What is Gap Selling?
Gap Selling is selling by defining the gap between the buyer's current state and the future state they want. The current state includes the buyer's problems, their root causes and their impact on the business. The author, who publishes under the name Keenan, set out the method in the 2018 book Gap Selling. In Keenan's view, the size and cost of that gap drive the sale.
Why it matters to a revenue leader
Gap Selling treats discovery as diagnosis. It gives a revenue leader a clear test of deal quality. If the rep cannot describe the buyer's current state, what it costs and the future state the buyer wants, the buyer has little reason to change. The same test explains many no-decision losses, where the buyer never came to see the cost of staying put as higher than the cost of moving.
Example
A fire alarm inspection finds 23 deficiencies at an office building. The rep's first instinct is to send the full repair quote. Instead, the rep confirms the current state with the property manager: two items put the certificate of occupancy at risk, and the main tenant's insurer has asked for proof of repairs. The quote is reframed around closing that gap, and the urgent items are approved first.
"For our open repair quotes, can each rep describe the customer's current state and what it costs them?"
Sources
- Gap Selling by Keenan - A Sales Growth Company checked 9 Oct 2026
- A Sales Growth Company Store (Gap Selling book page) checked 9 Oct 2026