Solution selling is a sales approach in which the rep diagnoses the buyer's business problem first and then proposes the product as the fix for that problem. It is a generic term and also a brand. Mike Bosworth founded a training company called Solution Selling in 1983 and published a book of the same name in 1994; Keith Eades bought the intellectual property in 1999.
Solution selling in practice
In product selling, the rep leads with features and hopes one lands. In solution selling, the rep leads with questions about how the buyer's business works, what is going wrong and what it costs, and only then connects a capability to that problem. Several modern B2B methods share this problem-first idea, including Gap Selling, the ValueSelling Framework® and SPIN, each with its own vocabulary and discipline. That matters when a team says it "runs solution selling." It might mean the trademarked program, or simply that reps are expected to diagnose before they pitch.
- Leads with features
- Hopes one lands
- The story starts with the demo
- Asks how the business works
- Finds what is going wrong and what it costs
- Then connects a capability to that problem
In a deal review the manager asks the rep to tell the deal from the beginning and listens for what comes first: the buyer's problem, in the buyer's words, or the demo. A rep who can describe every feature shown and cannot state the problem is product selling.
The difference is easy to hear. "I showed them the reminders and they loved it" is a demo report. "They lose bookings to no-shows every week and each one is revenue gone" is a problem, in the buyer's words. Teams that want a sharper version usually adopt a named method, such as Gap Selling, and Keenan, our Gap Selling expert, coaches it on the rep's live deals. The sales methodology guide compares the options.
A demo that came too early
This example is illustrative. A rep selling a scheduling tool opens a first call with a ten-minute demo of the calendar view and automated reminders. The buyer is polite and noncommittal. On a call with the rep that afternoon, the manager asks what problem the buyer is trying to solve. The rep does not know. At the second meeting the rep starts with questions: how appointments are booked today, what happens when one is missed, and what a missed appointment costs. The buyer says no-shows happen every week and each one is lost revenue. The reminder feature now has a problem to solve.
Related terms
- What is Gap Selling?
- Gap Selling vs MEDDPICC
- What is SPIN Selling?
- What is current state and future state in sales?
FAQ
Who created solution selling?
Mike Bosworth is the name most associated with solution selling. He founded a training company called Solution Selling in 1983, drawing on his time at Xerox, and published the book in 1994. Keith Eades bought the intellectual property in 1999 and later wrote The New Solution Selling.
What is the difference between solution selling and consultative selling?
The two overlap heavily. Both put the buyer's problem before the product. Consultative selling stresses the advisory relationship over time, while solution selling stresses diagnosing a specific problem and matching a solution to it within the deal.
Is Gap Selling a type of solution selling?
Gap Selling is its own method that shares the problem-first idea and adds a stricter test. It asks the rep to quantify the gap between the buyer's current state and desired future state in the buyer's own numbers before proposing anything, and to treat a deal with no quantified gap as no deal.