There are dozens of sales methods. As I was about to give a few keys to choose the one that best suits a given activity, I wondered where they came from, how they had evolved.
Here is what I found:
In the 1920s, a number of sales methods were based on phrenology: the study of the impact of the characteristics and metrics of the human skull on character traits. They encouraged salespeople to look at the shape of the skull to adapt their speech. While this may seem completely anecdotal, it is more surprising to learn that this method was popularised by Henry Ford, who trained his salespeople to identify people with high foreheads because they were more likely to accept new ideas.
The recession years saw the development of a number of techniques that either appealed to the empathy of buyers (for example, the salesperson describing the difficulties he or she had in feeding his or her family) or to the communication of positive messages showing joy and drive. These overlap under the name of Mood Selling.
In 1936, a landmark change in the history of sales came about with the publication of « How to Make Friends and Influence Others, » written by Dale Carnegie. Showing others that you care about them, smiling, valuing and listening to them carefully, remembering their first names and other personal details are all techniques that have been incorporated into many sales methodologies (Customer Centric Selling, Relationship Selling). The distancing induced by the health crisis and the need to create a link, a relationship via video are making these methods more popular today.
Around the same time, Barrier Selling, which is based on the mechanics of engagement of our subconscious, is developing. The objective is to obtain a commitment to purchase after having collected a number of validations, acquiescences, « yes » on non-significant points but gradually trapping the buyer, ideally in front of his or her relatives (« Do you want your children to get the best out of what a good education can bring? »). Gradually, the buyer, or rather his subconscious, finds himself in a dynamic where saying « no » requires an effort that is now out of reach.
It is during this same period that paying salespeople according to their sales becomes the rule rather than the exception and is the source of abuse and manipulation to such an extent that governments are forcing the introduction of provisions allowing buyers to retract. These selling methods, and the problems that go with them, remain commonplace and are still used when selling insurance contracts, changes of energy supplier or new windows to more vulnerable people.
The 1950s saw the emergence of sales methods based on demonstrating the value of the product by referring to the benefits enjoyed by existing customers (SELL: Show, Explain, Lead to benefit, Let them talk). At the same time, and more particularly in the UK, a set of techniques is emerging which consists of obtaining a commitment after having the buyer answer a questionnaire that will gradually guide him to the purchase (ADAPT: Assessment, Discovery, Activation, Projection, Transition).
Finally, ARC (Ask, Recommend, Cross-sell and close), which is very popular in retail, is gradually spreading to the B2B world with the aim of broadening the share of wallet, products or services, sold to each customer. This concept can be found in Miller and Heiman’s Strategic Selling published in 1975.
The 1960s witnessed the emergence of a profusion of similar techniques until the arrival of Formula Selling and BANT. In a flourishing economic context where the offer is increasingly diverse, marketing studies began to show the interest of specialisation. This is the definition of the concept of the niche market aimed at developing customer segments that are smaller but more homogenous and above all more sensitive to the same scripted discourse aligned with their specificities. It is the notion of Formula Selling with methods such as AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action), methods that are still used today by telemarketers whose product or service offer is highly standardised.
At the same time, IBM introduces a method that does not systematically push sales but first ensures that it is feasible and that the signatories are identified. BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) is the first method that aims to establish the real qualification of opportunities with the ambition to eliminate as quickly as possible the ones that will lead to nothing. Implicitly, it is also the way to limit the cost of sales and maximise the allocation of time to those opportunities that are most likely to succeed.
1968 is the year of all revolutions, including in the commercial field. The fall of its patents into the public domain is a situation in which Xerox has to face competition in its own market. This prompts it to invest more than $100M in the creation and implementation of a sales method. This new method is based on the premise that a buyer does not want to « be sold something » but to make choices based on substantiated information. This approach places the salesperson’s responsibility on a) knowing what the customer needs, and b) with a sufficient degree of knowledge of the customer’s business to highlight the benefits that will enable the prospect to make a rational decision.
NSS (Need Satisfaction Selling), integrated into a training programme marketed by Xerox as PSS (Professional Selling Skills), marks a turning point by providing a model for the sales of complex solutions where the environment is competitive and price is a determining factor. To this day, PSS remains one of the 2 pillars of current sales methods.
In the mid-1970s, as the economic horizon darkens and risk aversion grows, Robert Miller and Stephen Heiman create Strategic Selling. This system builds heavily on PSS by adding a methodology for planning sales activity within large accounts. While the success is undeniable, it is regrettable that Strategic Selling puts more emphasis on a guide of tasks to be carried out (the famous Blue Sheet) than on specific skills.
A real change comes about towards the end of the 80s with an approach that evolves from highlighting product features, benefits and advantages, to an increase the focus on the prospect and his problems.
Consultative Selling is based on PSS techniques not to incorporate the same sales process but to develop the basis of a questioning mechanism that makes the salesperson appear as an expert and a partner in the search for solutions. This is the idea of « Hurt & Rescue » (later incorporated into the construction of the emotional journey of Challenger Sale). This consists of identifying and highlighting a problem in the customer’s mind whose impact is measurable, quantifiable before proposing a solution that would make it disappear. While the determination of a value between a current state and a future state has been used in many sales methods, the real revolution was introduced in 1988 by Neil Rackham. SPIN takes the concept of « Hurt & Rescue » to another level by setting up sequences of questions that lead the prospect to find the answers himself and formulate the solution he needs: Situational questions, Problem questions, Implications questions, Need pay-off questions.
To date, SPIN is the heart, the foundation, of the vast majority of current sales methods.
In 1993, Mike Bosworth publishes Customer Centric Selling. This former Xerox employee, who was heavily involved in the PSS project, proposes a variation of SPIN in which the focus of questions and actions is on the customer, favouring a conversational mode to formal presentations, seeking to emphasise the benefits of the solution for the customer rather than the characteristics of the product or service. Again, the aim is to make the salesperson appear more of an expert in questioning than in presenting clear-cut opinions.
A large number of variants are still appearing today, such as Jim Keenan’s Gap Selling where the focus is on identifying and measuring the gap between a current and a future state, using the benefits of the solution as a way to better position against competition and to manage objections. While most of them bring something new, such as taking into account the daily over-solicitation that buyers are currently subjected to, there is no real innovation. They remain variations of PSS and SPIN which have had the incredible merit of highlighting the need to develop a mutual understanding with the customer of what the ideal solution is. However, these sales methods are still demand driven: the customer knows he has a problem and that not doing anything creates a discomfort that is sufficient to trigger change.
In 2009, the economy is coping with a major financial crisis caused by the collapse of part of the banking system at the end of 2008. One of its effects is the rather radical change in the behaviour of buyers. The latter are taking back control of part of the sales process on the one hand because access to information is easier, giving less value to the consulting side of the sales force, and on the other hand because purchasing decisions, particularly for complex solutions, are made in a more collegial manner after following stricter processes.
Matt Dixon and Brent Adamson introduce the Challenger Sale in 2011. Based on a statistical study, done by CEB Global (now Gartner), identifying the dominant traits of salespeople who systematically exceed their targets in difficult times, they are developing a methodology (some call it choreography) to give a new angle to the problems encountered by customers. After having destabilised the buyer by showing him the current risks and then extrapolating them in a more business angle broader than the initial problem, the salesperson seeks to gradually reveal a brighter future. Here too, it is the identification of the problems and their impact that will lead to the development of creative and different ideas to arrive at a proposal tailored to the client’s needs and objectives.
The new economy has brought about solutions to problems that either did not exist or were not perceived at all. This has led to a considerable set of new behaviours, a completely new way of consuming. The Saas and Paas offers are perfect examples of this, as they provide an answer to complex problems without making the customer bear the cost of the infrastructure. This has introduced a set of selling methods known as Insight Selling and Provocative Selling, which, while in line with Challenger Sales, increasingly require sales people who have an intimate knowledge of their prospects’ business and the industry in which they operate.
The Internet has changed everything, including the level of information that prospective buyers have and their ability to search for the information they think they need. Hence Inbound Selling, which aims to provide potential buyers with educational content. The content is based on large amounts of data and other metrics to create hyper-customized content to motivate the buyer to proactively contact the seller.
A number of methods have been discussed in this article. There are dozens of others. In no particular order and in a way that is far from exhaustive, we can name:
- SNAP (Simple, iNvaluable, Align and raise Priorities)
- Value Selling
- Target Account Selling
- MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, Champion)
- ANUM (Authority, Need, Urgency, Money)
- NEAT, a « renovated » version of ANUM (Need, Economic Impact, Access to authority, Timeline)
- The Sandler Selling System
- GPCT (Goal, Plans, Challenges, Timelines) which is a refreshed version of BANT popularised by IBM.
Having a sales method is imperative. It allows for more accuracy in forecasting, eliminates unqualified opportunities, provides a guide for sales people and ensures that they do what is expected of them. It also provides a common language for coaching and mentoring.
But perhaps the first question to ask is the context in which you operate. What matters is the answer to the following question: for my market, my products, my solutions, what is the typical behaviour of the buyer, when does he interact with the seller and with what in mind.
This article can also be read on LinkedIn.
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