Sales methodologies, also known as sales models, provide a framework for a specific section of the sales journey - lead qualification or conversion, for example. They have been around for decades to provide structure for sales teams along with a host of benefits for sellers and prospects. Some methodologies give step-by-step guides on how to do something, while others are more conceptual.
Sales methodologies are often broken down into acronyms to help reps remember the relevant steps and ensure the methodology is followed in its entirety to achieve the best results. Every sales team is different so choosing the right sales method to match your team and your product takes time and may well evolve as you go.
Sometimes used interchangeably, sales methodologies and sales processes are distinct tools that work together to drive results. Essentially, sales methodologies, or sales frameworks, encompass the overarching philosophy that guides how your team approaches selling - ie., the mindset and strategies behind every conversation about selling your service or product. The sales process, on the other hand, isn’t a specific approach in and of itself, but the structured sequence of steps your team follows to move prospects through the sales funnel.
In layman’s terms, this means that the different types of sales methodologies are there to shape your team’s approach (relationship-building, consultative selling, etc.), and the process ensures consistency and efficiency. Together, they form the foundation of a successful sales strategy that aligns both tactics with execution.
Sales methodologies have been proven to achieve positive outcomes in highly competitive sales environments, for a number of reasons.
Keeping these front of mind throughout the sales cycle means your subsequent client base will be more suited to your product, have fewer unexpected or unanticipated issues, and see better results from using it.
This is useful for both new team members - their onboarding has clear instructions and expectations - and experienced salespeople, as it creates flow and seamlessness in their pitch and process.
Many sales methodologies are founded on psychological principles around persuasion and studies of human nature. Underpinned by sales philosophies and theories, you’re saving yourself the time of having to try out lots of methods to see which work reliably.
Methodologies create a clear line through the cycle while allowing for the differences and nuances between reps that make them unique. Ultimately, everyone is aligned, which is particularly helpful for hybrid and remote sales teams.
Methodologies create uniform templates for benchmarking what good looks like to your team. This supports measuring performance improvement so managers can better track how each rep is doing.
Sales methodologies give reps a format for their notes on prospect records. This means that when a manager or anyone else needs to refer back to prospect notes they can easily do so with comprehensive and comparable documentation.
When you map out a methodology, you can plan for all the eventualities that may occur in that sales conversation. Any objections or angles thrown at you from the prospect are expected and better prepared for, so if they happen, reps are well-equipped to tackle them.
With predictability comes certainty. While these selling methodologies don’t guarantee every prospect converts, they do support your ability to create realistic and achievable targets and sales forecasts with a longer-term view.
There are a whole host of different sales methodologies that have been proven to be effective for a variety of teams and businesses. We’ve broken down some of the most popular below.
1. BANT
2. MEDDICC or MEDDPICC
3. The Challenger sales methodology
4. The Sandler method
5. The SNAP methodology
6. The Miller Heiman sales methodology
7. Gap selling
8. Customer-centric selling
9. SPIN
10. NEAT
11. Conceptual selling
12. Solution selling
BANT is one of the most common sales methodologies. It includes a prospect qualification framework that allows reps to decide whether a prospect will be a viable customer for your specific product or service. It was first created for use at IBM in the 1950s to quickly get reps up and running.
Using BANT, reps pose questions through various stages which can be tailored or tweaked, depending on the nuances of your businesses and the tone you prefer your team to take. Ultimately, each step aims to confirm prospect suitability in one of four key areas.
MEDDICC is another very popular prospect qualification and selling methodology. What you’ll notice is that many elements are similar to BANT, but that other elements (including a P often turning MEDDICC into MEDDPICC) are included to add depth and context. MEDDICC was first created by Dick Dunkel of Parametric Technology Corporation and later championed by John McMahon for B2B sales.
The Challenger methodology is an approach to pitching created by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson in their book The Challenger Sale.
As its name suggests, a challenger rep will take a more offensive, as opposed to defensive, approach. Key tenets of this methodology are opening the prospect's mind to possibilities, defining what value means to them, tackling difficult topics competitors might shy away from - like money and more alternative options - and then guiding them to your solution. The challenger methodology does not focus on the relationship build, as many others do, and tailors the sale very acutely to each individual prospect.
While the Challenger methodology doesn’t have an acronym, it does suggest sticking to three T’s.
#1 Teach
Teach the prospect about the options available to them, challenge their perceptions and broaden their mind.
#2 Tailor
Tailor the pitch specifically to your prospect, following deep listening and understanding of them, their wants and needs.
#3 Take control
Position yourself as the guide, to lead the prospect through the decision-making process.
Developed by David Sandler in the 1970s, the Sandler sales methodology takes reps and prospects through seven steps. A consultative and collaborative approach, it prioritizes a low-pressure sales environment, building strong rapport and underpinning the process with mutual trust.
The methodology has three main phases; relationship building, qualification and the close.
Created by Jill Konrath in her book ‘SNAP Selling: Speed Up Sales and Win More Business With Today’s Frazzled Customers’ - the clue is in the name. This is potentially one of the best sales methodologies for SaaS businesses. The methodology seeks to increase win rates in today’s selling environment, where weary buyers are information-rich with the internet at their fingertips but time-poor to do the research.
The process has two parts - the basics (SNAP) and the three decisions.
S = Simple.
Remember the prospect is highly pressured by their buying environment so keep meetings, options, and discussion crystal clear.
N = I(N)valuable.
Position yourself as central to the prospect’s success, guiding them through the process with expertise, information, and trust.
A = Align.
Identify very clearly the prospect's goals, pains, concerns and those of any other decision-makers, then align everything you do with these points.
P = Priorities.
Ensure their priorities are front of mind and reiterate your value proposition regarding these priorities. Highlight how your solution meets their need better than no decision.
These four basics are paired with Konrath's three decision-making criteria the prospect will ask themselves. Reps can then use these questions to assess their own pitch.
Robert Miller and Stephen Heiman created this three-phase methodology in the 1940s. It was specifically designed for larger and more complex decision-making groups and higher-value deals. The two key focuses are on building relationships with each individual within the decision-making group and on achieving the close.
In these larger decision-making groups, you must categorize individuals to better tailor how you approach them. Broad categories to use here are your champions, end-users, ‘technical’ buyers who check if the solution meets requirements, and budget holders.
With your categorized list of individuals, work out which are most likely to be for or against your solution, with their various priorities and restraints in mind. You can then work out where and how you need to allocate time and effort while maintaining good relationships.
Now you can set about influencing the relevant individuals in customized ways, to achieve the outcome you want. Everyone in the decision-making group should feel valued, understood, and like their needs are being met as you close the deal.
Gap selling was created by Keenan, in the book 'Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes' published in 2018. The concept focuses on the gap between the buyer's current state - how they feel now and the problems they are experiencing - and the buyer's desired state - where they would like to be in a given timeframe, how they would like to feel and what issues they would like to have resolved.
#1 Current state
The first step is to clarify the buyer's current state, not just confirming their pains but deep diving into how wide-reaching the pains are, whether they are symptoms of other issues and the emotional implications. It's your standard discovery call taken to a whole new level.
#2 Desired state
The same level of detail should be sought in understanding the desired state. Not just what problem is solved but what do things look like across the business? How does the prospect feel? What other positive consequences and impacts might your solution create?
#3 The gap
Exploring the gap is all about laying out the buyer's journey. Although a bigger gap might seem like a harder sell, it's actually the opposite. The bigger the gap, the more worthy the problem is of the buyer's investment. In this step, you need to uncover everything that needs to be ticked off and resolved so that your buyer feels like they have achieved their desired outcome - leave no stone unturned.
Developed in the early 2000s by Michael Bosworth as a response to the traditional product-focused sales techniques of the time, customer-centric selling encourages sales professionals to act as consultants, guiding buyers through a problem-solving journey rather than simply pushing a product. The goal is to align with modern customer expectations and lay the foundation for relationship-driven selling practices.
Customer-centric selling is exactly what it sounds like: putting the customer at the center of every interaction. This sales framework focuses on understanding the customer’s needs, challenges and goals before pitching any solution. It’s less about selling a product and more about acting as a trusted advisor who helps customers solve problems.
SPIN selling was introduced in 1988 by psychologist Neil Rackham based on extensive research into what makes sales conversations effective. The methodology focuses on asking four types of questions: Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-Payoff, to guide prospects toward identifying their own needs and realizing how your solution fits. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the buyer’s perspective and steering away from aggressive, one-size-fits-all tactics.
SPIN is built around asking strategic questions to uncover a buyer’s pain points and priorities. Here’s how it breaks down:
S = Situation questions
To gather facts about the customer’s current situation.
P = Problem questions
To uncover challenges or areas of dissatisfaction.
I = Implication questions
To highlight the consequences of those challenges, emphasizing their urgency.
N = Need-payoff questions
To guide the buyer toward envisioning how your solution can resolve their pain points.
NEAT selling was developed by the Harris Consulting Group as an evolution of traditional sales methodologies like SPIN and BANT. Designed to address modern sales challenges, NEAT emphasizes qualifying leads and aligning solutions with the buyer’s unique needs.
NEAT focuses on prioritizing what the buyer needs and making sure the sales goals are aligned throughout the entire process. Here’s how it works:
N = Needs
Understand the core problems the buyer is trying to solve—not just the surface-level symptoms.
E = Economic impact
Quantify the financial benefits of solving those problems, tying your solution to measurable ROI.
A = Access to authority
Identify and engage with the decision-makers who have the power to move forward.
T = Timeline
Establish the buyer’s timeline to gauge urgency and align your process with their schedule.
Conceptual selling was developed by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman in the 1980s as part of their broader strategic selling framework. Conceptual selling shifts the focus away from selling a product and onto selling the “concept” of how that product or service meets the buyer’s needs - in other words, it helps to understand the customer’s vision and align your solution to fit that vision completely.
At its core, Conceptual selling places its focus on the buyer’s decision-making process and encourages salespeople to listen, ask targeted questions, and find out what the buyer truly values. It emphasizes three key areas:
Solution selling was developed by Frank Watts in 1975 and made popular in the 1980s by Xerox. This method works by identifying a customer’s problem and offering tailored solutions rather than trying to sell a one-size-fits-all product or service. It’s designed for scenarios where customers may not even fully understand their own needs and require the guidance of a sales professional through the discovery process.
Solution selling is built on the idea that customers buy solutions, not products. So, the process begins with uncovering the customer’s challenges through active listening and probing questions. Once the problem is clearly identified, the rep positions their product or service as the ideal solution. Solution selling typically follows these steps:
Picking the right sales methodology comes down to what fits your team, your product, and your customers best. Here are some tips to help you make the right choice:
Above all, remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. You can implement one or a combination of a few sales methodologies as long as they align with how your team sells and how your customers buy. Keep it flexible, focus on what works, and adjust as you go.
These are just a handful of the most successful sales techniques and methodologies. So with so many options, how do you choose one for your sales team?
Change always brings challenges. It’s important to approach bringing in new sales methodologies to your team in a way that makes it manageable and meaningful. Here’s how to make the switch:
Start with the “why.” Explain what the methodology is and what it’s meant to improve - closing bigger deals, shortening the sales cycle, aligning better with customers, etc. When your team understands the purpose, they’re more likely to get behind it.
No methodology is perfect out of the box, so be sure to adjust it to match your sales process, your industry and the way your team already works. The closer it feels to what they know, the easier it’ll be to adopt.
Use a mix of short sessions, hands-on practice, and real-life sales methodology examples to keep the training dynamic and engaging. Focus on how reps can apply it in their day-to-day conversations.
Update tools and resources like playbooks and CRM workflows to match the methodology. Make it easy for your sales reps to follow the process without overthinking it.
It’s always a good idea to pilot the new sales methodologies with a few reps or low-stakes accounts first. Gather feedback, see what works and iron out any issues before rolling it out across the team.
Keep an eye on the numbers, including conversion rates, deal sizes and sales cycle lengths. Use them to evaluate how the methodology is working. Adjust as needed based on the results.
Sales environments are always evolving, so be ready to adapt your sales methodologies as you go. Regular feedback from the team will help you stay ahead of the curve.
Try as we might to follow textbook examples, sales methodologies will never play out exactly as stated. And quite frankly, they shouldn’t.
Sales is an evolving human interaction, and your team should approach it as such. Your sale should balance tried-and-tested methodologies, which align with, your aim to hit your target, and an awareness of the nuance in every conversation, which will drive success through genuine prospect connection.
Every sales team and product or service is different, so try, test, or even combine methodologies that match your business's values and sales processes.
Review sales call recordings to understand not just how well you and your fellow reps are doing but also how well the methodologies are suited to your market. Then, you can review which methodologies are best suited to your business.
This will depend on a number of things including; the market you are selling into, the geographies you are selling into, your team and their experience, and the approach your competitors take.
Be ready to change course to remain competitive and never be afraid to pave your own way.
Let’s face it: rolling out new sales methodologies can feel like a big move, but having the right tools can make it so much easier. Our powerful conversation intelligence platform empowers your reps to have better conversations, close more deals, and consistently hit their goals.
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Shelley Lavery is the COO and Co-Founder of Jiminny, the leading conversation intelligence and sales coaching platform that helps companies maximize their revenue. With over a decade of experience in coaching B2B sales teams, Shelley was previously Group SVP of Sales at Reward Gateway now leading the conversation intelligence discussion with expertise and insight.