In sales, the current state is the buyer's situation today, with its problems and their costs, and the future state is the situation the buyer wants to reach. The terms come from Gap Selling, the method written by Keenan of A Sales Growth Company, which defines the gap as "the space between the buyer's current and future states."
Discovery in Gap Selling
Gap Selling puts discovery first. The rep establishes the current state (what is happening, what it causes and what it costs), then the future state the buyer wants, and then the size of the gap between them. Our Gap Selling page sets the rule: no problem named, no impact quantified, no deal. The bigger and more urgent the gap, the stronger the deal.
The common failure is a future state with no current state behind it. A buyer who "wants to grow faster" has a wish. A buyer who closes fewer than one in five qualified deals today and needs one in four by next year has a gap.
In a deal review, a manager asks two questions: is the current state described with its impact in the buyer's words, and does the future state carry a number and a date? Gap Selling calls this buyer-stated evidence Buyer Input Data. MEDDPICC teams use the same work to fill Metrics and Identify Pain. Keenan, our AI sales expert built with A Sales Growth Company, runs the same check when a rep talks a Gap Selling deal through with it on a call. The sales methodology guide covers how the two methods pair.
Example
This example is illustrative. A rep's notes on a logistics deal say: "Future state: better visibility into shipments." There is no current state. On the next call the rep asks how the team tracks shipments today and what happens when one is late. The operations lead says three coordinators spend most of each morning on carrier calls, and late deliveries cost about $40,000 a month in penalties. She wants penalties under $10,000 a month within two quarters. The gap is now $30,000 a month, owned by the operations lead, with a deadline.
Read the rep's notes before and after. Before: "Wants better visibility." After: "Three coordinators on carrier calls every morning. Late deliveries cost about $40K a month in penalties. Target under $10K a month in two quarters. Her words: 'I get the call from finance every time.'" Only the second gives the rep something to build a business case on.
Related terms
FAQ
What is the gap in Gap Selling?
The gap is the distance between the buyer's current state and the future state they want, measured in their own numbers. A rep who can state the gap, what it costs and why it matters now has a deal. Without it, the rep has nothing to build a business case on.
Which comes first, current state or future state?
Current state comes first. Gap Selling asks reps to understand what is happening today, what it causes and what it costs before discussing where the buyer wants to go. A future state with no current state behind it gives the rep nothing to measure the gap against.
How do you describe the future state in a sales deal?
You describe the future state in a sales deal in the buyer's own numbers, with a date. Name the metric the buyer wants to reach and when, such as "new hires productive in four weeks, down from ten, by the second quarter." A phrase like "faster onboarding" needs a number from the buyer before a deal can be built on it.