High Probability Selling

I once read an article (by Seth Godin I think) about the difficulty of selling something that requires prospects to give up long-held or cherished beliefs.  The author had only two solutions for this problem.

• Try to overwhelm them with logic and evidence that proves your idea is better.
• Try to make your product or idea seem like a less radical departure from what they believe.

There is a third approach that he did not mention, and this is to find people who are already beginning to question their beliefs.

Of course, this is the problem of High Probability Selling.  It is based upon several very radical ideas that contradict very strongly held beliefs.

We already know that persuasion is counterproductive when applied in the prospecting or selling process.  It also appears to be ineffective in the marketing process.  People react negatively to being pushed.  The harder you try to convince someone to change their mind, the less they trust you.

So how do we find people who are already questioning the belief that persuasion is a good way to get people to buy from you?

• If your job is to sell the way your boss tells you to, and that way is not High Probability Selling, then using HPS may get you fired.  If you want to go ahead and do it anyway, you might have to pretend that you are doing what your boss tells you to do, and start looking for a new job.  Do not be tempted to use your new success to prove your boss wrong.
• If you enjoy the feeling that you are very persuasive, then High Probability Selling probably won’t work for you.  Any attempt to persuade when using HPS will backfire, because it will generate even more mistrust than if you simply used a traditional way of selling.  If you feel that your success depends upon your ability to change prospect’s minds, then it may be very difficult for you to give up that feeling.
• If you think of your prospects as prey to be driven into a sale, then High Probability Selling will not be appealing to you.  HPS does not offer any techniques for tricking people into buying from you.
• If you believe that finding people who already want what you are selling is merely “order taking” and not real selling, then High Probability Selling is not for you.  Making more money due to the increased volume of sales may not be enough to compensate for the feeling that you aren’t creating the sale.
• If you find it very difficult to try something that is very different from what other people seem to be doing, then you might not be able to try High Probability Selling.
• If you are uncomfortable with the idea of calling a list of people, and taking “No” for an answer from most of them, then High Probability Selling may not be for you.  The best way to find “Yes” is to learn to accept “No” and move on.

• Make more money, without having to work harder.
• Spend less time working, for the same amount of money.
• Be a Top Producer, with all the recognition, perks, and status.
• Feel better about what you do for a living.
• Be more competent and effective at what you do.
• Other, something we didn’t think of.