Adaptive Selling: How to Personalize Your Sales Approach

Nov 14, 2023 | Articles, Sales Training

These days, customers expect a lot of the salespeople they interact with. According to Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer Report, 73% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations, 62% expect salespeople to anticipate their needs, and 56% of customers expect offers to be personalized.

While some customers will always expect to be treated like VIPs, this mindset has become more prevalent in recent years. Technology has improved and personalized the buyer’s journey. The impact of the pandemic also can’t be underplayed: during lockdown, digital selling increased exponentially. Buyers now expect to be able to purchase almost anything online — and they expect an excellent experience during the transaction.

Personalization at scale isn’t easy; particularly not for overworked sales teams, who often face burnout in the best of times. Although there is no one definitive report, sales turnover hovers around 33% and more recently, sales turnover rates appear to be 58% higher than in 2020. This is no surprise; sales organizations have had to weather a recession, and sales teams who used to sell in person are now learning new online sales skills.

The additional expectation of providing personalized attention to every single prospect may seem daunting. However, there is a strategy that can help: adaptive selling.

What is adaptive selling? 

Adaptive selling is a sales methodology that can be used to tailored a salesperson’s approach to every customer on their roster. For sales reps, this means taking several elements into account during sales interactions, including the type of customer being spoken to, the sales situation at play, and the unique needs of the prospect. Adaptive selling encourages salespeople to throw out the script and adapt their sales pitch or presentation to the individual customer. 

For example, a rep might be able to offer customized rates if a customer needs to order a specific number of items. A salesperson might also customize an insurance package to a customer based on that customer’s specific needs. 

Adaptive selling also focuses on adapting a salesperson’s approach to a customer. If a customer is motivated by hard numbers, a salesperson might stick to facts and figures. If a customer is driven by emotion, the sales rep might instead use personal stories from case studies, or talk more about pain points. 

Adaptive selling is, traditionally, based around relationships. Sales reps build unique relationships with their customers and in the process, learn more about them. However, more recently, technology is taking over the adaptive space, making it easier for sales teams to leverage data like site visits or previous purchases to tailor pitches and deals for each customer. 

Examples of adaptive selling techniques: 

There are several techniques that can be used in adaptive sales. All of them include a representative being attuned to the needs of their customers and changing their approach to fit those needs. For example: 

  • Reading the customer: Understanding the personality, communication style, and level of product knowledge of a customer.
  • Tailoring the message: Choosing language, tone, and a product focus that will resonate with a particular customer.
  • Adjusting tactics in real-time: Being flexible during a conversation to respond to cues like objections, interest, confusion, or excitement.

Getting started with adaptive selling

To an outsider adaptive sales might not sound complex; it’s just listening to your customer’s needs and responding, right? While that’s true on some levels, adaptive selling requires skills some reps might not yet have. New reps, especially, may need to be trained before they can expect to provide customized service.  

For example, you may need to provide training in the following areas: 

  • Soft skills: Soft, or transferable skills, might be better called people skills. They include the ability to listen, a polite phone manner, timeliness, and all the skills that make someone a pleasure to work with. Because adaptable sales is about relationship building, providing training for soft skills or people skills is critical in your reps. They need to be able to ask questions, truly listen to what each customer says, and understand that customer’s unique challenges. 
  • Product knowledge: Your reps can’t tailor offerings to each client if they aren’t thoroughly grounded in the benefits of the product you’re selling. Offering product  training for sales reps ensures that they know your offerings backward and forward, so that they can adapt their pitch to the clients’ needs while still accuratelyrepresenting your brand and its benefits.
  • Adaptive selling skills: The flexibility associated with the adaptive selling approach can be confusing for new reps. Learning to adapt your sales approach requires thinking on your feet, which is actually a skill that can be learned. Rather than looking to a manager for permission to change a pitch or presentation, reps need to learn how to seize the moment (as well as which changes are and are not allowed by the organization).
  • AI skills: AI is still a relatively new technology, and sales reps may not be comfortable with AI tools yet. The introduction of any new sales tool should be accompanied by training, and AI is no exception. Providing AI skills training for salespeople is especially important, considering the rising ubiquity and complexities of AI in the sales landscape.
  • AI ethics: Customers don’t necessarily trust businesses’ use of AI. According to Salesforce, only 42% of customers trust businesses to use AI ethically. However, consumer trust is critical when it comes to sales, so it’s important that your reps understand how to use AI in compliance with emerging regulations, and can also answer questions about AI and how customer data is used.

To get your team started with this sales methodology, check out Litmos’ course on Adaptive Selling. The course provides an overview of personalization in sales and the people skills that can help reps become better listeners — and better sellers.

 

*This article was updated on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.