Sales Style Mapping: How Top Teams Align Before the Pitch Begins

The Selling Style Game: What Do You Pick Up?

A sales narrative — and a challenge in perception

This piece is more than just a story. It’s an observation exercise designed to sharpen your sales style mapping.

As you read the conversation between a sales team and their newly appointed manager, see if you can pick up on the different selling instincts each person brings to the table.

Listen for how they frame buyer needs.

Notice where they lead, where they follow, and how they position value.

Some approaches may already feel familiar.

Others might catch you by surprise.

At the end of the piece, you’ll find a breakdown of the sales styles we spotted — and why.

But try to form your own impressions first.

Recognising selling patterns rarely comes with a label. It starts with how people listen, respond, and align.

Ready?

The Meeting Before the Meeting

It was the kind of late-morning hush that only settles in when something important is about to happen.

The sales team had gathered in their usual meeting space — a glass-walled room perched above the city, where daylight always seemed to soften the tension in the air.

But today, the mood was different.

The agenda focused on more than just planning a client approach. It was their first real opportunity to work side by side with Jack.

Jack had been with the company for just over six weeks.

He’d spent his early days listening, observing, and taking quiet mental notes.

A few one-to-ones, a handful of team lunches, and one or two strategy sessions had given everyone a sense of his presence — steady, thoughtful, experienced — but until now, they had yet to truly work together.

The client on today’s agenda was no small account.

A national healthcare organisation was restructuring its digital procurement systems, and the stakes were high.

The buyer team was complex — procurement led the process, but the IT lead and a vocal internal user group carried weight in the decision.

The sales team had been preparing for weeks.

They understood this deal would hinge on clarity, alignment, and trust.

Lena, one of the newer team members, was first to speak.

“They’re sharp. They’ve done their research. Procurement’s pushing for a simple solution — and they want something locked in before quarter-end. But the head of IT is worried about future integrations.”

Tom nodded.

“And the end users — they’re still reeling from the last roll-out. If we address their priorities clearly, we’ll avoid internal pushback. Though I wonder what’s really behind the frustration — is it the tech, the process, or just fatigue?”

Jack raised an eyebrow.

“Good point, Tom. How would you rephrase that pain in a way that makes IT feel accountable for solving it?”

Tom hesitated.

“Maybe something like... ‘If we don’t address workflow gaps now, user adoption will stall again — and IT gets the blame.’”

Lena jumped in.

“We could streamline the proposal. Cut the optional modules and focus only on procurement’s must-haves. No noise — just the essentials. And if we lock this in within ten days, they’ll make the quarter-end signoff. Let’s also pre-draft their contract annexes to save legal review time — that’s usually the bottleneck.”

There was a pause.

Then Samira leaned forward.

“This actually mirrors what happened at Acme Hospital. Very similar setup — procurement signed, but the real traction came from the project lead. We mapped their KPIs and tied compatibility directly to their bonus metrics. And by reducing integration friction, we cut rollout delays by 30%.”

Jack nodded.

“That’s gold. Let’s bring that in.”

He looked at Samira.

“Walk us through how you documented those compliance points last time. Like Acme, we’ll need to prove our integrations don’t create GDPR or HIPAA gaps — and if we’re smart, we’ll turn that risk into our edge. Compliance is what keeps IT up at night — let’s show we’ve already solved it.”

The room shifted. Something was taking shape.

“You’ve said the IT lead’s been burned before,” Jack continued. “So how do we help him see our risk profile as a strength, not a threat? What’s his decision-making style?”

Tom shrugged.

“Defensive. A bit cynical.”

“Exactly. That’s why we need someone who can ground the conversation. Samira — you’ve got the case, the language, and the credibility. But adapt it. This IT lead isn’t looking for reassurance. He wants realism.”

Samira gave a thoughtful nod.

Jack looked around the table.

“I’m not assigning people to roles. I’m asking you to play to your vantage point.

Lena — keep procurement’s urgency in focus. Tom — push further on the end-user dynamics. What discovery question would open up their real concerns?”

Tom considered.

“Maybe: ‘If we asked frontline staff to describe their top three bottlenecks today, what would they say?’”

Jack smiled.

“That works because IT hears their pain mirrored back — not as our burden to fix, but as theirs to own.”

As the discussion continued, a rhythm began to form.

Lena focused sharply on external pressure and how to simplify it.

Tom shifted from symptom-spotting to behavioural probing.

Samira stepped into her technical brief with calm authority.

And Jack — Jack remained mostly quiet, adjusting, listening, linking.

There was a moment of tension.

Tom glanced at Lena, who looked mildly frustrated.

“This is what I was saying earlier,” she said. “We can’t win if everyone’s worried about something different.”

Jack held the space.

“Agreed. That’s why we align now — not after the first call.”

By the end of the session, what had started as a prep meeting had become something else entirely: a moment of friction, reflection, and realignment.

Not just between sales and strategy, but between people.

Jack leaned back in his chair.

“Let’s test this. If we’re reading the room well, it’ll resonate. If needed, we’ll adapt.”

The sale would follow. But the shift had already begun.

What Did You Pick Up?

Our sales style mapping of the story’s key moments and characters

(Pause before reading our take. Which styles emerge for you? What clues helped you decide?)

• Lena demonstrates a clear SNAP Selling mindset.

  
  

  She prioritises simplicity, speed, and procurement alignment. Her proposal to cut

  optional modules in favour of “must-haves” directly reflects the SNAP principles

  of Simplify and Align.

  
  

  Her reference to “quarter-end deadlines” brings in the ‘Now’ element, rounding out the framework.

  
  

  Lena stays focused on urgency and relevance, consistently aiming to reduce friction and speak to procurement’s immediate concerns.

• Tom starts within a Solution Selling frame, responding to visible user pain (the failed roll-out) and offering ways to prevent repeat issues.

His question about underlying causes (“Is it the tech, the process, or just fatigue?”) gestures toward Consultative Selling, and he deepens this by proposing a discovery-style client question — “What would frontline staff say their top three bottlenecks are?”

Through the session, Tom shifts from tactical diagnosis to a more thoughtful, co-creative stance — evolving from solutioneer to reflective problem-mapper.

• Jack brings a strong Challenger orientation, guiding the team to consider buyer psychology, reframe risk, and align around stakeholder thinking — especially the mindset of the IT lead.

  
  

  His approach integrates Sales Coaching, prompting Tom to reshape his messaging and inviting Samira to adapt her story to a more sceptical decision-maker.

  
  

  Rather than assigning roles, Jack supports each person in using their strengths more strategically.

  
  

  This blend of Challenger and Sales Coaching shows leadership maturity — responsive, developmental, and precise.

• Samira demonstrates a confident Account-Based and Strategic Selling approach.

  
  

  Her insight into stakeholder power at Acme Hospital — where she mapped KPIs and tied compatibility to bonus metrics — reflects tactical awareness of internal influence.

  
  

  Her credibility grows through specificity: incentive structures, integration impact, and documented outcomes.

  
  

  With her quantified result (“cut rollout delays by 30%”), she applies Value Selling principles rooted in measurable business gain.

• Team Dynamics

  
  

  The brief tension between Lena and Tom reveals a truth: alignment grows from purposeful friction, not from immediate agreement.

  
  

  Jack’s mediation turns that moment into strategic coherence — not by overriding the conflict, but by drawing out what matters most.

  This shift — from parallel contributions to cohesive intent — becomes part of the team’s deeper rhythm.

A Word From the Coach’s Chair

In our work with sales teams, moments like this are gold.

They reveal both strategy and mindset.

They show how teams orient themselves before the client enters the room.

You hear who pushes for clarity, who simplifies, who challenges, and who starts building the bridge.

You also notice who hesitates, who rushes ahead, and who focuses too narrowly too soon.

These early signals show where the team naturally moves when stakes are high — and what they prioritise under pressure.

In this scenario, leadership and learning unfold side by side.

Jack leads the meeting while reading the team.

He prompts Tom to look deeper than surface symptoms, supports Samira in tailoring her credibility to the moment, and creates space for Lena to shift from observing to contributing.

He moves fluidly between strategy, coaching, and alignment — fostering readiness through responsiveness and trust.

This blend of Challenger leadership and real-time coaching reflects a mature approach. It tunes into individual voices while shaping a shared rhythm that works.

Equally powerful is the moment of tension — the brief clash between Lena and Tom. That exchange reflects authentic team dynamics and highlights a valuable truth: alignment grows from open dialogue.

Misalignment becomes an entry point for clarity.

And leaders like Jack use those moments to guide the team forward with precision, not prescription.

The strongest sales teams operate in responsive rhythm.

They flex with each other.

They think aloud, refine together, and build momentum from difference.

That rhythm — once recognised and cultivated — becomes a lasting advantage.

Try It With Your Own Team

Every sales team carries a blend of instincts — some refined, some still forming, and some just beginning to surface.

Rather than focusing on whether a team uses the “right” method, focus on their level of awareness.

The real value lies in how consciously those styles are applied — and how well they serve the moment.

When your team prepares for a complex opportunity:

• What selling styles come to the surface?

• How do team members build on one another’s ideas — or move in separate directions?

• Under pressure, who brings clarity? Who reframes the challenge? Who connects the dots?

What happens before the pitch often reveals more than the pitch itself.

The tone of the discussion, the shape of the questions, the drive to align or diverge — all of these offer insight into the team’s strategic maturity.

True alignment grows from responsiveness, not uniformity.

Coaching prompt:

After your next team prep meeting, ask:

• Where did we harmonise well?

• Where did tension sharpen our thinking?

• What’s one behaviour we should amplify next time?

Approach it not as correction — but as calibration.

In complex selling, real momentum comes from teams that know how to move as one — while drawing strength from their differences.