The value of Probability Selling is that sales dollars and resources are deployed cost-effectively, sales results are predictable, and employees are both motivated to do their jobs and aligned with the corporate objectives.
The near-term results of Probability Selling are shorter sales cycle times, higher conversion rates, and higher average sales prices.
Effective sales and marketing marketing starts with quality (high conversion rates) and then leads to quantity (increased frequency of campaigns). It’s more cost-effective to "Aim small, miss small."
Most direct marketers play the numbers game and send their generic message to anyone they think might have even the remotest interest in the message. Then they're surprised when unqualified responses trickle in.
If you "aim small" and develop a small, but highly targeted list, a highly relevant message and drive them to equally relevant content, response rates will drastically increase.
I know what you're thinking: small list = few responses (even with a high response rate)—and you're right.
The key is your targeted message can only "miss small." You can't get too far off-base if you're speaking to a very select group of prospects the way you can when you're speaking to an entire demographic.
"Aim small, miss small" is the motto of evolved direct marketers who demand the highest quality responses at a price that will generate a positive ROIm. It also spells trouble for beer cans. MarketingHasEvolved from JDM Marketing
As JDM points out in the blog post excerpt from above, if you start with a small and highly qualified list of targets and “sales misses” then the costs will be lower and more importantly sales intelligence gathered will be direct, actionable and timely.
At Ephor Group we call identifying a highly qualified and select group of ideal prospective buyers “Bull’s-eye TARGTING.”
Beyond the principal of TARGETING, additional principles of Probability Selling include:
- Start by creating assets. Create marketing assets (qualified house list, portals, downloads, videos, etc.) and sales assets (ROI and TCO calculators, business case tools, testimonials, case studies, etc.).
- Never put a sales person “in front of” a non-qualified buyer (sales personnel are expensive!) . If the prospective buyer does not have at least a 1 in 5 chance of buying then an expensive resource like a sales person should not be used. That’s what telesales and inside sales and qualification forms and screening campaigns and research campaigns were designed to prevent.
- Create sufficient value-proposition and portfolio of products/services to have multiple reasons for buying and multiple items to buy. For example, have a low-barrier to start product/service so that the prospect can get comfortable.
There is a simple litmus test, if the executives cannot close 1 in 4 qualified opportunities then work needs to be done to improve the value-proposition and/or portfolio offering so that there is a higher probability of selling the prospective buyer.
Probability selling requires effective marketing (marketing = strategy), sales execution and product management.
“Marketing’s primary function should be to develop the market, to create demand for the product or services which results in High Probability Prospects. The primary function of sales-people should be to find and do business with the High Probability Prospects, as they develop. In other words, marketing’s job is to create awareness; sales’ job is to make the sale.” Jacques Werth, author of "High Probability Selling”.
More on the differences between “traditional selling” and “probability selling” can be read on Werth’s blog here:
First, traditional sales training teaches that just about everyone who might need what we sell is a prospect who can and should be sold. High Probability Selling takes a little sharper look at reality. There are clearly many more prospects out there than can ever be given our full sales and marketing message. If you try to sell every prospect, you'll waste time, money and effort. And, even more importantly, you'll waste the "opportunity cost" of not getting to those prospects who are most likely to buy, now.
Second, traditional sales training teaches that selling is the Art of Persuasion - that the way you get a prospect to buy your product or service is to manipulate the prospect through the five classical steps of the buying decision. In contrast, High Probability Selling teaches that selling is the art of Agreement and Commitment. Only High Probability Prospects - those who are willing to commit step-by-step to the buying process - are worth the salesperson's time, energy and resources. High Probability Selling.
im how to think—and then he reached what I felt was the correct decision on his own. Clayton M. Christensen in “How Will You Measure Your Life.”
