50ish levers: Your Sales Methodology Doesn’t Matter—Unless It’s in the Room with the Prospect

I was recently in a conversation with a fellow go-to-market advisor, and he said something that resonated: 

“Too often, sales methodology training just becomes a framework for internal deal reviews. It never actually shows up in the conversation with the buyer.”

Truth! And very well said. 

I’ve seen companies invest six figures in methodology training only to see it fade into the background after kickoff week. The framework becomes a checklist for sales managers, not a compass for salespeople. Representatives revert to their default habits. Buyers go back to being unimpressed. And revenue leaders go back to wondering why the methodology isn’t “sticking.”

The Problem Isn’t the Methodology, it’s the Implementation

I’m not here to knock any particular framework. Most are solid. They are like diets. If you stick to them, they work. The issue isn’t which methodology you choose, it’s how you help your team live it in the wild.

That means giving them:

• Real Training, ideally live with a good trainer so they can hear, test, practice and iterate in a collaborative environment

• Live coaching and call reviews, so sales managers can reinforce what good looks like and help reps tune their approach.

• Discussion frameworks, like Trivium’s Anatomy of a Discovery Call, make the abstract concrete, translating your chosen methodology into a repeatable structure for high-impact prospect conversations.

Salespeople don’t need more scripts to memorize. They need tools to help them translate the framework into the actual conversation, in the moment, with a real buyer, when it counts.

Tech Can Help—If It’s Done Right

This is where the right enablement tech can make a real difference. I recently discovered a feature in Fathom.AI that was a pleasant surprise: it allows call notes to be automatically structured into your chosen sales methodology.

Now, managers don’t need to wonder whether the rep qualified based on MEDDICC or asked the right Sandler questions. It’s laid out for them—cleanly, clearly, consistently. Reviewing calls and giving feedback is no longer a scavenger hunt.

This is the kind of smart enablement we need more of: tools that reinforce methodology in real time, not just during QBRs.

Making Methodology Stick (for Real)

If you want your sales methodology to drive revenue, it can’t remain confined to a slide deck or a training binder. It has to live in the call. In the rep’s questions. In how they listen. In how they uncover pain, create urgency, and map value.

That’s why we created rep-friendly guidance, such as the Anatomy of a Discovery Call framework, at Trivium Growth. It helps organizations embed their sales methodology into every seller’s process—not in theory, but in practice. With talk tracks, coaching guides, and real-time reinforcement, it becomes muscle memory, not mental overhead.

Because the truth is, your methodology doesn’t matter—unless it’s in the room with the prospect.