Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes: How Problem-Centric Selling Increases Sales by Changing Everything You Know About Relationships, Overcoming Objections, Closing and Price

by Keenan

Make them justify why your price is too high.

by putting the customer first; by preparing to solve problems, not talk product; by coming ready to consult, not sell; by leading with value—people are simply going to be more willing to come to the table.

Prospects will be more willing to meet with you because they will see it’s in their best interest to do so. “Best interest . . .”

It’s not about your product; it’s about being a problem finder and problem solver.

You’re not looking for people to talk to; you’re looking for people with problems you can solve.

As you start prospecting, keep thinking like a buyer. Don’t say or send anything that wouldn’t compel you to pay attention if the roles were reversed. Everything you send out, every communication, every engagement should address a problem or a set of problems with which your target customer could be struggling. The communication should be them-centric—their business, their production facility, their customer service, their sales organization, their supply chain, their whatever. Your goal is to get them to engage with you on a problem or set of problems. You have to be a problem finder. Become fanatical in that endeavor.

Don’t let anyone tell you that cold calling is dead, or that social selling doesn’t work, or that email is useless. These distribution methods are only as useless or as valuable as the messages attached to them.

the majority of cold outreach lacks the fundamental element of getting attention: intrigue. If you can’t generate intrigue, no one will pay attention to you.

Wait, what? What’s this? I didn’t expect that. I’d better take a closer look.

1. Surprise Find ways to create the unexpected. Sending your first piece of correspondence to a prospect inside a box of fresh croissants might just get you that breakfast meeting after all. 2. Create mystery Make them say, “huh?” Create pain in the form of anticipation, which only further engagement can soothe. “Did you know that your competitor shortened their manufacturing cycle by three days using our product?” 3. Create a knowledge gap “Were you aware that only 54% of salespeople make quota because of poor selling environments, not because of poor sales training?”

Prove that you know something the buyer doesn’t about their industry, their business, their competitor, or the products they use.

Look for obscure information that could positiv...

Ask questions you know the buyer ...

“Are you aware that many reliability managers are actually creating the very failures they are tasked with preventing?”

“Are you aware that 80% of companies that use the same systems that you do rank dead last in their industries?”

Insight on how the competition is solving a problem with which they are struggling A new federal mandate or regulation on the horizon A discussion about new best practices for achieving XYZ The ability to attack a new market, reach new customers, stop losing money, increase market share, etc. New market data or insights that affect their business An exploration of unseen or unrecognized opportunities

Before you ask the Big Ask, ask the small ones and secure the next yeses.

Another trick to getting a yes? Don’t ask for a chance to talk. Ask for a chance to give value. And to do that, you need the right ask with the right offer.

Time is money. By equating your ask to a monetary spend, it helps assess if you’re offering enough or asking too much. Most people aren’t willing to spend 15 minutes of their time being introduced to your product. Barton needs to increase the offer or reduce the ask (the cost).

In fact, it could take anywhere from 8–12 touches for a customer to finally give you some attention.

Meet prospects where they are, mix up your contact methods, get creative but avoid gimmickry, and stay problem-centric. Gap sellers know that ultimately, their success doesn’t hinge on the tools they use, but on the messaging.

The key to successful prospecting is to make sure that every communication stays focused around solving the business problems you’ve identified as likely to be having a significant impact on the people you’re trying to reach. Each time you connect, however, you’ll want to emphasize a different impact, or provide a new piece of information, or share a relevant bit of research.

Every sale is made up of hundreds of smaller sales Every small sale must entail another yes to move nearer to a successful close Prospecting is your shot to get to the first yes Every prospecting email, call, voice mail, video, and social media post must include: intrigue, a clear and reasonable ask, an offer, and a net benefit to the customer

Two business days later he calls and leaves a voicemail saying the same thing.

Three business days after the last call, he writes a new email that says:

Three to four business days after this email, Barton calls yet again and leaves a voicemail with a similar message.

A few business days later he sends a new email.

The goal is to stay in front of your buyer until they respond. Remember, our job is to get that first yes. Yes! I will meet with you.

When a buyer doesn’t respond and we stop calling and emailing, that’s us saying no for them and that’s a huge mistake. Never say no for your buyer.

Unlike gap selling, traditional prospecting is just annoying. You’re bugging them to listen to you talk about your product or have them tell you about their problems. There is no value.

Gap-selling prospecting assumes that your buyers don’t have time to tell you their problems so it’s up to you to tell them what their problems are or at least what they might be.

You’re able to prove that you understand the problems that plague your customers, the root cause of those problems, and the impact they’re wreaking on the business. You show you’ve done your research on how your product or service can turn those negative impacts around.

getting prospects to let you help them and put you in a position to bring ideas, perspective, and solutions to the table that they would never expect from a salesperson.