Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here.

Today’s edition only takes 4 minutes.

"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." - James Clear.

Every founder wants consistent sales results, which means you need to follow a consistent system that works for you. Let's discuss some methodologies you can adapt for your sales organisation.

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Today we'll cover:

• Sales Systems
• BANT
• MEDDIC
• Other Options

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Sales Systems

One definition of Sales is "a set of activities a business does to help customers buy their product" (thank you, Pipedrive). And many sellers are winging those that help, doing what feels right. Sometimes it works, other times it fails. And it definitely isn't producing consistent outcomes.

Unlocking sales success creates a substantial amount of cash; therefore, others before you have invested serious energy, money, and time into "cracking the code." All you have to do is stand on the shoulders of giants instead of trying to reinvent the sales wheel (okay, that was a lot; I promise no more clichés, other than maybe sports metaphors).

Ultimately, the systems you can follow are broken down into tactics; for example, consider the Sunday Night Test or Presenting Pricing, and methodologies, such as BANT and MEDDIC (below).

BANT - Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing

BANT is the OG, it's the simplest, and it's my favourite methodology for when you're just learning or your deals are with single decision-makers, such as founder-to-founder sales.

BANT is all about understanding where the buyer is in their buying journey. What have they already decided? Who is leading? And when does the deal need to be finalised?

It's best for smaller, single-decision-maker deals.

However, many sales trainers and experienced sellers find BANT too simplistic and lacking. Elite sellers will outgrow BANT early in their careers.

When BANT is misused, it becomes a checklist, which doesn't work for modern buying cycles. For example, B is requesting the budget, but modern buyers rarely have a strict budget; they often find the right solution and then develop a business case for budget approval. And when a defined budget is in place, those deals are usually complex, involving multiple stakeholders or buying committees, where BANT is not a good fit.

The best use of BANT is as a methodology for deal management, allowing you to identify gaps and track your progress throughout the buying journey. Asking yourself the following about your deals:

• Do they have a Budget, or how will they obtain approval for one?
• Is the person you are speaking to enough of an Authority to make a decision? (hence why it falls over in multi-stakeholder deals)
• Does the company, and the individual, Need your product or service?
• What is the deadline to have this need solved, and why that Timing?

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MEDDIC* - Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion

Launched in the 1990s, MEDDIC (and its variants) have been around long enough, but it is still one of the most misunderstood methodologies in sales.

MEDDIC is often mistaken for a qualification methodology. It can be used that way. However, MEDDIC shines when employed as a deal management methodology.

Before and after each meeting, review the letters to determine if you have sufficient knowledge about your deal to provide adequate support to your buyer, or if there are significant gaps/risks in the deal.

Going further, MEDDIC can be embedded in your pipeline; a "Qualified Deal" requires at least Metrics, Decision Criteria, and Identification of Pain to have strong answers. And a "Commit Deal" requires all letters plus a meeting with the Economic Buyer.

MEDDIC falls apart when used as a checklist or when the seller is too aggressive for answers early in the buying journey (before trust has been established).

To use MEDDIC before and after each meeting with your buyer (or their team), critically analyse the deal to understand if you have good answers to the following:

• Metrics - Quantitatively, why is the buyer engaging in a buying journey, and how will they determine success after they buy?
• Economic Buyer - Who has the final say on this purchase, and can say Yes when everyone else says No or No when everyone else says Yes?
• Decision Criteria - How will the buyer compare your solutions to competitors? What criteria are they using?
• Decision Process - How does the buyer make a purchasing decision?
• Identify Pain - What is the pain/frustration/struggle driving this buying journey - why look at anything instead of nothing?
• Champion - Who can sell for you when you're not in the room?

*There are also slight variations, such as MEDDICC and MEDDPIC/C

When you get serious about MEDDIC, you'll start scoring each letter 1-3 and scoring each deal with points.

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Others

If you don't like the above, or want to explore more options, here are three more to check out:

• SPIN by Neil Brockman - Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need. It's a strong methodology for complex sales and experienced sellers.
• SPICED by WinningByDesign - Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical Event, Decision. A sound methodology designed for SaaS sales with handovers, such as from SDR to AE to AM to CSM.
• GAP Selling by Keenan - GAP is all about understanding the current state, the desired future state, and the gap between the two. It's a well-designed methodology for differentiating your product or service when it's hard to stand out from the noise.

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Whatever you do, remember that any methodology is always better than nothing. And all of the above are tried, tested, and ready for you to implement.

So, pick one, run it for 5-10 deals or ~1 month. If it works, keep going; if not, try something different.

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Until next week,
Scott Cowley

Open to learning how to close an unexpected deal in 10 days or less? Reply "10 Days"

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