🚨 GAP Selling is a trap. Here’s why you need to abandon it. 🚨

GAP Selling says: “Find the gap between where buyers are and where they want to be—then sell them the bridge.”

❌ The problem?
🔴 Buyers don’t always know where they should be.
🔴 Buyers can move the goalposts at any time.
🔴 Buyers have already researched solutions—you’re not bringing anything new.

🔥 Closed-Circuit Selling™ doesn’t “sell a gap.” We create demand so we define the new reality.
✅ We don’t sell a bridge—we control the entire category so buyers follow us.
✅ We don’t just ask questions—we install a new way of thinking.
✅ We don’t wait for buyers to have a problem—we make them realize they need us before they know it.

💀 GAP Selling is dead. Closed-Circuit Selling™ owns the future.

Since posting this on Linkedin, it has exploded : here is my formal response

Sales Methodologies Alone Won’t Cut It—Here’s Why You Need a Revenue Alignment System Instead
Most sales methodologies—like GAP Selling, Challenger, or SPIN—were designed for one purpose: helping sales reps close deals. And historically, they've been great tools.
But the world has changed.
Today, profitable, sustainable growth means aligning every department—not just sales. Let me explain clearly why:

🔴 The Real Issue with Sales Methodologies
Traditional sales methodologies typically share these limitations:
Narrow focus: They often serve individual sellers—not the entire revenue organisation.

Short-term thinking: They prioritise winning individual deals, often at the cost of longer-term profitability.

Isolated success: They frequently create silos between Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, and Product.

Why does this matter today?
Because today's environment requires strong unit economics, cross-department collaboration, and profitable growth—not just revenue at any cost.

🚨 My Recent Experience Critiquing GAP Selling
Recently, I openly critiqued GAP Selling on LinkedIn:
“GAP Selling is a trap. Here’s why you need to abandon it.”
The post exploded. It drew significant support from those who agreed sales methodologies alone are insufficient—but also some backlash from GAP Selling loyalists.
Let’s acknowledge where GAP Selling shines—and where it falls short today.
✅ What Keenan and GAP Selling Get Right:
GAP Selling is undeniably buyer-centric.
It trains reps to ask powerful questions and genuinely understand buyer pain points.

GAP Selling is highly flexible for individual reps.
Sellers are encouraged to deeply discover problems and adapt conversations based on buyer needs.

GAP Selling has demonstrable results.
Thousands of sales reps swear by its effectiveness and have results to back that up.

But—and this is crucial—being effective at closing individual deals is not the same as creating profitable, aligned growth across the organisation.
❌ Where GAP Selling Falls Short in Today's Market:
GAP Selling relies heavily on buyers clearly articulating their problems.
Today’s buyers often don’t fully understand their problems and frequently shift priorities mid-sale. Reactivity no longer suffices.

GAP Selling offers no explicit, systematic approach for cross-functional alignment.
It assumes natural alignment happens because everyone speaks “buyer language.” In reality, this rarely occurs without intentional systems and processes.

GAP Selling doesn't inherently emphasise profitability or unit economics.
Winning a deal is important, but today’s market demands that every deal aligns with business profitability, retention goals, and long-term growth metrics.

Most importantly, GAP Selling—like most methodologies—doesn't inherently support alignment beyond sales teams. It does little to ensure Marketing, Product, Sales, and Customer Success teams collaborate around common revenue goals.
The backlash from my post highlighted how deeply loyal sellers are to proven methods that have served them personally. But it also showed why many businesses struggle—because they're focused narrowly on sales, not aligned around holistic revenue growth.

🔥 Sales Methodologies vs. Revenue Alignment Systems
Let’s break this down clearly:
Aspect
GAP Selling (Methodology)
Closed Circuit Selling™ (Revenue Alignment System)
Primary Audience
Individual Sales Reps
Sales, Marketing, Product, Customer Success, Executives
Business Focus
Closing individual deals
Sustainable, profitable revenue growth across entire business
Buyer Interaction
Reactive (responds to buyer needs)
Proactive (shapes and defines buyer understanding)
Internal Alignment
Relies on implicit alignment
Provides explicit systems, processes, and shared metrics
Profitability Metrics
Limited emphasis
Explicit emphasis on CAC, unit economics, retention, and LTV

✅ Why Revenue Alignment Matters More Than Ever
Sales alone don't drive sustainable growth—alignment does. Specifically, Revenue Alignment Systems offer three clear benefits:
1. Profitability & Unit Economics
Revenue Alignment Systems directly impact critical business metrics—CAC, LTV, net retention—ensuring profitability rather than just revenue.
2. Cross-Functional Efficiency
When Marketing, Product, Sales, and Customer Success speak the same language, operational efficiency skyrockets, resulting in lower costs, higher profitability, and less internal friction.
3. Sustainable Long-Term Growth
Deals close faster, customers stay longer, and costs decrease as everyone pulls in the same direction. That's sustainable, repeatable growth.

🗣️ Back to GAP Selling—Why My Criticism Was Necessary
My provocative post wasn't an attack for the sake of controversy. Rather, it highlighted an essential shift many haven't fully grasped yet:
GAP Selling is great if you’re a sales rep.

But GAP Selling is insufficient if you're a revenue leader responsible for the entire business's profitable growth.

Revenue leaders today need more than reactive sales methodologies—they need proactive revenue alignment.
Closed Circuit Selling™ is a Revenue Alignment System explicitly designed for this shift. It's built for the modern era, where profitable, aligned growth is essential, not optional.
It’s challenging traditional thinking, similar to influential revenue leaders Chris Walker (Passetto) and Ryan Reisert (Outbound Sales & GTM Expert) who in their own ways have long called out how tactical silos limit cross-departmental alignment, which in turn hurts business performance.

🚀 The Bottom Line (Key Takeaway)
Sales methodologies alone—no matter how effective historically—no longer offer enough value. Revenue Alignment Systems, like Closed Circuit Selling™, are the future. They're essential for organisations that want consistent, profitable, and aligned growth.
Controversial? Maybe. But necessary? Absolutely.

Interested to know more about how Closed Circuit Selling™ helps align entire organisations for profitable growth?
Drop a comment or DM me—let’s talk revenue alignment.