Discovery

Explained / Other / 2 October 2026

GAP Selling: problem-centric methodology by Keenan

GAP Selling (Keenan, 2018) is a problem-centric sales methodology that emphasises deep discovery of the gap between the buyer's current state and desired future state. The methodology pushes hard against feature-led pitching: the seller must understand the buyer's situation more thoroughly than competing methodologies typically demand. Adopted by a meaningful share of UK B2B SaaS sales teams since 2020.

GAP Selling's strength is the rigour it demands in discovery. Sellers who follow it produce stronger qualification and stronger value framing than those running thin discovery. Trade-off: the discovery process can frustrate buyers who want to move faster; the methodology requires sellers genuinely capable of substantive industry conversation.

Explained / Other / 1 October 2026

Value Selling Framework: aligning to buyer outcomes

Value Selling (multiple branded variants exist: Value Selling Framework, Value Selling Associates, value-based selling more generally) is a category of methodology that anchors the sale to quantified buyer outcomes rather than features, capabilities, or relationship. Distinctive emphasis: business-case construction, value driver mapping, ROI quantification.

Value Selling works in segments where the buyer has financial accountability for outcomes (CFO involvement, board scrutiny, large enough deals to justify business-case construction). Forces the seller to quantify what their offering produces in revenue, cost, or risk terms. Less applicable in transactional or relationship-led segments.

Explained / Other / 30 September 2026

Force Management and Command of the Message: deep-dive for UK B2B 2026

Force Management's Command of the Message methodology (with adjacent frameworks Command of the Sale, Command of the Plan, Command of the Talent) is a value-message-led methodology widely adopted in UK enterprise B2B SaaS. Distinctive elements: customer-verifiable outcomes, explicit positive business outcomes, required capabilities, alternative approaches, proof points.

Force Management is a methodology framework that produces strong message discipline when implemented well. It works best in companies that invest in the message-development process and roll the framework through the whole commercial team. Half-implemented, it produces cargo-cult outcomes (the language without the substance).

Explained / Other / 29 September 2026

The Sandler Selling System: structured methodology for UK B2B

The Sandler Selling System (founded by David Sandler in 1967) is a structured sales methodology with a distinctive emphasis on prospect qualification, pain discovery, upfront contracts, and reverse-positioning techniques. Sandler is delivered through a global franchise of trainers including substantial UK presence; the methodology has shaped how a generation of UK B2B salespeople run discovery and qualification.

Sandler is most useful as a discipline-instilling methodology for sellers who need structure: upfront contracts, pain-funnel discovery, reverse questioning. Less differentiating in 2026 than it was 20 years ago because some Sandler concepts have entered general sales practice. Still valuable as a training methodology, particularly for early-career SDRs and AEs.

Explained / Other / 28 September 2026

SPIN Selling: still the foundation of discovery in 2026

SPIN Selling (Rackham, 1988) is a question-based discovery methodology built on extensive research at Huthwaite. Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff: a structured questioning model that surfaces and amplifies buyer pain in ways that connect to the seller's offering. Forty years on, SPIN remains the foundation of discovery training in UK B2B sales.

SPIN is the most rigorously-researched B2B sales methodology in publication. Newer methodologies layer on top of SPIN's question structure rather than replacing it. UK B2B sales practitioners benefit from learning SPIN's question patterns as foundational discovery technique, even when their organisation runs a different overarching methodology.

Explained / Other / 27 September 2026

The Challenger Sale: insight-led methodology and UK B2B fit

The Challenger Sale (Dixon and Adamson, originally CEB research published in 2011) is the most influential B2B sales methodology of the 2010s and remains dominant in 2026. Core thesis: the highest-performing reps teach buyers something they did not know, tailor that insight to the buyer, and take control of the sale. A walkthrough of the model and its UK enterprise B2B fit.

Challenger is a methodology that requires real expertise to deliver: the rep must have substantive insight to teach, not just slides. It works best when the seller has genuine perspective on the buyer's industry or problem. Where the seller has no real insight, Challenger devolves into manipulative pacing and produces backlash.

Explained / Other / 26 September 2026

BANT in 2026: still useful, or obsolete?

BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) is the original qualification framework, developed at IBM in the 1960s. In 2026 it is widely derided as obsolete and widely used in practice. The right reading: BANT is a useful starting framework that needs adaptation for modern UK B2B buying processes; the underlying concerns are still the right concerns.

BANT is too thin for enterprise B2B and is genuinely obsolete for that segment. For SMB and mid-market with shorter cycles and simpler buying structures, BANT-with-adaptation is still functional. The honest answer is contextual: BANT for SMB short-cycle, MEDDPICC or equivalent for enterprise.

Explained / Other / 25 September 2026

MEDDPICC: methodology deep-dive for UK B2B sales in 2026

MEDDPICC (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Identify Pain, Champion, Competition) is the dominant qualification framework in UK enterprise B2B sales. Each letter is a check on whether the deal is real and forecastable. A walkthrough by letter with where the framework works, where it strains, and how UK practitioners actually use it.

MEDDPICC is a deal qualification framework, not a sales methodology. It tells you whether a deal is real; it does not tell you how to sell. Use it for forecasting and deal review, complement with a separate methodology (Challenger, Force Management, etc) for the actual sales motion.

Explained / Other / 25 August 2026

Selling proptech into UK real estate in 2026

UK real estate B2B sales runs across landlord (commercial REITs, residential PRS), tenant (corporate occupiers, retail), operator (property management firms, FM providers), and developer buyers. Each operates on different cycles, with different decision criteria and different commercial framings.

Map the proptech buyer accurately: landlord values yield and asset value; tenant values cost and experience; operator values operational efficiency; developer values delivery certainty. Same product can be positioned differently by buyer type. Vendors who target one buyer type and ignore the others typically miss substantial addressable market.

Snapshot / Other / 19 August 2026

The UK charity sector B2B sales motion in 2026

UK charity B2B sales operates at smaller deal sizes, longer cycles than commercial equivalents, and with explicit cost-sensitivity that shapes commercial framing. Top-tier UK charities (Oxfam, Save the Children, British Red Cross, Cancer Research UK) operate enterprise-equivalent procurement; mid-tier charities run lighter processes; smaller charities are largely founder-led.

Treat UK charity sales as three distinct sub-markets by income: above £100m (enterprise-equivalent), £10-100m (mid-tier), under £10m (light-process). Each requires different commercial framing, deal-size expectations, and cycle planning.

Explained / Other / 17 August 2026

Selling B2B into UK charities in 2026

UK charity B2B procurement runs through structures specific to the sector: Charity Commission registration, restricted-vs-unrestricted funding distinctions, trustee-board signoff layers, and Gift Aid implications for some categories. Cycles 4-9 months typical; deal sizes typically smaller than corporate equivalents.

UK charity buyers prioritise low-cost, strong-fit, and minimal-implementation vendors. Restricted-funding rules constrain how some budget categories can be used. Trustee-board signoff often required above modest values; the board cycle (often quarterly) sets a floor on cycle time.

Snapshot / Other / 15 August 2026

The UK EdTech sales motion in 2026

UK EdTech sales sits across schools (DfE-aligned), further education (FE colleges, varied procurement), higher education (JISC-aligned), and adjacent (corporate L&D, training providers). Each segment has distinct procurement cycles, decision criteria, and budget dynamics.

Schools procurement runs on the academic year (March-April budget; September deployment). Higher education runs on a slower 6-12 month cycle. FE sits between. Vendors covering multiple segments need distinct sales motions per segment; treating EdTech as a single market produces structural cycle-mismatch.

Explained / Other / 13 August 2026

Selling EdTech into UK schools in 2026: DfE, Schools Buying Hub, Computing Standards

UK school procurement is multi-layered: academy trusts, local authorities, federations, individual schools. The Department for Education's Schools Buying Hub is the dominant procurement framework; DfE's published standards for school IT (broadband, network, cyber security, digital accessibility) are increasingly mandatory. A practitioner walkthrough.

School procurement runs on the academic year (September starts; budget windows in March-April for September deployment). DfE's compliant-by-default frameworks compress procurement. Vendors targeting UK schools must align with DfE Computing standards and the broader Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) statutory guidance.

Explained / Professional services / 9 August 2026

Selling B2B legal-tech into UK law firms in 2026

UK law-firm procurement is partner-led, slow, and structurally distinct from corporate B2B sales. SRA-regulated buyer; Lexcel and ISO 27001 increasingly required at procurement triage; magic circle vs mid-market vs high-street firms run very different motions. A practitioner walkthrough.

Magic circle (Allen & Overy / Shearman, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters, Slaughter and May, plus the broader 'silver circle' tier) run formal partner committees and 12-18 month evaluation cycles. Mid-market firms move faster. Vendors who pre-build SRA-compliant evidence packs (Lexcel, ISO 27001, GDPR Art 28 DPA) compress procurement materially.

Signal / Other / 30 July 2026

PSC register checks are the cheapest UK sales due diligence most teams skip

The Persons of Significant Control (PSC) register at Companies House discloses the ultimate beneficial owners of UK limited companies. For B2B sales targeting UK private companies, a PSC check is a 30-second sanity check that surfaces ownership concentration, recent ownership changes, and corporate-group structure. Most UK SaaS sales teams don't run it; the ones that do catch deal-blocking signals weeks before they would have surfaced via procurement.

Explained / SaaS / 28 July 2026

Account-based sales for UK mid-market: where it works and where it fails

Account-based sales (ABS) was promoted heavily across UK SaaS through 2018-2023 as a structural answer to broad-volume outbound. By 2026 the picture is more nuanced: ABS works at specific deal sizes and team scales, fails predictably outside those, and many UK mid-market teams adopted it for the wrong reasons. A practitioner walkthrough.

ABS works at deal sizes above 75-100k pounds ARR with cycles 6+ months and named-account lists of 30-100 per AE. ABS fails at smaller deal sizes (the per-account investment doesn't pay back), at very large deal sizes (the buying centre is too wide for one AE to map), and at teams without ABS-trained marketing partnership.

Explained / Retail / 15 July 2026

The UK retail buying centre: merchandising, store ops, IT, finance, ecommerce

Selling B2B into UK retailers means navigating a buying centre that's wider and more functionally distributed than typical SaaS-to-SaaS deals. Merchandising, store operations, IT, finance, and ecommerce each have legitimate veto rights on different categories of vendor purchase. A practitioner walkthrough of who owns what, who decides what, and how to sequence the conversation.

Map the buying centre per retail prospect explicitly. The merchandising lead doesn't approve IT spend; the IT lead doesn't approve store-ops spend. Vendors who target a single function and ignore the cross-functional dependencies routinely close half-deals that procurement then unwinds.

Explained / Retail / 14 July 2026

Selling B2B into UK retail: the Q4 freeze and the seasonal procurement calendar

UK retailers operate on a procurement calendar driven by trading seasons, not by the buyer's fiscal year. The 'peak trading' window roughly covering November through January is a code freeze for any operational change; the 'post-peak review' window in February through April is when most B2B procurement decisions get made. Vendors who don't read the calendar lose 6 months on every deal that hits the freeze.

Retail B2B sales cycles must be planned against the trading calendar. Aim for contract signature by end of October or after end of January; deals that hit the November-January window stall regardless of commercial readiness. February-April is the procurement push window; September-October is the secondary window before peak.

Explained / SaaS / 19 June 2026

The Sales Engineer's discovery contribution in UK SaaS in 2026

The 2022-vintage SE was a 'demo specialist' joining the second meeting. The 2026 SE owns half of discovery from meeting one. Three threads (technical context, demo design, technical viability) and where SE programmes under-invest.

AE-SE pair from first meeting on deals above 30k pounds ARR. SEs trained on commercial discovery alongside technical depth. SE call review weekly.

Explained / SaaS / 17 June 2026

Attacking no-decision losses with critical-event discovery

Surfacing existing critical events. When no critical event exists: accept long-term pipeline or help the buyer build one. Why manufactured deadlines fail and the forecast hygiene that follows.

Test for critical event at MEDDPICC stage 3+. 30-50 percent of typical UK SaaS stage 3+ pipeline is no-decision risk. The discipline of surfacing this is uncomfortable but the pipeline that survives is much more accurate.

Explained / SaaS / 16 June 2026

Why no-decision is the real losing competitor in UK B2B SaaS

No-decision is consistently the largest single loss category - 30-50 percent of total losses by deal count, materially exceeding competitive losses. Three patterns and why no-decision warning signs get missed.

Disaggregate no-decision in CRM. Surface no-decision risk at stage 3 with the critical-event question. Treat no-decision risk as a different motion.

Explained / SaaS / 13 June 2026

When to lead with price and when to lead with value

Both extremes fail in specific buyer contexts. Value-first works on long-cycle, novel-category deals; price-first works on short-cycle, known-category deals. The hybrid (discover, soft-anchor, value, specific pricing) is what most strong UK SaaS AEs run.

Discover before disclosing; anchor before specifying; specify in writing. Get all three right and pricing conversations stop being the moment deals die.

Explained / SaaS / 30 May 2026

The closed-won walkthrough vs the closed-lost walkthrough

Both serve different coaching purposes and follow different structures. Running both with the same template flattens the most useful insights. Specific prompt sequences for each, plus the two structural traps.

Alternating-week cadence: one closed-won, one closed-lost. Across two months that's four wins and four losses; the playbook update from that window is consistently larger than from any other coaching format.

Explained / SaaS / 29 May 2026

How to run a deal walkthrough that produces coaching value

The deal walkthrough is the highest-yield coaching format in UK B2B sales and the format most often run badly. A practitioner format guide: the six-section structure, the manager and peer roles, weekly cadence, and three legitimate reasons to skip a week.

Six-section structure (situation / stakeholders / MEDDPICC / crisis points / save / lessons). Weekly cadence; messy deals only; manager coaches in 1:1, not in the walkthrough itself.

Explained / SaaS / 27 May 2026

Where MEDDIC fails on inbound deals - and what to do instead

MEDDIC works on outbound deals because the AE has done the upstream qualification work. It works less well on inbound because the AE inherits a lead with no upstream context. Three places inbound-MEDDIC fails predictably: champion identification, critical event surfacing, and decision process discovery.

Inbound-MEDDIC works when the AE explicitly compresses discovery into the first meeting and tests for the three weakest dimensions: champion behaviour, critical event, decision process.

Explained / SaaS / 26 May 2026

BANT-lite for inbound qualification: the structure that holds up

Inbound qualification has a structural problem: the lead self-identified, so the temptation is to treat attention as the gate and pass to AE. The result is meeting volumes that look good and conversion rates that quietly collapse. BANT-lite is the SDR-side filter that holds up - four short questions, fast enough not to lose the lead.

BANT-lite belongs at the inbound triage layer. SDR runs it in 10-15 minutes; pass to AE only when all four answers are present. The AE then runs MEDDPICC. The two structures complement; they do not substitute.

Snapshot / SaaS / 22 May 2026

The Account Executive role in UK SaaS in 2026

The AE role in UK SaaS in 2026 has narrowed from the 2020-vintage 'full-funnel' position. Discovery has moved up the funnel, procurement workstream is structurally part of the role, and forecasting credibility is the single most-watched manager metric. Comp pattern, traits recruiters screen on, and where the role is going.

Hire AEs on deal-walkthrough specificity, forecast literacy, and honest postmortem. Account-based outbound is shifting back to the AE; the pure-closer AE role is dating. AI-assisted call review is now standard. Specific OTE figures defer to the UK Sales Comp Report.

Explained / SaaS / 14 May 2026

Discovery question patterns that actually qualify in UK B2B sales

Discovery is the single biggest determinant of whether a UK B2B sale closes, and most teams systematically under-invest in it. Three structures dominate: SPIN (Rackham 1988), the Decision Process Map (MEDDPICC's D), and hypothesis-led discovery. They are not interchangeable; the strongest AEs blend them.

Implication is the highest-yield SPIN question type and most AEs under-use it. The decision-process question is not optional. 'What would have to be true on day 90 for you to sign' is the highest-yield question in UK enterprise discovery.