Gapology: The Art of Finding What's Missing
- Neil Plant
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Why the spaces between what we know reveal everything about sales performance…
There's something rather uncomfortable about admitting we don't know everything. In sales, where confidence is currency and expertise is expected, acknowledging gaps feels like weakness and nobody likes to show those!
Yet in the work and conversations we are having the most successful sales professionals aren't those who claim perfection - they're the ones who've mastered the art of finding what's missing.
We call this Gapology - the systematic pursuit of identifying and addressing the spaces between where you are and where you could be.
It's not about dwelling on deficiencies; it's about recognising that every gap represents an opportunity for meaningful improvement.
The Performance Paradox
Most sales training focuses on what you should do. Follow this methodology, use these discovery questions, handle objections this way. Whilst there's value in frameworks, we're often missing the critical question: What specific gaps are preventing this individual from executing effectively?
Consider Sarah, a mid-level account executive who consistently struggles with deal advancement. Traditional training might prescribe better qualification techniques or improved value articulation. But what if the real gap isn't in her knowledge of methodology. What if she's simply uncomfortable with the silence that follows a challenging question? Or perhaps she lacks confidence in her technical understanding, causing her to rush through discovery rather than exploring deeply?
These aren't methodology problems. They're gap problems. And until we identify them precisely, no amount of training will create lasting change.
Why Gaps Matter More Than Strengths
Is this where conventional wisdom gets it backwards? Most development programmes focus on leveraging strengths, and there's certainly merit in that approach. But in B2B sales, your weakest link often determines your ceiling.
Think about your own sales process. You might excel at building rapport and conducting discovery, but if you struggle with commercial conversations, every opportunity hits the same wall. Your strengths become irrelevant because prospects never reach the point where you can deploy them effectively.
This is why gap identification isn't pessimistic - it's pragmatic. When we understand precisely what's limiting performance, we can address it systematically.
The Four Dimensions of Sales Gaps
Through our work with sales teams, we've identified that performance gaps typically fall into four distinct categories:
Knowledge Gaps: What don't they know that they need to know? This might be product functionality, competitive positioning, or industry-specific challenges.
Skill Gaps: What can't they do that they need to do? This covers everything from questioning techniques to presentation skills to negotiation capabilities. The challenge with skill gaps is that awareness doesn't equal ability - knowing how to ask better questions doesn't automatically mean you can do it under pressure.
Confidence Gaps: What don't they believe about themselves or their solution? Perhaps they doubt their technical credibility when speaking with senior executives, or they're uncertain about their authority to discuss commercial terms.
Context Gaps: What situational awareness are they missing? This includes understanding the buyer's internal dynamics, recognising buying signals, or knowing when to push versus when to nurture.
Practical Gapology - Getting Started:
So how do you begin practising Gapology? The process starts with honest self-assessment, but not the superficial kind where you list areas for improvement. We're talking about forensic analysis of your sales activities.
Examine Your Patterns: Look at your last ten lost opportunities. Not the obvious ones where budget disappeared or timing shifted, but the deals where you had genuine engagement that somehow faded.
What patterns emerge?
Do you lose momentum after technical discussions?
Do prospects go quiet after pricing conversations?
These patterns can reveal gaps.
Question Your Comfort Zones:
What situations make you slightly uncomfortable?
Which types of conversations do you find yourself rushing through or avoiding altogether?
Discomfort is often your subconscious identifying a gap before your rational mind catches up.
Seek Specific Feedback: Rather than asking colleagues "How can I improve?", ask "What specific gap do you notice in my approach to [particular situation]?"
The more precise your questions, the more actionable the insights.
Building a Gap-Closing System
Once you've identified specific gaps, the real work begins. This isn't about dramatic overhauls or revolutionary changes. The most effective gap-closing happens through deliberate, incremental improvement.
Create learning experiments. If you've identified a confidence gap around commercial discussions, design low-risk opportunities to practise.
Perhaps start by asking softer commercial questions in early-stage conversations, building your comfort level gradually - or practice with friends and family - often thee most uncomfortable situation!
The key is specificity and intentionality. Rather than general commitments to "get better at discovery," commit to "asking one additional question about political dynamics in every qualification call this week." As an example. (This question can often be the reason why your prospect does nothing, and is often overlooked!).
The Continuous Journey
Once you start to brace Gapology: it becomes addictive. Once you develop the capability to identify and address specific performance gaps, you start seeing improvement opportunities everywhere. Your career stops being about hoping for external training or perfect territories and starts being about systematic self-development.
This is common in all of the individuals we see who rise to senior positions in tech sales companies, they aren't necessarily those who started with the most natural talent. They're the ones who became excellent at finding and filling their own gaps, creating a sustainable approach to continuous improvement.
What's Your Gap?
Where does this leave you? We'd encourage you to be honest about one specific area where your performance isn't quite where you'd like it to be. Not where you're terrible - but where you're good, but could be better.
What's one gap that, if addressed, would meaningfully impact your results? What's one pattern in your sales activities that suggests room for improvement?
The businesses moving fastest in today's market are those where individuals take ownership of their own development. Where sales professionals don't wait for perfect training programmes but actively seek ways to identify and address their performance gaps.
Because your gaps aren't flaws to be hidden, you know them or can easily work them out - They're then opportunities to be seized. And in a world where most people hope someone else will solve their development challenges, those who master Gapology will find themselves with a considerable advantage.
At Kaizen-One, we believe that excellence isn't about perfection - it's about the continuous journey of improvement. If you're ready to identify and systematically address the gaps that limit your sales performance, we're here to help guide that journey.
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