A sales methodology is just a standard approach to selling. It’s the how.  Not to be confused with a sales process that describes the steps in the methodology. It’s the what. 

Do you need a sales process? Yes. Do you need a sales methodology? Yes. They go hand in hand.

Without a sales methodology, your sales team will not know how to sell. And more importantly, they will not know how you want them to sell. Even if you have a team of very experienced salespeople, this is true.

It’s your responsibility, as the sales leader to prescribe the approach you want your team to take. You can’t leave this up to each individual. That’s not scalable, and it’s also not effective. Even the most experienced salesperson needs and wants a guide for how you want them to sell to your buyers. 

“The sales methodology is like a set of rules for how you sell your products or services to customers.” Sales Hacker

How to implement a sales methodology

The first step, of course, is to select which sales methodology is right for your organization. I’ve listed some popular ones at the bottom of this article. Familiarize yourself with the options and determine which makes the most sense for your type of sale. 

Once you have selected the sales methodology, you will need to:

* Create sales playbook materials in support of the methodology* Train existing team members on the new sales methodology* Incorporate training into your new hire onboarding materials* Conduct periodic refresher training via lunch & learns, workshops, etc, to ensure the methodology is adopted and used correctly on an ongoing basis* Lean on the sales methodology during pipeline reviews, coaching, opportunity huddles, and deal strategy sessions

Rolling out a sales methodology will fail if you don’t incorporate it into your sales culture and make it part of your everyday conversations. Only you, as the sales leader, can ensure the sales methodology is successful.

Avoid the “we don’t need one” trap 

If you hire experienced salespeople, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “we don’t need a sales methodology”. You think they are experienced and they know how to sell so why get in their way.

I’ve made this mistake myself and it resulted in poor sales execution and salespeople approaching every deal differently, making deal management frustrating for everyone—the customers, the sales team and me. 

Every salesperson needs a framework for how you want them to sell. And every team needs to use the same approach to selling. Without one, you are no more than a loosely held together band of lone wolves, each making things up on the fly, or randomly pulling in various approaches based on the situation. 

You’ll find yourself being unable to coach and provide deal strategy, because each deal will be in a different state. Some sellers will use X as a qualification criteria, others will use Y. Some will handle objections this way, some that way. Some will have a late-stage deal with fundamental information still uncovered, others will have deals stuck in the first stage because they are digging too deep.

If you hire experienced salespeople, it never hurts to hear about what type of methodology they have used in the past, what’s worked and what hasn’t. A sales methodology can be adapted as you use it and find what’s working best.