{"slug":"strategy/business-strategy/36-sales-methodology","title":"36 — Sales Methodology","section":"strategy","sectionLabel":"Strategy","status":"unclassified","type":"document","path":"strategy/business-strategy/36-sales-methodology.mdx","bytes":7026,"description":null,"updated":null,"source":"integratewise/Integratewise-docs-wiki","content":"\nStatus: CANONICAL · Commercial OS\nOwner: Founder (sales)\nLast verified: 2026-07-21\nRelationship to `docs/sales/`: this formalizes the stage model those playbooks train on; [pipeline-playbook](../../sales/pipeline-playbook.md), [objection-handling](../../sales/objection-handling.md), [close-playbook](../../sales/close-playbook.md) remain the call-level drill guides.\n\n---\n\n## Purpose\n\nHow IntegrateWise sells, as a method: named stages with exit criteria, a qualification frame, and the principles that make the motion teachable to hire #1 and repeatable after.\n\n**Target audience:** Founder-seller now; first AE later; everyone who touches pipeline.\n\n---\n\n## 1. The Method: Continuity Selling\n\nWe sell the way the product works: **assemble truth → prepare with evidence → propose → let the buyer approve.** No pressure theater; the deal advances when the buyer's conviction does. Five principles:\n\n1. **Sell the cycle, not the software.** The enemy is the daily reconstruction ritual and the demoted AI — every stage returns to the pain cycle ([pipeline-playbook](../../sales/pipeline-playbook.md) pattern).\n2. **Quantify with their numbers, immediately.** Discovery produces H, C, N ([29 ROI](../05-value-pricing/29-roi-framework.md)) or it wasn't discovery.\n3. **Prove on real work.** No slideware convictions: the POV runs their tools, their accounts, one real workflow. The product is the closer.\n4. **Govern the risk visibly.** Security/approval story told proactively — trust is our category; the sales process must _feel_ governed too: agendas sent, notes shared, next steps written, nothing sprung.\n5. **Land the wedge, earn the org.** 15–25 CS seats now beats 100 seats maybe. Expansion is a CS motion we set up in the close ([46](../08-customer-success/46-expansion-strategy.md)).\n\n## 2. Stage Model (pipeline stages — CRM mirrors exactly)\n\n| Stage              | Goal                        | Exit criteria (all required)                                                                                                           | Typical duration |\n| ------------------ | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- |\n| **S0 Identify**    | ICP fit                     | Scorecard ≥ 9 ([33 §2](../06-customers/33-ideal-customer-profile.md)); P2-path known                                                   | —                |\n| **S1 Discover**    | Pain + numbers              | Pain cycle told in their words; H/C/N captured; why-now signal confirmed; P2 engaged                                                   | 1 call           |\n| **S2 Align**       | Vision match + multi-thread | Day demo delivered with their tool names; P1 users reacted; P3 identified; success criteria drafted                                    | 1–2 weeks        |\n| **S3 Prove (POV)** | Evidence in their tenant    | 30-day POV: criteria met in writing; 1+ documented catch; prep-time delta measured; security review parallel-started                   | 30 days          |\n| **S4 Commit**      | Signature                   | ROI slide with realized POV numbers; P4 cleared; paper through ([32](../05-value-pricing/32-licensing-strategy.md)); order form signed | 2–3 weeks        |\n| **S5 Land**        | Sales→CS handoff            | Kickoff ≤ 5 days; baselines + success plan transferred ([45](../08-customer-success/45-onboarding-playbook.md))                        | 1 week           |\n| **S6 Expand**      | Second department / tier    | CS-led, sales-supported ([46](../08-customer-success/46-expansion-strategy.md))                                                        | ongoing          |\n\n**Stage hygiene rules:** no stage skipping (a \"hot deal\" that skips Discover dies in Commit); exit criteria are facts in CRM, not feelings; any deal > 2× typical duration gets a downgrade-or-revive decision in pipeline review ([74](../13-operations/74-sales-metrics.md)).\n\n## 3. Qualification Frame: MEDDICC, continuity-flavored\n\n| Letter                | Ours                                                                               | The question we must answer                                         |\n| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| **M**etrics           | H/C/N + baseline outcomes                                                          | \"What numbers did discovery lock?\"                                  |\n| **E**conomic buyer    | P2 (P5 if > $50K)                                                                  | \"Who owns the NRR problem and the budget?\"                          |\n| **D**ecision criteria | Category rubric planted ([05 §3](../02-category-market/05-category-definition.md)) | \"Are they grading on owned truth + approval — our forks?\"           |\n| **D**ecision process  | POV → security → paper, dated                                                      | \"Is the path to signature written down with dates?\"                 |\n| **I**dentify pain     | The cycle + why-now signal                                                         | \"Can they tell the pain story back?\"                                |\n| **C**hampion          | P2 sponsor + P1 daily voice                                                        | \"Who sells when we're not in the room — and do they have the deck?\" |\n| **C**ompetition       | Named + carded ([09](../02-category-market/09-competitive-battle-cards.md))        | \"Which card is live; which landmine is planted?\"                    |\n\nScore at S1 and S3 gates. Two red letters at S3 = do not enter Commit; fix or park.\n\n## 4. Founder-Led Specifics (now) → Repeatability (later)\n\n**Now:** founder runs S0–S6 personally; the $8M story is a legitimate S1 asset (peer credibility); calendar budget: 60% of selling time on S2–S3 (where deals are actually won); every call recorded and logged — this corpus trains hire #1.\n\n**Repeatability tests (before hiring an AE):** 3 deals closed with this method end-to-end · win/loss reasons stable across deals · demo + POV runnable without founder improvisation ([39](39-demo-guide.md), [40](40-demo-script.md)) · discovery guide produces consistent H/C/N ([38](38-discovery-guide.md)). If a step only works with founder magic, document the magic or fix the step.\n\n**KPIs:** stage conversion S1→S2 ≥ 60% · S2→S3 ≥ 50% · S3→S4 ≥ 60% · overall S1→Won ≥ 20%; cycle length ≤ 90 days; multi-threaded deals ≥ 80%; MEDDICC completeness at S3 = 100% ([74 Sales Metrics](../13-operations/74-sales-metrics.md)).\n\n---\n\n**Related:** [37 Sales Playbook](37-sales-playbook.md) · [38 Discovery](38-discovery-guide.md) · [35 Customer Journey](../06-customers/35-customer-journey.md) · [74 Sales Metrics](../13-operations/74-sales-metrics.md)\n"}