SPIN Selling

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Professional Selling 7
SPIN Selling
S Situation Questions P Problem Questions I
Implication Questions N Need-Payoff Questions
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SPIN Selling
Based on analysis of 35,000 Sales Calls over 10
years Argues that traditional methods are fine
for small sales, but are ineffective, perhaps
even harmful for large sales Probing
Introducing Benefits Overcoming Objections
Closing
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Four Stages of a Sales Call

• Preliminaries
• Investigating
• Demonstrating Capability
• Obtaining Commitment
• Not necessarily always a sequence and the
  importance of each stage may vary

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Preliminaries are warm-up events that occur
before selling begins, including introduction,
social contact, etc. Investigating involves
uncovering background information, needs, or a
better understanding of your customer through
questions Demonstrating Capability involves
showing the customer that you have a worthwhile
contribution to helping them solve their problem,
and can be done through presentation,
demonstration, or simply benefit-related
discussion Obtaining Commitment involves
advancing the selling process toward the final
decisionnot necessarily an order
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A Focus on Investigating
The more questions a salesperson asks, all else
equal, the more successful the interaction is
likely to be Open vs. Closed Probes show no real
relationship with success So what makes the
difference? Questions in successful calls tend to
follow a sequence called SPIN
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SPIN Selling
S Situation Questions data-gathering,
background information important, but can bore or
irritate buyer if overused ex Can you tell me
about your companys expansion plans? P
Problem Question explore problems, difficulties
or dissatisfactions in areas where the sellers
product can help (foundation) ex Are you
concerned that these frequent breakdowns will
harm productivity? Knowing how to ask good
Situation and Problem questions can be enough for
small or one-time sales
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SPIN Selling
I Implication Questions Explore the
consequences of a customers problem Important
because they help the customer understand a
problems seriousness or urgency ex If
breakdowns hurt productivity, what effect would
it have on your expansion plans? N Need-payoff
Questions Put the customer in a position to tell
you how your product could benefit them ex If
we could reduce breakdowns by 80 percent, at no
additional cost, how would that help you?
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SPIN Selling
S Situation Questions P Problem Questions I
Implication Questions N Need-payoff
Questions These are the types of questions we
use during the Investigating stage of the sales
call. Dont necessarily follow a particular order
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Using Situation Questions

• Questions about the buyer (individually)
• Whats your position? Objectives?
• Do you make the purchasing decisions?
• ...about the business
• What is your total annual sales?
• Has it been growing, shrinking, or stable?
• about the current situation
• What kind of equipment do you have now?
• How long have you had it?

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Problem Questions

• Probe for problems, difficulties or
  dissatisfactions. Invites customer to state
  Implied Needs
• ex Are you satisfied with your current alarm
  system?
• ex Does your current alarm give off a lot of
  false alarms?
• More strongly linked to success than situation
  questions
• Link is especially strong in small sales
• Link is not strong in large sales
• Problem Questions are raw material in large
  sales on which rest of sale will be built

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Using Implication Questions

• Assume the role of Problem Solver
• Make a list of problem areas prior to call
• Ask yourself what problems arise and what
  related difficulties this problem might lead to
  (write them down)
• For each difficulty, write down the questions
  that it suggests
• Plan your call around these problems/implications
  /questions

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Need-Payoff Questions

• Focus on the value or usefulness of a proposed
  solution
• Get the customer to tell you the
  benefitscreates ownership
• Focus customer on solution rather than problem
• Considered by customers to be positive,
  constructive, helpful
• Need-Payoff questions reduce objections. Why?

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Using Need-Payoff Questions
Do not ask too soon Do not ask questions you
cannot answer Examples Why is that
important? How would that help? Would it be
useful if?
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ClosingThe Sales Gurus Obsession

• For decades, conventional wisdom among sales
  trainers and sales managers was that CLOSING was
  the most important skill in selling
• Many continue to hold the view that the strongest
  salespeople are the strongest closers

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What is Closing?

• A behavior used by the seller which implies or
  invites a commitment, so that the buyers next
  statement accepts or denies the commitment.
  (Rackham, p. 21)
• Hundreds of Closing techniques have been
  developed over the years, treated by many as some
  kind of magic elixir able to cast a temporary
  spell over the buyer.
• You havent done your job if you quit without
  asking for the order at least five times.

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Examples of Closes

• Assumptive
• Now, if I can just verify your address
• Alternative
• Would you like that in white or almond?
• Stranding-Room Only
• Im afraid if you dont buy now, Joes customer
  is going to get it.
• Last-chance
• This sale ends today, so if we dont get this
  order in today
• Order-blank
• Salesperson fills in an invoice/order form prior
  to buyer making a decision

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Do Closing Techniques Work?

• It depends, but as a rule, NO--not the way they
  are traditionally taught at least!
• Closing techniques are generally perceived by
  buyers--especially in large sales--as insulting
  gimmicks
• Theory Conventional wisdom relevant for small
  sales only, since it is easier to say yes when
  pressured than to argue over matters relatively
  small

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BP Senior Buyer

• Its not the closing itself I object to, its
  the arrogant assumption that I am stupid enough
  to be manipulated into buying through the use of
  tricks. Whenever a standard closing technique is
  used on me, it reduces the respect between us--it
  destroys the professional business relationship.

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Conclusions

• By forcing the customer into a decision, closing
  techniques speed the sales transaction
• Closing techniques may increase chances of making
  a sale with low-priced products, but reduce it
  with expensive products.
• Because sometimes they work--that is, they are
  rewarded.

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So What Should We Do?

• Should We Ever Close? Of course.
• Learn to set the right objective, and obtain
  the right commitment
• Redefine Closing

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Gaining Commitment A Plan

• Give attention to Investigating and Demonstrating
  Capability
• Check that key concerns are covered
• Summarize benefits
• Propose a commitment
• my objective is not to close a sale but to open
  a relationship.

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How Needs Develop

• Satisfied with current situation its almost
  perfect
• Become aware of minor imperfections Im a
  little dissatisfied
• Evolve into clear problems or dissatisfactions
  Ive got a problem
• Finally become wants, desires, intentions to act
  I need to change immediately

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Implicit and Explicit Needs

• Implied Needs
• Customer statements of problem, difficulty, or
  dissatisfaction
• ex I get a lot of calls on an average day, and
  some of my clients complain that the line is
  always busy.
• Explicit Needs
• Customer statements of wants or desires
• ex We need a way to make sure that when a
  customer calls in, they dont hear a busy signal.

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Implicit and Explicit Needs (cont.)

• Implied needs are buying signals in small sales,
  but not in large.
• In large sales, the question of value dominates
  thinking Is this problem serious enough to
  justify the expense of the solution?
• Only when the answer is yes does it become an
  explicit need.

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Buying Signals

• Defined statements made by customers that
  indicate a readiness to buy or to move ahead.
• Inexperienced salespeople often mistake implied
  needs for explicit needs and buying signals
• The purpose of questions in the larger sale is to
  uncover Implied Needs and to develop them into
  Explicit Needs.