NEAT Selling: The Sales Qualification Method

What is NEAT Selling?

NEAT is an acronym for:

• Need - the underlying need

• Economic impact - financial implications

• Access to authority - reaching decision-makers

• Timeline - scheduling and urgency

This is a qualification methodology developed by Richard Harris to replace older sales methods like BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline) and ANUM (Authority, Need, Urgency, and Money).

This sales technique helps salespeople identify the most important needs in prospects and then address them. It's fundamentally a listening-based approach.

How NEAT Selling Emerged

The sales landscape evolves over time, and customers change with it. Techniques that worked a few years ago are no longer as effective. NEAT emerged following a key realization: the sales process isn't linear.

The buyer's journey is inconsistent and varies constantly from one customer to another, from one situation to another. The previously mentioned methods (BANT and ANUM) didn't account for these nuances and highly variable customer needs:

• The BANT method tends to be used more like a checklist and doesn't encourage dialogue to develop a relationship between prospects and salespeople. Both parties end up unsatisfied—one with the responses, the other with the support.

• The ANUM method prioritizes people who sign the check at the end of the sale. The problem here is that you risk missing important contacts who could actually lead you to the person with authority. Additionally, the prospect's deeper needs are rarely well understood with such a method.

The NEAT sales technique addresses sales fluctuations and truly digs into prospects' problems at their root.

The Philosophy of NEAT Selling

NEAT Selling can indeed be considered a philosophy. It's a new way of understanding and qualifying your prospects more thoroughly through the four elements that make up this methodology. They allow you to adapt your questions based on the discussion. The goal isn't to follow the N.E.A.T order to the letter, but to evolve the conversation based on what your prospects tell you.

Need: The Underlying Need

The objective is to dig for the root of the problem. We don't want to simply define general problems but find the main challenges that will allow you to propose a specific solution with the benefits it could bring.

You need to understand why this core pain point matters to your prospects and their companies, and what underlying problems might stem from it. This will help you convert more easily.

To achieve this, you must practice active listening. This way, you'll have earned the right to ask your questions and gain access to more important information.

Here are some sample questions to consider:

• How does the prospect currently solve the problem compared to my proposed solution?

• Who in the company is affected by the problem?

• What is the real need behind the problem?

Economic Impact: Financial Implications

This section concerns the impact of needs on prospects' finances. You need to connect your product or service to your prospects' needs and demonstrate how your solution can provide added value.

You must show the opportunity of your solution and the economic impact of inaction. They need to see the economic advantages of making a change by implementing your solution compared to the problems they're experiencing.

Example: Your client struggles with content management and loses visitors on their website. You discover this is due to poor targeting. Your persona analysis and criteria adjustment solution represents a potential increase in new visitors and sales for your client.

You need to make your solutions visual!

Sample questions to consider:

• What is the economic impact of the problem versus the financial opportunity of the solution?

• What are the potential financial chain reactions of my solutions?

Access to Authority: Reaching Decision-Makers

The access to authority step isn't as straightforward, and the process can take time. The path to closing a sale involves exchanges with numerous decision-makers. You need to know who has final purchasing authority and how relationships are organized within your prospects' company.

For example, you can do this by mapping accounts or establishing an action plan by contacting a more accessible member of the organization to reach a member with greater authority. But whoever it is, you must establish consensus to secure this contract and not delay the sales process.

Sample questions to consider:

• Who has authority? How can you reach this person?

• Who makes the financial decision?

Timeline: Setting the Schedule

The timeline step in a sales cycle allows you to set the time and place of an event, a deadline, or a decision-making moment. This is very important.

Prospects sometimes tend to take time giving a final response. You must avoid getting stuck with a sale that doesn't close and drags on long-term.

You should therefore set a deadline and take necessary measures to avoid delays. A good timeline will get your prospect to move to the next stage and advance the sales process. Conversely, if not respecting your timeline brings no negative consequences, it should be reviewed and modified.

Sample questions to consider:

• What happens if the deadline isn't met?

Conclusion: The NEAT Selling Method

Today, customers want you to embrace the problem and give momentum to the conversation. They want you to ask follow-up questions that confirm your listening, understanding, and attention.

Previous, more restrictive models provide fewer opportunities in terms of prospecting and sales. The goal now is to establish a long-term customer relationship to maintain sales and business activity.

With the NEAT method, you'll do much more by supporting your customers and providing quality service through a deeper understanding of the company's problems and solutions. Your empathy will help develop a trust-based relationship.

This will strengthen your brand image in the market, which could today be much more valuable than a single sale.