In High Probability Selling (HPS), a relationship is something that comes from doing business, not the other way around.
We do not attempt to steer the relationship. But we do want to find out what a future relationship might be like with that person. For instance, will we be able to trust each other?
When we have better information about a person, we make better decisions about whether or how we will do business with them.
How do you find out these things? You can’t know any of this for 100% certain, but you definitely can improve your odds significantly, by asking questions and listening to answers in a very open way.
It’s an inquiry process. It is described and discussed in the book High Probability Selling (Chapter 7 – Establishing a Relationship). However, a few things have changed since that book was written.
- We no longer call it Establishing a Relationship, because that may imply that we are manufacturing a relationship. Internally, we call this process the Trust and Respect Inquiry (TRI). Also, we teach a lighter version of that for beginners, in workshop courses called Getting Personal or Connecting.
- At one point, the book states, “The process of Establishing a Relationship creates trust.” We would not say that today. Trying to use this process to make someone trust you is very likely to backfire.
- The book also says that this is the single most important step in High Probability Selling. I agree that this process is the most valuable thing HPS has to offer, but it is a lot bigger than just selling. Also, some people have been very successful in doing HPS without it. Therefore, I see its value not as a step in a sale, but rather as a whole way of interacting with people.
There is a previous blog post on the same topic from July 2010, titled Establishing a Relationship.
Workshops in Dec 2018: Chapter 12 Updated on Tue 11 Dec for $95
