Is selling really as simple as showing customers what they want to buy? What separates successful salespeople from those who struggle to close deals?
Keenan’s book, Gap Selling, reveals an approach to making sales by identifying and leveraging the gap between a customer’s current situation and their desired outcome. Learning how to make a sale requires understanding the psychology behind customer decisions and mastering the art of demonstrating genuine value.
Take a look at Keenan’s proven sales methodology that has transformed countless struggling salespeople into top performers.
Making the Sale
Once you understand your customer’s gap, you can leverage that information to make the sale. According to Keenan, you can effectively sell your products and services by first evaluating the value that your solution will provide to your customer by closing the gap and then demonstrating that value. We’ll explore each of these parts below.
Step 1: Evaluate the Value of Your Solution
Once you’ve revealed your customer’s underlying issues and their long-term goals, you’ll be able to quantify how much value your solution offers them. Keenan explains that measuring the effect of the solution will indicate how much your product is worth to your customer. The greater the value you provide, the more enticing your solution will appear to your customer, and the more it will be worth. He recommends three steps to calculate the value of the solution: measuring the benefit you provide, measuring the cost to the customer, and weighing the two against one another.
1) Measure The Benefit
First, measure the value of closing the gap. Keenan advises calculating the specific differences between current state and ideal state using the key metrics that matter to the customer, such as revenue growth, close rates, or deal sizes.
Let’s say you’re selling a new customer relationship management (CRM) software to a mid-sized sales team. Through your discovery process, you’ve learned that their current system is outdated, causing inefficiencies and missed opportunities. To measure the effect of your solution, you might calculate:
- Time saved per salesperson per day (for example, one hour)
- Additional customer interactions made possible (for example, five more calls per day)
- Improved lead conversion rate (for example from 10% to 15%)
The cumulative value of each of these improvements is what you present as the value of your software.
2) Measure the Costs
Keenan also recommends that you consider the costs and effort the customer will have to make to implement your plan. These include not only the tangible upfront costs, but also intangible costs like implementation time, organizational disruption, training, and compatibility with their current practices.
In the example of the CRM software, you might want to consider factors such as:
- Software licensing fees (for example, $500 per user per year)
- Implementation costs (for example, $10,000 for initial setup and data migration)
- Training time (for example, two days of productivity lost per salesperson during onboarding)
- IT infrastructure upgrades (for example, $5,000 for additional server capacity)
- Potential temporary dip in productivity during the transition (for example, 10% reduction in sales for the first month)
3) Evaluate the Benefits Against the Costs
Finally, weigh the costs and benefits to your customer. If the benefits exceed the costs, then you’re offering the customer real value, and—as we’ll discuss in Step 3—you’ll work to demonstrate that value in your sale. If the costs exceed the benefits, then you’re unlikely to make a sale, and should refer the customer to someone else who may be able to help overcome their issues instead.
Step 2: Demonstrate the Value of Your Solution
Once you understand the value your proposition offers to your customer, you can effectively pitch your solution. It’s important to start with the understanding that customers only take a risk if they see an obvious benefit to themselves. Keenan explains: While many people claim to want change, most people actually oppose making changes and prefer the status quo because it’s more emotionally comfortable. Thus, your job as a salesperson is to show your customer why the change is worth it.
(Shortform note: Understanding what motivates customers to prefer the status quo can give you insight into how to best alleviate any concerns they have about the changes you’ll propose.. Psychologists have identified at least two causes of what they call “status quo bias.” As we’ve discussed earlier, people are strongly motivated by loss aversion, and any change to the status quo often requires a loss. Secondly, people are motivated by regret avoidance—meaning that they’ll pick the safest option (often, the status quo) to minimize the possibility that they’ll regret their choice later on. Thus, when crafting your pitch, consider what your customer stands to lose or regret in a sale and prepare explanations for why your customer won’t experience the losses and regrets they fear.)
Keenan explains that you must focus your sale on demonstrating the value your proposition will provide by closing the gap. You’ve now thoroughly researched your client’s goals and issues and made a detailed cost-benefit analysis of your proposed solution. Your job now is to present your proposition in a way that highlights and showcases the specific value it provides to your specific client. Focus your pitch on concrete, measurable improvements that align with the customer’s goals and priorities.
| How to Demonstrate Value Sales experts build on Keenan’s advice with a few specific methods to help customers see and understand the value you’re trying to demonstrate. In Pitch Anything, Oren Klaff says your pitch should answer the question “why now?” He suggests telling a story about how the business world is changing, and why your solution will help your customer in meeting the challenges of the moment. In Little Red Book of Selling, Jeffrey Gitomer advises you to let your customers speak for you. By giving customer testimonials and examples of clients you’ve helped, you can showcase the value your solutions have brought to others. Finally, Zig Ziglar, in Secrets of Closing the Sale, recommends that you ask questions that get the customer to state the value of the solution in their words. When they articulate the value themselves, they’ll feel like they’re making the decision rather than being pressured. This will strengthen their perception of the value your solution provides. |
Additional Tips
Keenan also offers three pieces of advice to guide you in your sales process: Remember that a sale is made up of little sales, establish yourself as an authority, and stand up to your customer.
1) A Sale Is a Process Made Up of Little Sales
Keenan explains that every sale is a process made up of little sales. Focus on obtaining the next incremental commitment from the customer to keep your deal moving forward, instead of fixating solely on the final close.
He breaks down the sales process: First, you need to sell someone on the idea of giving you their time. Then you need to sell them on answering your why questions to reveal their long-term goals and the underlying causes of their issue. You need to sell them on the idea of sharing data with you so that you can evaluate the value of the solution, and you need to sell them on the idea of listening to your pitch so you can demonstrate the value of your proposition. Only then can you actually make the final sale.
2) Establish Yourself as an Authority
Keenan recommends that salespeople establish themselves as knowledgeable consultants and valuable assets to their customers. He challenges the conventional wisdom that people buy from those they like. Instead, he argues, people buy from those who provide them value. Thus, focus on providing expertise and solutions rather than trying to be everyone’s friend. For instance, if you’re selling software, be able to discuss not just your product, but also industry trends, best practices, and how your solution fits into the broader technological landscape.
3) Stand Up to Your Customer
Keenan emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balanced partnership with customers throughout the sales process. He cautions against becoming subservient or readily agreeing to excessive demands. Instead, be prepared to stand your ground when necessary, clearly explain your rationale, and propose mutually beneficial compromises.
Furthermore, he encourages you to tactfully challenge your customer when they change their mind or offer reasons for backing out of a sale. He suggests framing your challenges with language like “I’m confused, I thought you said…” and “Could you explain to me why…” This maintains a tone of respect while forcing the customer to clarify and justify their position. Challenging the customer keeps the conversation open and provides an opportunity for you to continue convincing your customer of the value you can provide.
