Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes: How Problem-Centric Selling Increases Sales by Changing Everything You Know About Relationships, Overcoming Objections, Closing and Price | Jim Keenan

People don't buy from people they like. No! Your buyer doesn't care about you or your product or service. It's not your job to overcome objections, it's your buyer's. Closing isn't a skill of good salespeople; it's the skill of weak salespeople. Price isn't the main reason salespeople lose the sale. Gap Selling shreds traditional and closely held sales beliefs that have been hurting salespeople for decades.

For years, salespeople have embraced a myriad of sales tactics and belief systems that have unknowingly created many of the issues they have been trying to avoid such as: long sales cycles, price objections, no decision, prospects going dark, last minute feature requests, and more. Success at sales requires more than a set of tactics. Salespeople need to understand the game of sales, how sales works, and what the buyer is going through in order to make the decision to buy (change) or not to buy (not change).

Gap Selling is a game-changing book designed to raise the sales IQ of selling organizations around the world. In his unapologetic and irreverent style, Keenan breaks down the tired old sales myths causing today's frustrating sales issues, to highlight a deceptively powerful new way to connect with buyers.

Today's sales world is littered with glorified order takers, beholden to a frustrated buyer, unable to influence the sale and create value. Gap Selling flips the script and creates salespeople with immense influence at every stage of the buying process, capable of impacting the sales metrics that matter: 

• Shorter Sales Cycles
• Increased Revenue
• Elevated Deal Values
• Higher Win Rates
• Fewer No Decisions
• More Leads
• And Happier Buyers

Gap Selling elevates the sales world's selling IQ and turns sales order takers into sales influencers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"From actionable tips and tactics to hiring gap sellers to managing gap selling teams, this book has everything you need to know about selling to the gap. Most salespeople would be better off reading this book 20 times than 20 sales books one time. More than that, this is a book for more than just salespeople. It's a book that can benefit marketers, customer success teams, and business leaders--it's a better way of doing business. Indeed, it's a book that I will read many more times over the course of my career." -- Caleb Malik, Sales Executive at SmartBug Media

"If my memory was erased and I had to start over in sales and I could only use one tool to train myself--it would be this book." -- Casper Fopp, Chief Revenue Officer at Wondersign

"Hands down one of the most insightful sales books I've had the pleasure of reading. Welcome to modern day sales!" -- Chris Nadeau, Sales Executive at Presence of IT

"Gap Selling isn't Gold... It's Pure Rhodium! The first thing I did when I finished Gap Selling was Google 'what is the most expensive metal?'. I found out that rhodium is the most expensive of all precious metals, currently trading at $2,725 an ounce. To give you a better idea of its cost, that's more than twice as expensive as gold and 154 times more than silver. To this day, when someone believes something is exceptional they say, 'It's pure gold'. Well in the case of Gap Selling, they would be about 2X off of their evaluation. In my career, I've invested money in books, courses, conferences, and coaches. I now know that investing is a code word for 'wasted' because Gap Selling is top to bottom, front to back, 360 degrees the only book you need to read if you are in sales." -- Ned Arik, Business Development Consultant at VertiMax

"What 'Rework' did to how we think of work, Gap Selling is doing to sales. So perfectly fitting to borrow what Seth Godin said about 'Rework' to describe Gap Selling: 'IGNORE THIS BOOK AT YOUR OWN PERIL'." -- Aarathy Kulathunkal, Founder & CEO' of Being Cloud, ltd.

"Gap Selling has opened my eyes and helped me view sales, prospecting, and closing in a totally new way! It's blunt, straightforward, and exactly what young sales guys like me need to navigate through the fluff of our current overwhelming digital world of sales content." -- Ammon McKinlay, Business Development Manager at Bitwise Industries

Gap Selling is the breath of fresh air we as Salespeople know we need. We often feel the way we were taught to do things just doesn't apply anymore, but this confirms it. Keenan brilliantly breaks down the rules of the game we play, along with the practical steps to play it at the highest level. A culmination of deep knowledge across many methodologies, Gap Selling is an evolutionary bullseye of sales education. Like the Shark, Keenan's adapted a sales methodology perfectly suited for its environment. Problems, outcomes, current, and future states, change, emotions, why, why, and why again. Deals are won in discovery and 'no one gives a shit about you', so listen more, say less, define that gap and get that yes! Loved it." -- Greg Howard, Account Executive at Strongpoint

"I thoroughly enjoyed Keenan's book, Gap Selling, which put into print concepts that I have been exploring with our sales team. I have been trying to change our 'show up and throw up' culture to one which identified value and communicated it to our customers. Keenan's gap selling techniques took this one step further with concrete examples and a path to action. Changing corporate culture is tough enough, but without a definitive roadmap, it is an impossible challenge. Keenan spends time discussing the thought process behind finding out where your customer's gap is (whether they recognize it or not) and then shows us the way to do something with that information. With great techniques from prospecting to customer interaction to managing the pipeline, there isn't one area of the sale that isn't covered. Definitely a text that will stay on my desk for reference going forward."-- Chris Abeles, Director of Business Development at Aspen Aerogels

"Keenan's book, Gap Selling, rocked me in its simplicity and power. It will show you the core of sales--helping a prospect figure out the impact of their current state (CS) and the impact of their future state (FS). Keenan teaches how to diagnose that gap and leverage it to qualify/disqualify prospects, overcome objections, validate their decision criteria, hone in on what to show in your demo, etc. In fact, I am confident after reading this book, you too will believe that understanding how to diagnose the gap and leverage it in every part of your sales cycle is the only way to become a top performing sales rep." -- Zachary Bromberg, Vice President at MB Financial

"Cover to cover, Gap Selling is a pure joy to read. It is more than a process or philosophy, Gap Selling is a way of life. It applies to every kind of selling situation at every stage in your career. When you are ready to evolve and make a difference, this is a must read! Buckle your belt, buttercup, Gap Selling is going to blow your mind!" -- Eric Dutton, Business Development Consultant at Coffey Communications

"This is a no-nonsense approach to selling. Get ready to develop your skills of diagnosing your client's problems, digging deeper to know more about your clients, and making the art of selling change your new superpower. This book should be in the arsenal of anyone in business and in sales." -- Tracy Kreiter, Director of Sales at Turf Valley Resort,

"Gap Selling is written with such passion, one can hardly read a page without feeling the vigor of Keenan's powerful and brave arguments. It is informative, engaging and above all desperately needed for salespeople. The breadth of references provided in the book gives you an instant clarity of thought. Some of the things Keenan laid out are really hard to disagree with, some of them made me go crazy as they challenged my fundamentals as a salesperson. It is the kind of book that you re-read just because you do not want to miss anything." -- Ameya Kapre, Head of Direct Sales at tNex

"Keenan's informal style shines through in his book Gap Selling. The game of sales can be challenging. Keenan debunks ancient myths that salespeople have believed for eons. Not only does Keenan explain in great detail how to win at the game of sales he also gives the reader stories and scenarios that are relatable. I recommend Gap Selling to new and seasoned salespeople. This book unfolds the sales game and gives the reader the knowledge for their future state of success. Just like any game, you have to play in order to win. With Gap Selling knowledge your odds of winning are expediently increased." -- Melissa Morrisette, Owner & Designer of Morrisette Design

From the Back Cover

"As Keenan argues in Gap Selling, we all sell the same thing: change. Unfortunately, customers often reject the very premise of what we're trying to sell--not because they don't agree with the vision we've painted but because they see the journey as too hard, too risky, too uncertain or too expensive. In his latest book, Keenan offers a fresh and provocative formula for helping customers realize that the pain of same is actually worse than the pain of change." -- Matt Dixon, Co-author of The Challenge Sale

"Oh, Boy! Keenan's done it again. From relationships, to closing, from overcoming objections, to negotiating price, he's busted all the sales myths that actually create the very problems that salespeople so desperately want to avoid. In his typical in-your-face style, Keenan has nailed the buying process--and how selling is something you do with buyers, not to them." -- Jill Konrath, author of More Sales Less Time & Snap Selling

"Gap Selling works! Our team used Gap Selling and it completely transformed the way we went about selling--as well as our results! It increased sales, shortened sales cycles, and gave us a way to address those frustrating feature and price objections. Gap Selling offers a deceptively powerful way of thinking about how to approach the sale. With Gap Selling, your sales will be faster, more predictable, and more profitable." -- Eugene Carr, Founder of Patron Technology

"Mind the Gap. No really! Old style selling has us focused on current state and future outcomes. What we don't do is sell to the gap between and connect the dots. That is where the value lies. Keenan nails this and shows us how to connect the dots. Read this book. Sell to the gap. Make your number." -- Trish Bertuzzi, Author of The Sales Development Playbook & CEO/Founder of The Bridge Group

About Keenan

Keenan is CEO and president of sales consulting firm, A Sales Guy Inc. and is the celebrated author of Not Taught: What It Takes to be Successful in the 21st Century That Nobody’s Teaching You.

Keenan was named one of the top 30 social sellers in the world by Forbes. He was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Sales and Marketing People by Top Sales World Magazine every year running, since 2012. He has also been cited in the Harvard Business Journal, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine and Inc.

He and his daughters live and ski in Denver, Colorado.