The Sales Shift: Stop Selling to Sell. Start Selling to Retain

End of year is looming - in fact, we are within days of things going dark for a few weeks, and what will happen if you fall into the sell to sell camp? Things will look like this:.....Sales teams will go into overdrive; VPs and CROs will show a side we only see a few times a year, and frenetic and frantic behavior sets in. Discounts get DEEP. Desperate pushes to “make the number.” And hey, you might hit it—congrats! But what happens next quarter/next year?

It's a five letter word and it's not good. Rhymes with Burn.

Churn.

Now, maybe churn isn't a big deal to your sellers who are selling the thing (unless you sell for Hubspot and not only do you get a hit for claw back (commission), but attribution goes away now too).

When you sell to hit a number instead of selling to solve a problem, you’re just borrowing trouble from the future. Deals closed with aggressive discounts or pressure tactics don’t stick because the value wasn’t there—or worse, the buyer didn’t even have a problem that your solution you sold them solved (then they realize it a few months later).

They signed because it was “too good to pass up,” not because it was the right solution for their problems. Ah - churn.

The Hidden Costs of Selling to Sell

Churn Kills Revenue: Every customer that churns is a hit to your recurring revenue. And let’s face it, churn is expensive. By the time you calculate lost revenue, replacement costs, and the hit to morale, you may be in the hole.

Skyrocketing CAC (Customer Acquisition Costs): Discounts might close deals faster, but they destroy your customer acquisition cost (CAC). Add in the expense of replacing churned customers, and your profitability takes a nosedive.

Brand Damage: Customers who churn don't always leave quietly. They’re leaving frustrated and telling others about it. That negative ripple affects your reputation, making it even harder to bring in new, sticky business.

Burned-Out Teams - hello?? - another form of churn: Savvy sales reps - they know when they’re selling something to a customer that is a stretch. The hope that when that churn report comes out, that their customer isn't on it.

Selling to Retain: The Better Play

If you’re tired of the hamster wheel, it’s time to shift the focus. Selling to retain means solving real problems, delivering real value, and revisiting your customer's problems and root causes to make sure that they are adopting your solution and that their problems and root causes are being mitigated.

And yes, that means sometimes walking away from deals that aren’t the right fit. AHHHHHH....the shock and horror of saying NO upfront.

Here’s how you flip the script:

• Focus on Problems, Not Quotas: Forget what your team needs to sell and focus on what your buyer has to solve. If there’s no problem—or the problem doesn’t align with your solution—move on. (you have to know the problems you solve first and no, ChatGPT isn't great at figuring these out)
• Sell Outcomes, Not Discounts: Buyers don’t care about the price tag if you’re solving their problem. Stop leading with discounts and start showing how your solution impacts their business. A fun fact, I've heard a few people offer a discount right off the bat in an email or vm before the prospect even has a chance to speak. It's like the seller is discounting against themselves.....
• Prioritize Fit Over FOMO: Not every prospect is your customer. That’s okay. The right ones will stick around, refer others, and grow with you.

The Gap Selling Lens

This is where Gap Selling comes in strong. It’s about uncovering the gap between where the buyer is today and where they want to be. It's about unequivocally knowing how your solution maps to solve business problems and make root problems go away.

Case and point. I'm in a sales cycle right now and for a fact, I know that the cost of inaction from the gaps alone are $4M (that doesn't include the impacts). 100% with certainty, I know that this team - even at a 50% improvement, could have made their net new number this year. I know exactly what it stems from, how far they will be off next year if they do nto solve the problem, and what the ramifications will be to an exit if things persist.

I did the work to find the gaps. I didn't try to offer them a discount to close in December. I didn't rush discovery. I didn't skip all of it and show them our solution as I wouldn't have been able to FIND all of that info and make a strong case.

If that gap doesn’t exist—or your solution doesn’t bridge it—then selling just to hit your quota is a short-term win that leads to long-term loss.

Selling to retain isn’t flashy. It doesn’t always fill the board with green checkmarks in December. But it creates loyal customers, sustainable revenue, and teams who feel good about what they’re selling.

So as you gear up for the year-end sprint, ask yourself: Is my team selling to hit a number so the investors and board are happy, or are we selling for retention? The answer could save you a world of pain in 2025.

PS. Churn can be avoided - and it starts with knowing the problems you solve, what they stem from and how your solution or service uniquely bridges that gap. If you read this and think - we have a churn problem - shoot me a dm. Always happy to chat with sales leaders about what can be done to mitigate this NOW.

Hi, I'm Celeste - a Certified Gap Selling Training Partner and I see for A Sales Growth - that means, not only do I create pipeline and run discoveries, I'm in the thick of sales daily practicing in the way we train on the methodology. Low win rates, poor pipeline coverage, low ASP and long sales cycles - I fix that.