Sales Book Review: High Probability Selling

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A guest post by Paul McCord.

Why in the world would I be reviewing a book that’s been on the market for more than 15 years? Why not stick with far more recently published items?

Legitimate questions.

I had read High Probability Selling by Jacques Werth a number of years ago and I had no intention of writing a review now. After all, the book has had a decade and a half to prove itself.

Yet, when I began to skim the book recently, I was reminded of the influences it has had on my thinking over the years, so I decided to pick it up again and read it in detail.

Here’s the thesis of High Probability Selling - Sell prospects who want to buy what you are selling and don’t bother with the others. Second, establish in writing exactly what the customer wants and expects so you can measure whether you’re exceeding your prospect’s expectations - during and after the sale.

Earth shattering, right? Hardly.

Yet, to start with the first - how many selling processes, books and training courses are geared toward trying to convince prospects that they really need what you’re selling, whether they really do or not? A constant game of arm-wrestling, convincing and objection handling until finally your prospect sees it your way.

And in regard to the second point- many companies and salespeople have been touting their ability to exceed their client’s expectations. In reality, they have no idea what the client really expects. Why? They simply never ask.

High Probability Selling wants none of that. There’s no overcoming objections, no closing, no wrestling an appointment out of a prospect, no pressure to buy, no confrontation, no rejection.

Instead, it focuses on constantly examining the prospect to determine whether the chance of making a sale is high or low. If the chances are low, the salesperson politely goes his or her own way, seeking a more high probability prospect.

Simply put:

• There are so many prospects available who want to purchase your product or service now that you need not waste time with prospects who aren’t currently ready to buy
• All prospects will qualify, more correctly disqualify, themselves quickly. Those who don’t answer your questions appropriately are low probability prospects, so move on.
• Persuasion of any kind, in any situation is bad, bad, bad. Worse than bad. Hannibal Lecter-evil bad.
• Allowing the prospect to disqualify himself quickly is good for the prospect as it is for the salesperson.

Another important segment of the book talks about establishing a customer’s Conditions of Satisfaction.

It’s a structured process of discovering and writing down what your customer expects from you, your company and your product or service. It’s also the only way to determine whether you’re exceeding your prospect’s expectations during and after the sale and a great approach to flushing out any unrealistic expectations.

No longer will you discover to your dismay in the middle of the process that your customer had expectations that you could not possibly meet. Those days of sales falling apart or leaving a customer angry can be over.

Whether you fully adopt the process or not, few will be able to walk away from High Probability Selling without having to seriously consider their current sales process in light of what is presented.

Dated book? Yes. Still worth the time and effort? Absolutely.