Gap Selling

Do my salespeople understand the customers’ current state? Do they know enough about the literal, physical business? Can they list the customers’ critical problems? Have they accurately assessed their impact on the customers’ organization? Are they cognizant of the buyers’ emotional state? Have they pinpointed the root cause of those problems? 2. D

You should follow up: “Can you share with me what’s been the impact of not being able to regularly communicate with patrons?”

The numbers you want to pay attention to are your salespeople’s: Average close rates Average deal size Average length of sales cycle Average number of new deals to the pipeline

I love fixing shit. That’s what gap selling is all about. It’s not about pitching products and services; it’s about solving problems and making people’s lives easier.

“Reason alone can never be a motive to any action of the will.”xiii Unless your customers feel strongly about the value of the change you’re proposing, they will not move closer to the sale.

You know you have a healthy pipeline if your salespeople can provide: Accurate close dates (within 30 days) Accurate quarterly commits within 15% on either side Clear next steps (the next yes) Clear deal strategies Adequate pipeline coverage (the pipeline will allow them to meet their commit and quota) Evidence for all of the above

you’re going to use command statement starter words: “Tell me how this issue is affecting you.” “Can you describe the impact it’s having on your department?” “What are the consequences every time this problem occurs?”

you’re going to use what sales influencer and author Deborah Calvert calls “command statement starter words”: “Tell me a little bit about the events you put on.” “Help me understand . . . ” “Could you please describe . . . ?” “Could you walk me through . . . ? So rather than ask, “How do you market to your buyers?” you can ask, “Could you walk me t

Can they identify the gap? Can they explain how they calculated it? 4. Can they name the customer’s intrinsic motivations for buying? 5. Can they list the buyers’ decision-making criteria? 6. Can they provide evidence that all of this information is accurate? 7. Do they know what will happen next and when?