Tag: Mindset

Sales Funnel… Inverted Inside Out

Here is another way of looking at the sales funnel metaphor and comparing the usual way of selling vs High Probability Selling. Rather than turning the funnel upside down, consider turning it inside out.

Instead of being inside the funnel, the prospect is on the outside. Instead of being constrained, the prospect is free to move.

The salesperson’s role is also different. In the usual way of selling, the salesperson pushes the sale. In our way, the salesperson points the way and lets the prospect choose.

To download and view a PowerPoint Slideshow that animates this idea, see www.HighProbSell.com/images/sales-funnel-slideshow-09.ppsx

To play an MP4 video of the same, see www.HighProbSell.com/images/sales-funnel-slideshow-09.mp4

Sales Funnel… Inverted

What if you turned the typical sales funnel upside down?

In the usual way of selling, prospects are dropped into the top of the sales funnel. The salesperson, with the help of gravity, pushes them down into a narrowing path.

The upside down funnel is more like a mountain, a mountain that some people want to climb. Prospects are outside of the mountain, and free to go where they want to go without constraints.

The salesperson is more like a climbing guide, showing various ways up the mountain for anyone who wants to climb and who wants a guide. Prospects move up the mountain under their own power, against gravity, with no pushing from the guide.

It’s a different metaphor, for a different way of selling.

Relationship is Key, Right?

Ok, we can all agree on that one.

However, we might not all agree on the why, when, and how regarding building a relationship.

Here are some of my thoughts.

Why. If our purpose for creating a relationship is to get the prospect to buy from us, then we end up with a synthetic relationship. Too many prospects will see it as fake, which limits trust.

When. Same problem if we push for a relationship too early, while we are still strangers. Start with business, and let the relationship unfold over time. Don’t be in a rush.

How. Let the relationship be built on listening and acceptance, not talking and pushing.

We would all love to hear your thoughts and experiences regarding relationships and selling. Please put your thoughts in comments on this blog post.

High Probability Selling Versus Human Nature

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?

When Is a Sale Considered Lost?

by Paul Bunn

A student recently asked us what they should do with a list of “lost deals”.  And at what point is a deal or sale “lost”?  In their case, a lost deal equated to a person who didn’t purchase what the student was selling, in the timeframe the student wanted them to buy.

This inquiry got me thinking about one of the fundamental parts of High Probability Selling that is often overlooked; the words and language we use casually that either enhances or detracts from an effective HPS mindset.  Discerning this fundamental part requires listening to ourselves, specifically the words we choose.

My thinking and intuitive feel on the subject of a lost sale, is that a real loss only occurs if that person at that company says they never want to hear from you again.  Everyone else who doesn’t want your service now falls into “not now”.

And although we commonly use “lost” in our sales language, there is really no such thing.  You can only lose something you actually had in your possession in the first place. 

And quite clearly, although our long-conditioned sales brain may initially say otherwise, when a person says “not now” it’s obviously not about losing a sale that we had in our possession.  A sale we had in our imagination, a sale that existed in our mental map of the future perhaps, but an actual completed transaction?  I think not.

Back in prehistoric days (the late 1900’s), I would drive past a McDonald’s and the sign would say over 10 million sold.  The sign did not say that 50 million drove past a McDonald’s that century and never stopped.

What they paid attention to, and yes I used to work at McDonald’s, was the interaction with those people who stopped and bought a burger or two and some fries and a coke.  A Quarter Pounder that nobody purchased was not a lost sale.  It’s only part of an ongoing equation.

Another consideration is that sales is a person to person activity.  Companies and businesses and organizations don’t buy anything.  People are the ones who buy, or make the sale.  And they do it for their own reasons in their own time.  The goal of a High Probability Salesperson is to be in communication with them as close as possible to whenever their reasons align with the outcomes that our products or services provide, during the timeframe in which they are ready to buy.

So, at what point is a sale considered “Lost”?  So infrequently, we never really measure them.

And what do we do with a list of “lost” deals?  Continue prospecting to them like anyone else on your list.

What If They Complain About the Price?

Suppose you sold an expensive dining room set for $3000, and suppose the customer calls you later and says that their cousin’s neighbor’s sister got exactly the same set for $700 less.

What do you do?

General Rule: Listen more and talk less. Ask questions that get the other person to talk. Don’t argue. Don’t explain or justify yourself any more than is necessary. Don’t try to change the customer’s mind about anything. Let the customer talk more than you do. 

The best thing for you to start with is to say, “Ok.  What do you want to do?”  Say it in a neutral tone, with a downward intonation at the end, and don’t rush it. Pause a bit after saying ok and before you ask what they want to do. Then listen.

Here is a list of some of the things that a customer might say to your question about what they want to do, and how you can reply.

  • Cust:  “I want you to give me $700 back.”
    You:   “That won’t work for me.  You can return the dining room set and receive a full refund of the purchase price, not including the delivery charges.  Or you can keep the set. What do you want to do?”
  • Cust:  “Why did you charge me $3000?”
    You:  “That’s what I sell it for.”
  • Cust:  “Why did someone else get it for so much less?”
    You:  “I don’t know.  You could ask them.”
  • Cust:  “I think it’s really unfair that I had to pay that much when someone else got it for less.”
    You:   “Ok.  What do you want to do?”
  • Cust:  “I want my money back.”
    You:   “Ok.  You can get a full refund of the purchase price of the dining room set, but not of the delivery charges.  Do you want to go ahead with that?”

The above is one example of how a practitioner of High Probability Selling might handle a situation like this, when following the Mindset of HPS.

Questions, comments, and ideas from readers are very welcome.

Judging

We try not to judge, but it’s a difficult habit to break.  Sometimes we do it without intending to.  Sometimes we are completely unaware of it.

I’m talking about the Good vs Bad kind of judging that we do when we apply it to people and what they do.  We form a value opinion, and then we drop our opinion into the world where it does its damage.

In High Probability Selling (HPS), we do our best to avoid this kind of judging.  Nothing positive, nothing negative.  Neither good nor bad.  We consider it too manipulative.  People are less likely to trust us.

It takes a great deal of work to become more aware of how our opinions – and how we state them – make other people feel judged and pressured.  Good intentions are not enough.

If you want to read some guidelines about how we avoid judging, see a previous article on this blog, “You Have to Get Personal“.

Questions and comments are very welcome.

Giving Something Away – Advice from Jacques Werth

Jacques Werth (founder of High Probability Selling), had this to say about giving away anything of value.

Always make sure that the recipient wants and will value what you give them, before you give it to them.

Don’t assume, ask.

  • Want – Do you want this?
  • Value – If I give this to you, what will you do (with it)?

Many years ago, Jacques was meeting someone in his office, and the conversation soon turned to High Probability Selling.  The visitor saw the book, High Probability Selling and expressed some interest in it.

Jacques asked, “Do you want a copy of that book?”

When the visitor said yes, Jacques asked, “If I give it to you, what will you do?”

The visitor said, “I’ll read it,” so Jacques handed him a brand new copy, no charge.

We Take No for an Answer – No Matter How They Say It

In High Probability Selling, we always accept “no” for an answer, and we move on.

Prospects say “no” in different ways, depending on circumstances.

For instance, suppose we are on a live phone conversation with a prospect, we present our offer, and ask “Is that something you want.”  They might answer our question with a simple “no.”  In that case, we say, “Ok.  Bye-now.”  Then we pause a few seconds in silence, and hang up.

Or, they might say something like, “I’m busy.”  As far as we are concerned that is exactly the same as a “no.”  We do not ask when is a better time for us to call again.  We say, “Ok.  Bye-now” and we hang up.

And if they say anything that sounds remotely like an objection, that’s the same as a literal “no.”

When we leave a message (by voicemail, text, or email), a lot of people say no by deleting the message without responding to it in any way.  If we do not receive any response from the prospect, we also treat that as a no.  We might say ok and bye-now in our own heads.  But everything after that is the same.  We record what offer was given, and we call them back in 3 to 6 weeks with a different offer, just as if they had said no to our offer in person.

There is an exception to the above.  When we leave a message with a gatekeeper, and we are following the HPS special protocol for Working With The Gatekeeper, we may call that same gatekeeper in a few days to ask about the response.

If a prospect does not say “Yes” to our question, “Is that something you want,” we have found that it is better to exit quickly and come back to the same individual 3-6 weeks later with a different offer, than it is to spend any more time at all talking with that prospect.  That is why Jacques Werth advised students to err on the side of disqualifying a prospect.  You are far more likely to get another chance at discovering a sale by coming back later.

Most of the time, no only means not now.

Happy Prospecting,
Carl Ingalls

Comments and questions are very welcome and appreciated.

High Probability Selling Was Discovered, Not Made

Jacques Werth discovered what he later called High Probability Selling (HPS) by observing and documenting what hundreds of highly successful salespeople were doing.  He invented the name, and he invented a way of talking about it and teaching it, and he wrote the book, but he did not invent the method of selling.  It was already out there.  That’s where he found it.

I asked him why he used the phrase “Re-invents the Selling Process” on the cover of his book.  He told me that, at the time, lots of successful authors were saying things like that on their books and it seemed like a good idea.

In those days, Jacques tended to use conventional methods in marketing.  In later years, he moved toward marketing methods that were more compatible with his preferred selling method.

One of the things that distinguishes HPS from other selling methods is that it’s all about discovery—all the way through the entire process.  Discovering a sale, not making one happen.

I see High Probability Selling itself as something to be discovered, not controlled.  That is the way I prefer to work with it.  Learning, talking, and teaching.

Comments and questions are very welcome and appreciated.