Coming soon · Book Profile
Gap Selling Getting the Customer to
Selling isn't about pitching products or building relationships—it's about diagnosing the gap between a customer's current state and desired future state, and then facilitating the change that closes it.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Gap Selling argues that most salespeople lose deals not because they can't sell, but because they can't diagnose their customers' problems. Keenan reframes selling as change facilitation: every sale exists because of a gap between where a buyer is now (current state) and where they want to be (future state), and the size and impact of that gap determine the value of the solution. Through a blunt, story-driven approach, the book teaches a rigorous discovery process that uncovers problems, their business impact, and their root causes; explains why relationships and closing techniques are overrated while credibility and problem-solving are decisive; and shows how to prospect, run demos, move deals through the pipeline, and lead a gap-selling team. If you want a full, predictable pipeline and to stop losing deals to price, no-decisions, and ghosting, this book gives you the mental framework and executable skills to become an indispensable problem-solver rather than a forgettable product pitcher.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A B2B salesperson or sales leader who wants to win more deals, shorten sales cycles, stop losing on price, and build a predictable pipeline.
- The problem
- Losing deals to price, competition, no-decisions, and prospects going dark, with an unpredictable pipeline and missed quota. Feeling frustrated, anxious, and self-doubting—suspecting they're the reason deals fail but not knowing what they're doing wrong.
- The plan
- Adopt the gap-selling mindset: the problem drives the sale, and you're selling change.
- Build a Problem Identification Chart of problems, impacts, and root causes before you prospect.
- Run a rigorous discovery to uncover the current state, problems, impact, root cause, and emotional state.
- Establish the desired future state and intrinsic motivation, then calculate and assess the gap.
- Demo only to diagnosed problems, move deals via the 'next yes,' and challenge objections with 'I'm confused, you said...'
- The payoff
- A full, healthy, predictable pipeline and consistent quota attainment. · Shorter sales cycles, higher close rates, and fewer deals lost on price or to no-decision. · Being seen as a trusted consultant and problem-solver rather than a forgettable product pitcher.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- Attitudinal Variables and Behavior: Three Empirical Studies and a Theoretical Reanalysis · M. Fishbein & I. Ajzen
The book cites this work to support its research philosophy, which emphasizes observing actual behaviors over measuring attitudes, as attitudes are often poor predictors of performance.
- SPIN Selling · Neil Rackham
The book positions the Challenger model as the next major breakthrough after the 'consultative selling' era, which was largely defined by Rackham's research and the SPIN methodology. Rackham wrote the foreword, framing this book as a potential 'fourth breakthrough' in sales history.
- The Psychology of Selling · E. K. Strong
Referenced in the foreword as a foundational breakthrough in sales that introduced the idea of learnable sales techniques like questioning and objection handling. This provides historical context for the evolution of sales methodologies.
- From Impossible To Inevitable · Aaron Ross & Jason Lemkin
The sequel to Predictable Revenue, it expands on growth strategies for scaling a business, co-authored with the founder of SaaStr.
- First, Break All The Rules: What The World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently · Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
Referenced for its 12 key questions to measure employee satisfaction, which is crucial for retaining the star talent needed to run a sales machine.
- The Seven Day Weekend · Ricardo Semler
Recommended as a resource for CEOs looking to move away from command-and-control management and toward more democratic, employee-empowering organizational structures.
- Barking Up A Dead Horse · Tom Batchelder
Recommended for its focus on the importance of disqualifying poor-fit sales opportunities quickly, a key principle for sales efficiency.
- CEOFlow: Turn Your Employees Into MiniCEOs · Aaron Ross
The author's other work, recommended for deeper insights into creating self-managing teams and empowering employees.
- Inbound Marketing · Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah
Written by the co-founders of HubSpot, this book provides a deeper dive into the demand generation philosophy that is a cornerstone of the author's sales formula.
- The Long Tail · Christopher Anderson
The book's central concept is cited as a key strategic principle for inbound marketing content, advising companies to target niche, 'long-tail' keywords rather than highly competitive head terms.