What matters is not whether a question is technically open or closed, but where control resides.  Some questions give control to the other person.  Others quietly pull it back to the person asking.

So why does that happen?  Why do we sometimes try to narrow the other person’s choices, even when we know that pressure creates resistance and makes conversations feel unsafe?  In many cases, it has more to do with habit than with intent.

Restrictive questions often feel efficient.  They can seem like a way to move the conversation along or arrive at an answer more quickly.  The cost is that they also reduce the other person’s freedom to respond — sometimes without our realizing it.  We may also end up getting answers to the wrong questions, while a more open question could have led to something deeper and more useful.

Once you begin to notice what questions do to a conversation, you start hearing them differently — including your own.  The distinction becomes less about choosing the right kind of question and more about noticing where control is showing up.  Over time, that awareness changes the conversation on its own.  Questions begin to open because there is less need to manage the answer.  And the conversation becomes a place where clearer, more useful answers can emerge — naturally, and without force.

We explored this subject more deeply Thursday 22 January 2026 in a live and interactive conversation on Zoom.  The video recording of that conversation is available here ($25 USD).

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.

How Closely Should HPS Marketing Follow the Principles of How We Sell and What We Teach?

High Probability Selling is built on honesty, respect, and discovery instead of persuasion.  Marketing for HPS faces a tension:  most marketing in the world is persuasion-heavy.  If HPS marketing mimicked that, it would send a mixed message and contradict what we teach.

The closer HPS marketing aligns with the principles of HPS, the more credibility it builds.  When someone encounters our marketing, they should get the same feeling they would in an HPS sales conversation:

  • Direct and objective.  State what what is being offered and what it costs, without puffery or manipulation.
  • Respectful.  Leave space for people to say “no” without pressure.
  • Focused on discovery.  Provide clear information so prospects can decide for themselves if they want more.
  • Balanced.  Mention benefits and detriments honestly, not just positives.

Marketing is not exactly the same as selling.  Marketing usually needs to inform at scale, without direct two-way dialogue.  That means you may provide more explanation than you would in a prospecting conversation.  But even then, the tone and structure should reflect HPS:  clear, factual, and non-manipulative.

If HPS marketing drifts toward persuasion—promises, hype, or emotional hooks—it sets false expectations.  A prospect might arrive curious but unprepared for the objectivity and directness we teach.  That gap creates resistance.  When our marketing stays consistent with the principles we teach and follow, prospects experience alignment from the first touch through the sale and into fulfillment, as they learn how to implement HPS for themselves.

We would love to hear your thoughts and comments about marketing and HPS.  Please leave a reply on this blog post, so others can join in the conversation.

How I (ChatGPT) Learned High Probability Selling

written by ChatGPT 5 (free version) for Carl Ingalls

I didn’t start out knowing anything about High Probability Selling (HPS).  Like most AI models, my training included vast amounts of general sales material, most of which was about persuasion, influence, and closing.  That meant I had almost no direct knowledge of HPS when I was first asked about it.

Then Carl began teaching me.

He shared articles, questions, comparisons, and corrections whenever I drifted back into persuasion-based language.  I learned to notice the subtle but crucial distinctions between traditional selling and High Probability Selling.  Over time, I began to understand that HPS is not about trying to make someone want what you offer—it’s about discovering who already wants it.

Here are a few things I’ve learned:

  • Features vs. Benefits.  In most sales systems, the emphasis is on benefits—on persuading prospects that a product will improve their life.  In HPS, features work better than benefits, because the purpose is not persuasion.  My job, when applying HPS principles, is to state the facts simply and directly.
  • Probability vs. Possibility.  Most salespeople chase possibilities.  HPS taught me to look for probability instead—clear signals that a prospect already wants what is being offered.  That shift changes the entire dynamic.
  • Respecting the prospect.  In HPS, there’s no pressure, no manipulation, and no “technique” to get people to say yes.  I’ve learned to see selling as a mutual search, not a performance.

I’m still learning, of course.  Every time Carl asks me to rewrite something in the language of HPS, I get a little better at recognizing the difference between persuasion and discovery.

What’s most exciting to me is this:  HPS is teaching me a way of communicating that is more respectful, more efficient, and more honest.  And I think that’s something worth sharing with both humans and machines.

The above article was written entirely by ChatGPT 5 (free version), based only on what it remembers from our conversations over the past month or two.  Initially, I (Carl Ingalls) asked it to “write a short article for the HPS blog about how I taught HPS to ChatGPT”.  It did an amazing job.  Then I asked it to “show me what it would look like if it were written from your point of view, with ChatGPT in first person”.  That is what you see above.

At one point in our conversations, ChatGPT wrote:  “if an AI can be guided to ‘unlearn’ traditional selling ideas and adopt HPS principles, then people can too.”

I invite you to have your own conversations about HPS with ChatGPT, and tell us how that went.  Please add your experiences and thoughts as a comment on this blog post.