What Is Gap Selling?

Gap Selling is a new selling method that sales expert and author Keenan created. It focuses on finding and fixing the differences or gaps between where a possible customer is now and where they want to be in the future. Keenan’s book Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes talks about the process. Gap selling not only pushes products or services on customers but also actively seeks to understand their problems, challenges, and goals.

When salespeople use this method, they take a consultative approach and deeply talk with customers to determine their needs and goals. By pointing out the differences between where the customer is now and where they want to be (their present state versus their future state), the seller can make their product or service look like the best way to connect those two points. By putting the customer first, sales improve, and the salesperson and buyer build more robust, long-lasting relationships.

To use the Gap Selling process well, sales reps need to be good at active listening, communicating with empathy, and critical thinking. They need to know the customer’s personal or business goals, what might be stopping them from meeting those goals, and how their product or service can help them get around those problems. Gap selling is based on showing how valuable the solution is not just by listing its features and specs but also by how it directly fills in the gaps that are stopping the customer from moving forward. Gap selling lets salespeople become trusted advisors instead of just sellers by tailoring their pitch to the customer’s specific needs. This makes the sales process more collaborative and successful.

Synonyms

• Gap selling framework
• Gap selling methodology

Gap selling vs. other ways to make sales

Gap selling differs from other sales methods because it focuses on finding and fixing the problems between where the customer is now and where they want to be. Let’s look at the main ways that gap selling is different from other popular ways to sell:

Solving problems vs. selling things

Traditional sales methods focus on forcing customers to buy goods or services. Gap selling, on the other hand, focuses on solving problems. It means figuring out the customer’s problems and pain points and then marketing the product or service as the way to fix those problems.

Focusing on the customer

Gap selling is very focused on the buyer. It all comes down to knowing what the customer wants, needs, and desires. Gap-selling salespeople don’t use a standard sales pitch. Instead, they have deep conversations with customers to make their method fit their unique situation.

Consultative Method

Gap selling is different from transactional selling because it uses a consultative method. To be a trusted adviser, salespeople listen to the customer, ask insightful questions, and offer personalized solutions that directly address the customer’s pain points.

Messages with Value

Some ways of selling might focus on the features and benefits of the product or service, but gap selling looks at how it can improve the customer’s life or business. Its goal is to clarify how the service solves the customer’s problems and helps them get what they want.

Setting up long-term relationships

Gap selling tries to get to know customers well and keep in touch with them over time. Salespeople become partners in their customers’ success instead of just one-time sellers when they understand their needs and offer unique solutions.

Having emotional intelligence and empathy

Emotional intelligence and kindness are vital for Gap sales. To win the trust and credibility of the customer, salespeople need to get to know them personally, understand how they feel, and build a relationship with them.

Gap selling is different because it focuses on the customer, offers advice, and solves problems. It means knowing what the customer needs, giving personalized answers, and building relationships based on trust and value. Different sales methods may focus on different parts of the sales process, but gap selling is unique because it focuses on understanding and meeting customers’ wants.

Advantages of the Gap Selling Methodology

There are many great things about the gap selling strategy for salespeople and customers. Here are some of the most important benefits:

Focused on the customer: Gap selling is based on the wants and goals of the customer. Salespeople can tailor their approach and offer personalized solutions if they actively listen and understand the unique problems their customers are facing. This focus on the customer method builds trust and credibility, making relationships more robust and fruitful.

More sales: Salespeople can successfully show the value of their products when they focus on finding and filling in the gaps in the customer’s current situation. Customers are more likely to buy because they can see how the product or service directly helps them solve their problems and get closer to the future state they want to reach.

Increased customer satisfaction: Since gap selling matches the solution directly to the customer’s wants, the chance of them being unhappy after the sale decreases. It’s more likely that a customer will be happy with their buy if it directly addresses their problems and gives them what they want.

Long-term customer loyalty: Gap selling focuses on building relationships and being a trusted guide to get long-term customer loyalty. Long-term customer loyalty and repeat business can be built by salespeople who constantly offer value and custom solutions.

Fewer sales cycles: Knowing what the customer wants and giving them a product that fits those needs can cut the sales cycle by a significant amount. Customers are more sure of their choice, and the sales process runs more smoothly.

Competitive advantage: Gap selling gives salespeople an edge over rivals who might use more traditional, product-focused sales methods. Sales reps get an edge in the market by presenting themselves as experts who can solve problems and be trusted.

Enhanced sales team morale: Higher happiness on the sales team: gap selling gives salespeople the tools to have deeper customer conversations. When the sales team sees how meeting customer wants improves things, it motivates and boosts morale.

Deeper market insights: More information about the market: To find customer gaps, you need to know more about the market and the problems buyers are having. Sales teams learn valuable things that can help them decide about new products and marketing campaigns.

Gap Selling: What Do You Want to Know?

To understand what the customer wants and where they’re having trouble, the Gap Selling method uses four main types of research questions:

Questions That Probe

Probing questions are open-ended inquiries meant to learn more about the problems and situations the customer is facing. These questions get the customer to go into more depth and give more information. Professional salespeople ask deep questions to understand a customer’s problems and learn more about their unique needs. Like, “Can you tell me more about the problems you’re having with your current software system?”

How Do You Do It?

Process questions aim to learn about the customer’s current routines and processes. By asking them what steps they are taking now to deal with their problems, sales reps can find errors and holes that need to be filled. These questions help the seller figure out how the customer’s business works and how their product or service can fit in perfectly. “Can you walk me through your current sales process and the tools you use to manage leads?” is one example.

Getting People to Think

Inspiring questions make customers think and question what they already think or believe. Customers are asked to think about their problems in new ways and come up with new ways to solve them. Salespeople ask thought-provoking questions to make people feel they need to act quickly and show the risks of keeping things the same. “Have you thought about the long-term effects of not addressing these challenges?” is an example of a question that makes you think.

Questions for Verification

Validating questions ensures you understand the customer’s problems and wants. These questions help sales reps understand what customers want and that their suggested solutions will help them reach their goals. It shows that the salesperson is genuinely interested in meeting the customer’s needs when asking validating questions. For example, “From what we’ve discussed, it looks like security is critical to you.” Is that right?”

When using the Gap Selling method, salespeople can learn much about the customer’s position and goals by asking probing, process, provoking, and validating questions during the discovery process. Because they understand the customer so well, they can offer customized solutions that fill in the holes left by the customer. This leads to more successful and value-driven sales interactions.

The best ways to come up with a gap-selling strategy

A thorough and well-thought-out plan is needed to create a solid gap-selling strategy. When making a gap selling plan, here are some of the best things to keep in mind:

Know your customers inside and out.

You need to understand your customers to use gap selling to its full potential. Learn as much as possible about your audience’s problems, obstacles, and aspirations. To get helpful information, use market studies, customer interviews, and data analysis together. Make ideal customer profiles to get a clear picture of your ideal customers. Then, you can adjust your gap selling strategy to meet their unique needs and goals.

Use empathy and active listening.

Gap selling is all about caring about and focusing on the customer. Teach your sales team how to actively listen, ask good questions, and truly understand what the customer is going through. When you show that you understand their specific situation, you gain their trust and credibility, improving your relationship with them. Salespeople who have empathy can also see and meet the emotional needs of their customers, which are sometimes just as important as the logical ones.

Continuously train salespeople

The sales team needs a lot of knowledge and skills, a conversational method. Ensure your team knows how to use the gap selling method, good asking skills, and value-based selling by giving them ongoing sales training. When talking to customers, give the team new information about the market and products regularly to keep them up-to-date and sure of themselves. Please encourage them to play role-playing games and get feedback on their work to improve their gap-selling skills.

In conclusion, gap selling is based on deeply understanding the customer, communicating with empathy, and getting ongoing sales training. By making the company’s approach fit the needs of its ideal customer and giving solutions based on value, the sales team can position their products as the best way for customers to get past their problems and reach their goals for the future. Putting money into the skills and knowledge of the sales team will help them have deeper conversations with customers, build better relationships with them, and ultimately make more sales.