Sales Methodologies: 12 Common Sales Methodologies And How They Work

Sales is a challenging but rewarding field. With the right background and one-on-one training, success can be achieved. Uvaro's program provides this by introducing you to the highly effective sales methodologies used in sales today. And unlike most sales training programs, we continually provide support to our students post-graduation.

While you can know a SaaS product inside-out, including all of the back-end technologies, code, and ways that clients can achieve quick wins - you may not even know how to open conversations with a prospect. Or what to do when the client is about to walk away!

If only you knew insider tips on the most influential tech sales methodologies that could produce tangible results. Well, worry not, Uvaro's got your back. Read up on these 12 tech sales methodologies that will lay the groundwork for those who need a different perspective on effective selling tactics.

What's a sales methodology?

We teach our students that a sales methodology is merely a framework that a successful salesperson must learn to adapt to new situations in the heat of the moment. The idea isn't to go into a tech sales career with a rigid formula for success; it's about having a range of tactics in your tool kit to draw upon as you speak with prospects.

Knowing the most effective sales methodologies in the tech industry opens up more job opportunities, even if you're already a natural-born salesperson who never balks at the unexpected.

1 – Command of the sale

The first sales method is arguably the most efficient in the tech industry. When you can demonstrate command of the sale – command of the sales process, that is – you'll be able to guide a prospect by anticipating their hesitance.

Think about what kind of effort it'll take to have complete command of a product. You'll have to know the product's benefits, and at the same time, you'll have to understand what a company wants to achieve overall and what kind of results the business expects from a solution.

But the key to the command-of-the-sale tactic is this: you'll need to be very specific, detailed-oriented, and project an air of confidence at all times, no exceptions. If you do it right, the depth of expertise you display will put you in a better position to win the sale.

2 – The Sandler System

Created by David Sandler in 1967, The Sandler System has been around for several decades, and it's not going away anytime soon. Without a doubt, it's one of the most common tactics used in tech sales.

The general idea is that the sales process should initially start with building a positive rapport where buyers and sellers recognize the importance of the end game: a sale that benefits both parties.

Building a positive relationship from the start will allow you to dig deeper into a prospect's pain points, which should tell you how to position your product as the best option. If money is no object to candidates, and they're almost begging to pay a premium, you don't bother mentioning cost savings.

Besides that, The Sandler System can work well on clients skeptical of "sales speak" in general because it puts clients at ease and in control. Your task is to guide them along without being pushy and provide honest, forthright information at precisely the right moments.

3 – Conceptual selling

Conceptual selling isn't necessarily a trick” per se; it's a recognition that not every buyer approaches purchasing decisions with cold logic. In fact, most consumers don't think that way about a product; often, they'll buy based on their own concept of the product – the evocative aspects a product promotes.

You never lead with a pitch in conceptual selling, even if it's a soft, subtle opening. You simply begin by asking questions to flesh out what the clients feel about the ideal solutions to their problems.

Honestly, the opening stage in conceptual selling is all about listening before positioning a product. The answers you provide will show the prospect whether or not you're taking their concerns to heart and not using their pain points as leverage.

For example, automakers do a fantastic job at conceptual selling in luxury car commercials. They understand that the luxury auto market buys based on the concepts of sophistication and exclusivity.

4 – Challenger sale

This tactic is the brainchild of B2B marketers Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, who conducted research that broke down salespersons into five categories:

• Challengers
• Hard workers
• Relationship builders
• Reactive problem solvers
• Lone wolves

Interestingly, the "challenger" type of salesperson, says Dixon and Adamson, is usually the most successful personality on the sales team, but why? It's a great question we hear from our students all the time.

You start the challenger method by first educating your prospects about the larger picture. For instance, a remote learning SaaS platform may include a lengthy implementation period, so you want to tailor communications to remind customers of what they'll gain in the end.

"Challengers" also aren't afraid to answer a prospect's objections firmly without going too far. Other sales tactics usually never involve pushing back on a client, like a challenger tactic.

5 – SPIN selling

The idea of SPIN selling comes from Neil Rackham's famous book "SPIN Selling," published in 1988. Simply put, SPIN is a mnemonic acronym for a series of questions that cover:

• Situations
• Problems
• Implications
• Need-payoffs

Asking questions that fall into one of these four categories is a fantastic method for building rapport with prospects. By listening to a client and guiding the conversation, you can actually use the SPIN method to convince prospects to buy on their own terms without a pitch.

Your task is to listen, adjust, and project an air of gentle confidence and empathy that you truly understand where the client is coming from and want to help.

6 – Solution selling

Solution selling is where most novice tech salespersons like to start their careers. It's the most straightforward tactic to use when you know how a product will benefit a prospect.

Distinct from other methods in this article, solution selling hinges on the fact that buyers today can perform extensive research online before contacting a salesperson. Even a cursory Google search can prime a prospect's pump to be more receptive to solution selling tactics.

Overall, this method works well for prospects who are closer to buying than most. This type of client understands their pain points thoroughly but not how your product will specifically solve them.

7 – N.E.A.T. Selling™

Trademarked by Sales Hacker and The Harris Consulting Group, N.E.A.T. Selling™ begins by understanding a prospect's core needs, the "N" part of the acronym. Demonstration of the economic impact comes next, and this step is pivotal to winning a sale.

A successful pitch on a product's economic impact entails both ROI and showing customers what they stand to lose financially by not buying the product. Admittedly, this method hinges on focusing on the financial aspect of purchasing decisions.

Similarly, success relies on speaking with a decision-maker, someone in the company with the most authority over the purchase, and putting prospects on a timeline to move the process along.

Indeed, it's one of the more aggressive tactics in this list, and you should reserve it for specific situations.

8 – Gap selling

Gap selling is a tried-and-true method in tech sales created by Keenan. The only downside to this methodology if you want to call it that is that it's relatively time-consuming compared to other tactics. When you take the gap selling approach, you're delving deep into a prospect's core business needs.

Once you understand those needs, you can start to educate the client on areas where they have a deficiency – a gap! It's from that rhetorical position that you pitch a product as a solution. When prospects can see where they're falling short, it's easier for them to justify making a purchase to address the need.

9 – Target account selling

Unlike the others we've listed so far, this tactic depends on speaking to the correct prospects in the first place. It's one of the more efficient ways to go about tech sales since you'll be working with qualified leads and more detailed buyer personas, ideally based on complex data.

The downside is that this tactic requires sales process automation tools to pinpoint which clients are likely to be more receptive. Whereas other sales methods hinge on quantity, target accounting selling hinges on the quality of the lead.

There is more effort in the very beginning to narrow down qualified prospects and maximize the sales team's resources and time.

10 – SNAP selling

SNAP Selling is based on another acronym of sorts that stands for:

• Keeping it simple
• Being invaluable
• Always in alignment
• Raising priorities

Overall, this method works best on prospects that you don't have a lot of time to nurture. The fact remains that not every buyer makes decisions based on logic; emotions matter in sales.

So SNAP selling gives you a framework to keep the conversations with prospects short and straight to the point. The idea is to build a positive rapport by speaking with a potential client on their terms, not yours.

11 – Inbound selling

Usually, our students don't consider inbound sales as a career path because they don't yet understand the difference between outbound sales. With inbound selling, you're dealing with prospects that are actively searching for solutions – and have already researched your product by opting into marketing communications.

Indeed, specific sectors in tech lend themselves more to inbound selling tactics, such as eCommerce. Today, customers don't sit around idly and wait for you to sell them on a solution; they research online first, sometimes extensively.

Inbound selling allows the sales team to reach out to prospects that are ready to buy and reduce contact with unqualified leads.

12 – MEDDIC

Lastly, we finish our breakdown of the best tech sales methodologies with MEDDIC, which stands for:

• Metrics
• Economic buyers
• Decision criteria
• Decision processes
• Identity of pains
• Championing

It's one of the more rigorous approaches in our list since it analyzes the prospect's buying process to sell them on a solution. With the MEDDIC method, you'll have more success with the careful, incremental sales processes enterprises use.

Learn more with Uvaro

As you can see, these 12 sales methodologies show that you don't have to approach sales with a robotic, formulaic mindset. There's plenty of room to adapt your approach!

If you're interested in learning more about how Uvaro can help prepare you for the world of selling with these sales methodologies, check out our courses today and see what else you'll learn from us! Do feel free to contact us for more information.