Every business needs a standardized sales methodology to scale its sales organization. Without a repeatable process, success or failure is random, and over time, failure follows.

What is a sales methodology?

A sales methodology is a repeatable process executed by your sales team to move potential buyers from awareness of your solutions to a decision to buy from your company.

Your sales methodology must be:

• Documented
• Updated regularly to reflect changing market needs
• Taught to new hires
• Reinforced regularly
• Fit the solutions you are selling and the prospective buyers looking for answers

Your sales methodology should never be static. The process must be a living document that you review and update as necessary, on at least a quarterly basis.

 

What do we mean by fit the solutions and prospective buyers?

We’ll dive more deeply into the types of methodologies in a moment, but we want to ensure you know that you don’t have to use the same methods for all parts of your business.

Businesses with multiple products and solutions, and those that sell into various industries, may find that different approaches are necessary.

 

How do you choose the correct methodology?

First, let’s briefly explore the various types of methodologies.

 

Types of sales methodologies?

 

Home-grown for specific products, solutions, or industries

Many companies create their solutions, often created by pulling together aspects of the well-known, general-purpose methods we will share in a few moments.

These technologies are often so custom-tailored to their specific needs that they are not transferable from one business to another.

 

Standard Approaches

Of course, a few standard solutions are regularly used in their entirety or at least used as a starting point for customizing for specific needs.

 

The Challenger Sales Methodology

The Challenger Sales Methodology is great when selling solutions in new markets when solving unique problems, and generally, anytime you create a significant disruption to the status quo.

If you are trying to convince buyers they need to spend a lot of money doing something they never considered a problem or are comfortable with their current hacks, you should consider Challenger.

Learn more about Challenger.

 

SPIN Selling

The SPIN Selling methodology is fantastic when you sell complex products or solutions capable of solving various business challenges.

In other words, if you have a Swiss Army Knife type of product and looking for the right pain a buyer has that you can solve, SPIN Selling can be of value.

Learn more about SPIN.

The Miller Heiman Sales Methodology

The Miller Heiman Sales Methodology works well when selling solutions where the seller, or the entire sales team, must take a more consultative approach to sales.

When selling platform solutions that impact multiple teams, and technologies, and solve several business problems, you may want to consider Miller Heiman.

Learn more about the Miller Heiman Sales Methodology.

 

MEDDIC Sales Methodology

The MEDDIC Sales Methodology is great for sales teams selling products that require a deep understanding of a customer, their technologies, and their complex buying environments.

In our opinion, the MEDDIC Sales Methodology should always be considered as a part of any solution deployed as its ability to qualify prospects is second to none.

Learn more about the MEDDIC Sales Methodology.

 

The Sandler Sales Methodology

The Sandler Sales Methodology is a good fit for complex deals that take a long time to sell.

If your sales cycle takes a year or longer, the ability to build and grow relationships will be critical for success. Consider Sandler, or at the least, aspects of Sandler, in this situation.

Learn more about Sandler.

How do you deploy your sales methodology?

While the exact steps will vary across companies, you need to consider when deploying or refreshing your chosen approach.

 

Select the right solution and tweak it to fit your needs

We covered this above; please review.

 

Integrate the Sales Methodology into your CRM

CRM integration is vital for pipeline reviews, forecast accuracy, and overall reinforcement of your sales methodology.

 

 

We will add additional recommendations as we identify trusted solutions for each.

 

Build it into your sales onboarding

Teach all customer-facing teams about your sales process during your sales onboarding program.

Sellers will use it daily, of course.

Customer Success teams should understand how to use the processes to support upsell and cross-sell opportunities in existing customers.

 

Support Reinforcement in your CRM

 

Consider solutions like Spekit and Usetiful to build in-the-moment, in-context, training tips, and education to support the teams trying to work with the processes selected.

 

Require Sales Managers to coach the process

Managers should have regular coaching sessions to ensure teammates who struggle with the process get the support they need to improve.

 

Reinforce it during pipeline reviews and deal forecasting

Your process should increase the accuracy of overall forecasting. Ensure you reinforce the use of it at every one of these meetings.

 

Final Thoughts

A sales methodology that is not built into your CRM and regularly reinforced across your teams is useless.

If you don’t do both of these things, you may feel like you picked the wrong approach when, in reality, you failed to follow through.

 

And if you are still looking for a CRM system, consider these options

Capabilities	Pipedrive	Hubspot	Freshsales	Salesforce
Ideal for Business Size	Small Business	Small to Mid-Sized Business	Small to Mid-Sized Business	Mid-Sized to Large Business
Key DIfferentiator	Easy to use Contact and Deal Flow	Top of the line Marketing Automation Plus CRM	Very easy to use solution and part of the overall Freshworks suite of products. Will grow with you as your business grows.	Customizable and Scalable to meet the needs of the largest businesses
Integrations	More than 250 integrations.	More than 1000 integrations.	Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, DocuSign, PandaDoc, PayPal, Quickbooks, Xero, Zapier, Slack	Too Many to List, here is the list of all integrations
Top Verticals Supported	Technology, Financial Services, Construction	Technology, Retail, Health Care	Technology, Financial Services, Healthcare	Technology, Financial Services, Health Care
Cons	Fewest Integrations — Use solutions like Zapier to close the gap.	Free CRM is solid but the least robust of the three. Adding in paid features becomes expensive.	Fewest Integrations — Use solutions like Zapier to close the gap.	Most complex solution to learn.
	Try Now	Try Now	Try Now	Try Now