Notes - SPIN Selling

May 25, 2024

Chapter 1: Sales Behavior and Sales Success

Success in the Larger Sale

• The traditional sales techniques, which date back to the 1920s and are still being taught today, only work for small, low-value sales that can be completed in a single call.
• These same techniques can actually hurt sales performance in larger sales, which are more common in today's fast-paced, complex sales environment.
• This book is based on 12 years of research and an analysis of over 35,000 sales calls, and it offers new models for success in larger sales.

The Major Sale

• Larger or major sales are different from small sales in a few ways: they require multiple calls to complete the sale, the customer has a greater perceived risk, they require a larger commitment from the customer, and there is often an ongoing relationship with the customer.

  • Because a major sale often requires multiple meetings to be completed, a pushy sales style is not effective because it will make customers less likely to want to continue meeting with the salesperson.
  • The author gives an example of a pushy car salesman who used all the classic closing techniques, but because the author was not ready to commit, he found the pressure irritating and vowed never to return to that showroom.
  • As the size of the sale increases, the customer is more aware of value, meaning that the salesperson must build up the perceived value of their product or service.
  • Most major sales involve an ongoing relationship with the customer because a major purchase often requires post-sale support and because those selling major goods and services generate most of their business from existing customers.

The Four Stages of a Sales Call

• Most sales calls, both small and large, go through the same four distinct stages.

  1. Preliminaries: This is the warm-up stage before serious selling begins, including the introduction and the start of the conversation.

     • While some very successful salespeople say that it is in the first two minutes of a call that a customer forms crucial initial impressions, research suggests that in larger sales, the Preliminaries have less influence on success than initially thought.

  2. Investigating: This stage involves finding things out by asking questions, such as uncovering needs or getting a better understanding of customers and their organizations.

     • Investigating is the most important of all sales skills, and it is particularly crucial in larger sales.
     • Case studies show that the average person in major-account selling can increase sales volume by more than 20% by developing improved Investigating skills.

  3. Demonstrating Capability: This stage involves demonstrating to customers that you have something worthwhile to offer, such as a solution to their problem.

     • Sometimes this involves a formal presentation, sometimes it means demonstrating the product, and sometimes it is just describing the potential benefits that you could provide.
     • No matter how you do it, you must convince your customer that you have something to offer.
     • Some of the methods used to demonstrate capability in small sales will not work in larger sales.

  4. Obtaining Commitment: In this stage, you obtain an agreement from the customer to do something that will help you advance the sale.

     • Note that, contrary to popular opinion, closing techniques are not particularly effective in larger sales.

• These four stages (Preliminaries, Investigating, Demonstrating Capability, and Obtaining Commitment) are present in almost every sales call, but their relative importance and the amount of time dedicated to each stage will vary depending on the type of call.

  • For example, when a banker was selling trust services to a potential customer in rural Kentucky, 80% of the discussion was devoted to Preliminaries, as a careful "sniffing-out" process was needed to establish rapport before discussing business.

Which Stage Is Most Important?

• While many people, particularly those who have experience with small sales, believe that the Obtaining Commitment stage is most important, research shows that in larger sales, the Investigating stage is most important.

The Investigating Stage

• Success in larger sales depends more on how the Investigating stage is handled than on any other stage.
• Research shows that in successful calls, questions tend to fall into a sequence called SPIN.

Questions and Success

• Traditional open and closed questions are not effective in large sales because they don't help the customer to see the value of your solution.

• Instead, salespeople should use questions in a sequence we call SPIN:

  1. Situation Questions: At the beginning of the call, successful people tend to ask data-gathering questions to collect facts and background information.

     • Examples of Situation Questions: "How long have you had your present equipment?" or "Could you tell me about your company's growth plans?"
     • While Situation Questions are important for fact-finding, they should not be overused because they can bore or irritate the customer.

  2. Problem Questions: Once they have a basic understanding of the situation, successful salespeople ask questions to explore problems, difficulties, and dissatisfactions.

     • Examples of Problem Questions: "Are you satisfied with your present equipment?" or "What are the disadvantages of the way you're handling this now?"
     • Problem Questions are particularly important because they help uncover customer needs.

  3. Implication Questions: While Situation Questions and Problem Questions are sufficient in smaller sales, successful people need to ask a third, more complex and sophisticated type of question in larger sales.

     • Implication Questions take a customer problem and explore its effects or consequences.
     • Examples of Implication Questions: "How will this problem affect your future profitability?" or "What effect does this reject rate have on customer satisfaction?"
     • By asking Implication Questions, successful salespeople help the customer understand a problem's seriousness or urgency.
     • Even experienced salespeople rarely ask Implication Questions well.

  4. Need-payoff Questions: These questions get the customer to tell you about the benefits your solution offers.

     • Examples of Need-payoff Questions: "Would it be useful to speed this operation by 10 percent?" or "If we could improve the quality of this operation, how would that help you?"
     • Need-payoff Questions have a strong relationship to sales success, with top performers asking more than 10 times as many of these questions per call as average performers.

• The SPIN Model is a powerful questioning sequence that successful people use during the Investigating stage, but it is not a rigid sequence.

  • While Situation Questions are typically asked early in the call and the other questions follow in the S-P-I-N sequence, salespeople will often jump back and forth between question types depending on the conversation.

The SPIN Model

• The four SPIN questions are derived from watching successful people in action.
• The SPIN model should not be seen as a rigid formula, but as a guideline for successful probing.
• Summary of the SPIN Model:
  1. Start with Situation Questions to establish background facts.
  2. Move to Problem Questions to explore problems, difficulties, and dissatisfactions.
  3. Ask Implication Questions to make the Implied Needs bigger and more urgent.
  4. Ask Need-payoff Questions to encourage the buyer to focus on solutions and to describe the benefits that the solution would bring.
• Even though it isn't always used in the exact SPIN sequence, most calls naturally follow the SPIN sequence.
• The author encourages you to think of one of your most successful calls and consider whether it followed the SPIN Model.

How to Use SPIN Questions

• When planning for a sales call, write down at least three potential problems that the buyer may have that your product or service can solve.

• Then write down some examples of Problem Questions that you could ask to uncover each of the potential problems you've identified.

• To plan Implication Questions, think of all the reasons why the problem is serious and turn those reasons into questions.

  • For example, if a problem is causing a loss of efficiency, you might ask, "What effect is this problem having on your efficiency?".

• To plan Need-payoff Questions, brainstorm all the ways your product or service could benefit the customer and then turn those benefits into questions.

  • For example, if your product can help improve customer satisfaction, you might ask, "If we could help you improve customer satisfaction, how would that help you?".

Chapter 2: Obtaining Commitment: Closing the Sale

This chapter focuses on how to successfully obtain commitment from customers in major sales, challenging the traditional emphasis on closing techniques.

Closing Techniques in Major Sales

Traditional sales training heavily emphasizes closing techniques, assuming they are crucial for success. Closing is defined as any statement or action by a seller that is designed to induce a buyer to make a purchasing decision. However, research reveals that these techniques are often ineffective and even counterproductive in larger sales. Studies show no positive correlation between the number of closing attempts and the success rate of a sale.

• For example, in a study of office equipment sales, calls with the most closing attempts were less successful than those with fewer attempts.

Furthermore, closing techniques can negatively impact customer satisfaction and damage future relationships, particularly in sales involving ongoing relationships.

• Pushy or hard-selling tactics may work for one-time sales, but they create resistance and distrust in situations where a long-term partnership is desired.

The emphasis on closing techniques in traditional sales training is likely due to their effectiveness in smaller, one-call sales where quick decisions are needed. However, this focus is misplaced for major sales, which are characterized by longer sales cycles, higher customer sophistication, and the need for ongoing relationships.

Obtaining the Right Commitment

Effective closing in major sales is about obtaining the right commitment, not just any commitment.

• Continuations are agreements that keep the sales process moving forward but do not significantly advance the sale, such as agreeing to a future meeting or providing more information.
• Advances, on the other hand, are specific actions by the customer that move the sale toward a close, such as agreeing to a demonstration, meeting with a higher-level decision-maker, or providing access to a new department.

Successful salespeople focus on securing Advances, demonstrating dissatisfaction with Continuations. They set clear objectives for each call that go beyond simply building relationships or gathering information.

• Instead, they aim for objectives that require specific actions from the customer.

Four Actions for Obtaining Commitment

The sources identify four actions that successful salespeople use to obtain commitment:

• Invest Time in Investigating and Demonstrating Capability: Effective salespeople prioritize understanding customer needs through thorough investigation. By focusing on the Investigating stage, they ensure that customers perceive a genuine need for their offerings, making the closing process smoother.
• Check for Unanswered Questions: Before moving to commitment, successful salespeople take the initiative to check for any remaining concerns or unanswered questions. They ensure the customer has a clear picture before asking for a decision.
• Summarize Key Benefits: To reinforce value and remind the customer of the key points discussed, successful salespeople summarize the Benefits before proposing a commitment. This helps bring the value proposition into focus and highlights the reasons for moving forward.
• Propose an Appropriate Commitment: Successful salespeople propose commitments that advance the sale and are aligned with the customer's buying process. They ensure that the commitment is realistic and achievable, paving the way for further progress.

By following these actions, salespeople can successfully obtain commitment in major sales without resorting to ineffective and potentially damaging closing techniques.

Chapter 3: Customer Needs in the Major Sale

Investigating Stage Importance

The Investigating stage, where salespeople ask questions and gather information about customers, their businesses, and needs, has the strongest influence on a sales call's overall success. Research consistently shows that top sales performers excel during this stage, while those considered "weak closers" often lack effective Investigating skills.

Need Development in Different Sales

Customer needs develop differently in small sales versus large sales. For example, in a small sale like an impulse purchase of a $15 gadget, a need can develop from non-existent to the purchase decision in seconds. Conversely, in large sales, this need development process can span months or years.

To understand these differences in questioning techniques, it's crucial to define what constitutes a "need". The sources define a need as:

Any statement made by the buyer which expresses a want or concern that can be satisfied by the seller.

This broad definition encompasses both objective requirements (needs) and personal desires (wants). Needs typically start with minor imperfections, evolve into clear problems or dissatisfactions, and finally become wants or intentions to act.

Implied and Explicit Needs

The sources classify needs into two types to understand the stages of need development:

• Implied Needs: General statements of problems, difficulties, or dissatisfactions.
• Explicit Needs: Specific statements of wants or desires that the seller's product can satisfy.

While this distinction may not be critical in small sales, it's vital in larger sales. Less successful salespeople tend to treat both types of needs the same way, while very successful salespeople intuitively treat them differently.

Implied Needs and Success

In small sales, uncovering more Implied Needs generally leads to a higher chance of success. This is evident in a study of 646 small sales where successful calls contained over twice as many Implied Needs as unsuccessful ones. Training salespeople to uncover more Implied Needs in this context also resulted in a 31 percent sales increase.

However, in larger sales, the sheer number of Implied Needs uncovered does not directly correlate to success. Instead, Implied Needs serve as a starting point for successful salespeople to develop needs further.

Explicit Needs and Success

As the sale grows larger, Explicit Needs become increasingly crucial for success. This is because larger, more costly solutions necessitate a stronger need to justify the purchase. A study of 1406 large sales showed that Explicit Needs were twice as high in successful calls.

Buying Signals

Buying signals, statements indicating a customer's readiness to buy, differ between small and large sales.

• Small sales: Implied Needs serve as accurate buying signals. More agreements to a problem usually indicate a higher likelihood of a sale.
• Large sales: Explicit Needs are the crucial buying signals predicting success. Experienced salespeople prioritize Explicit Needs over Implied Needs when evaluating a call's success.

Purpose of Questions in Larger Sales

The key takeaway about the role of questions in larger sales is:

The purpose of questions in the larger sale is to uncover Implied Needs and to develop them into Explicit Needs.

This will be further explored in Chapter 4 using the SPIN questioning technique.

Chapter 4: The SPIN Strategy

This chapter focuses on how to use the four SPIN questions — Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff — to develop Implied Needs into Explicit Needs, which will help you successfully close large sales.

Situation Questions

Situation Questions collect background data about the customer's existing situation. Examples of Situation Questions include:

• What kind of business do you run?
• What equipment are you using at present?
• How long have you had it?

Though they are important for gathering facts, too many Situation Questions can bore the customer. Experienced salespeople tend to ask fewer Situation Questions as they progress in their careers.

Problem Questions

Problem Questions explore the customer's problems, difficulties, and dissatisfactions. Examples of Problem Questions include:

• Are you satisfied with your current equipment?
• What are the disadvantages of the way you're handling this now?
• Is this operation difficult to perform?

Problem Questions are very effective in small sales because they uncover Implied Needs, and in small sales, the more Implied Needs you uncover, the better your chances of closing the sale. However, simply uncovering Implied Needs is not an effective strategy in large sales.

Implication Questions

Implication Questions explore the consequences or effects of the customer's problems. Examples of Implication Questions include:

• How will this problem affect your future profitability?
• What effect does this reject rate have on customer satisfaction?

While Problem Questions uncover Implied Needs, Implication Questions develop those Implied Needs into Explicit Needs. Implication Questions are particularly powerful in large sales where it's necessary to increase the size of the problem in the customer's mind.

The Value of Implication Questions

Implication Questions help the customer understand a problem's seriousness or urgency. Implication Questions are particularly important in large sales, and even very experienced salespeople rarely ask them well. This is because:

• Implication Questions are more complex and sophisticated than Situation or Problem Questions.
• Salespeople who focus on closing techniques rather than needs development rarely ask Implication Questions.
• Many customers will encourage salespeople to present solutions without first establishing needs.

Implication Questions are also powerful in sales to decision-makers because these decision-makers must see beyond the immediate problem to the underlying effects and consequences.

Planning Implication Questions

Since Implication Questions can make problems feel worse, they must be carefully planned to prevent a negative customer perception. A good way to plan these questions is to think about the arguments you would use to convince a skeptical customer that a problem is serious, then turn each argument into a question.

Need-Payoff Questions

Need-payoff Questions get the customer to tell you about the value or usefulness of solving a problem. Examples of Need-payoff Questions include:

• Would it be useful to speed up this operation by 10 percent?
• If we could improve the quality of this operation, how would that help you?

Need-payoff Questions help develop Implied Needs into Explicit Needs by focusing on the value of the solution, which counteracts any negative perceptions caused by Implication Questions.

The Value of Need-Payoff Questions

Need-payoff Questions get the customer to tell you the benefits that your solution could offer. This is valuable because:

• Customers are more likely to be convinced by benefits that they identify.
• When customers explain the benefits to you, it's good practice for when they explain those benefits to other people in the account.

The SPIN Model

The SPIN Model is a powerful questioning sequence that successful people use during the Investigating stage of a sales call. It's a general guideline, not a rigid formula. The model follows this sequence:

1. Situation Questions: establish background facts
2. Problem Questions: explore problems, difficulties, and dissatisfactions, uncovering the customer's Implied Needs
3. Implication Questions: develop the customer's Implied Needs into Explicit Needs by making the problem seem larger and more urgent.
4. Need-payoff Questions: encourage the customer to focus on the benefits that your solution would bring.

Using SPIN Questions

To effectively use the SPIN Model:

• Before the call, write down at least three potential problems which the buyer may have and which your products or services can solve, then write down some Problem Questions that you could ask to uncover each problem.
• To plan Implication Questions, list the problems the customer has told you about and think about how each problem might affect other areas of the customer's business, then write down some Implication Questions about the potential effects of each problem.

Remember to treat the SPIN Model as a guideline, not a rigid formula, and adapt the sequence of questions to the specific needs of the sales call.

Chapter 5: Giving Benefits in Major Sales

This chapter of the source material focuses on the Demonstrating Capability stage of a sales call. This is the stage where the salesperson shows the customer that they have something worthwhile to offer that can help solve their problems.

Features, Advantages, and Benefits

The source material argues that the classic ways of demonstrating capability, using Features and Benefits, are not effective in larger sales.

Features are facts, data, or information about products or services. While they don't help a sales presentation, they don't necessarily hurt it either. In small sales, there may be a slightly positive relationship between the number of Features and success. However, in larger sales, Features have a negative effect when used early in a sales call and a neutral effect when used later in the call.

Advantages show how products or services can be used or can help a customer. This is what many sales training programs teach as 'Benefits'. However, the source material presents a different definition of Benefits. It distinguishes between Type A Benefits, which are Advantages, and Type B Benefits, which show how a product or service meets an Explicit Need expressed by the customer. The source material argues that Benefits are much more effective in larger sales than Advantages. This is because, in order to present a Benefit, the salesperson must first develop an Explicit Need from an Implied Need by using Implication and Need-payoff Questions.

Features, Advantages, and Benefits in the Longer Selling Cycle

The source material states that the impact of Features, Advantages, and Benefits on the customer is not consistent throughout the selling cycle. Research conducted with a business-machines company with an average selling cycle of 7.8 calls shows that the use of Features had a low impact on customers, Benefits had a consistently high impact, and Advantages had a moderate impact early in the cycle, but their impact decreased as the selling cycle progressed. This suggests that Advantages might be more effective in the early stages of a sale, but they lose their impact in the later stages. Benefits, on the other hand, have a lasting impact throughout the entire selling cycle.

Features, Advantages, and Benefits and New Products

The source material highlights that many salespeople make the mistake of focusing too much on Features and Advantages when selling new products. This can be due to enthusiasm for the new product leading to a product-centered approach rather than focusing on the customer’s needs.

One study showed that the average number of Features and Advantages salespeople used when selling new products was more than three times higher than when they were selling existing products. When the focus shifts from the customer’s needs to the product’s features, the sales presentation becomes less effective.

The source material argues that a more effective approach is to concentrate on the problems the new product solves. By understanding the problems the product can address, salespeople can utilize SPIN questions to develop Explicit Needs and effectively present Benefits to the customer.

Demonstrating Capability Effectively

The source material concludes the chapter by emphasizing three key points for effectively demonstrating capability in larger sales:

• Do not demonstrate capabilities too early in the call. In smaller sales, a salesperson might identify a problem and immediately present Advantages as a solution. However, this approach is not effective in larger sales. It is crucial to first develop Explicit Needs, using Implication and Need-payoff Questions, before presenting solutions.
• Be cautious when using Advantages. Many sales training programs teach salespeople to present Advantages and label them as Benefits. However, the source material emphasizes that the truly impactful statements in larger sales are those that address Explicit Needs. Therefore, salespeople should not assume they are offering Benefits if they haven't uncovered and addressed those Explicit Needs.
• Exercise caution with new products. As discussed earlier, salespeople tend to overuse Features and Advantages when selling new products. Instead of emphasizing product features, focus on identifying the problems the new product solves. Understanding these problems will help salespeople plan SPIN questions to develop Explicit Needs and effectively present Benefits.

Chapter 6: Preventing Objections

Features and Price Concerns

Customers are more likely to raise price objections when the seller uses a lot of Features. This is because Features increase a customer's sensitivity to price. This can be a good thing when selling low-cost products. For example, a seller of a low-cost, feature-rich watch may list many features, leading the customer to expect a higher price. When the customer discovers that the price is lower than expected, they may feel more positive about the product. However, this can be detrimental when selling high-cost products. Customers may be less likely to buy a high-cost product if they are given a lot of Features, because it may lead them to question if the product is worth the price.

A case study conducted by Huthwaite demonstrated that giving a lot of Features can increase customer price sensitivity in a way that is detrimental to the seller. In this study, salespeople who had previously worked for a low-cost competitor were hired by a higher-cost competitor to sell the same product. The salespeople continued to use their previous selling style of giving a lot of Features, which had been effective for the lower-priced product. As a result, customers raised more price objections than they did with other salespeople selling the same product.

It is important to note that price objections are often symptoms of a larger problem. In this case study, the real problem was that the salespeople were giving too many Features. If the researchers had taught them to handle price objections, it would have been ineffective because it would not have addressed the underlying issue. Instead, the salespeople were retrained in SPIN selling techniques and taught to use a high-Benefits style, which reduced price objections and increased sales.

Advantages and Objections

Advantages are statements that show how products or their features can be used or can help the customer. Advantages are more likely to lead to objections than to any other customer behavior. This is because Advantages can lead customers to focus on the cost of a solution without having a strong understanding of the value of the solution. For example, a customer who is told that a word processor will reduce their error rate by 20% may object that it is not worth the cost and hassle, even if it is true. This is why Advantages are less effective in larger sales than in smaller sales. If the word processor were much cheaper, the customer may be willing to buy it despite the hassle.

As with Features and price concerns, it is important to treat the cause of the objections, not just the symptoms. Teaching a salesperson to handle objections better may help them to respond to the objection more effectively. However, a more effective strategy would be to teach the salesperson to avoid the objections altogether. This can be achieved by using Implication and Need-payoff Questions to build up the value of a solution before presenting the Advantages. This strategy is called objection prevention.

An example conversation demonstrates how objection prevention can be more effective than objection handling. In the example, a salesperson is attempting to sell a word processor to a customer who is concerned about errors in their documents. The salesperson initially offers the Advantage that the word processor will reduce error rates by 20%. The customer objects, stating that it is not worth the hassle to eliminate a few typos. The salesperson then uses Implication Questions to make the customer aware of the seriousness of the problem, such as the impact on client relationships, productivity, and staff motivation. They then use Need-payoff Questions to encourage the customer to describe the Benefits of using a word processor. As a result, the customer realizes the value of the word processor and does not raise any further objections.

Objection Handling Versus Objection Prevention

The traditional objection handling strategies encourage salespeople to give a lot of Advantages, which can lead to objections. Objection prevention strategies, on the other hand, encourage salespeople to use Implication and Need-payoff Questions to build up the value of a solution before presenting their capabilities. Objection prevention is generally more effective in larger sales.

Some sales training teaches that objections are positively linked to success, but this is not necessarily true. Objections are often symptoms of poor selling. By improving their probing skills and using objection prevention, salespeople can be more successful.

Chapter 7: Preliminaries: Opening the Call

This chapter examines the Preliminaries stage of a sales call, which encompasses the initial interactions between the salesperson and the customer before the serious selling begins.

First Impressions

The sources note that, contrary to what many older sales books suggest, first impressions are not as crucial as people might think. While maintaining a professional appearance is advisable, small details are unlikely to significantly impact sales success during the Preliminaries stage. The more critical and lasting impressions are formed during the Investigating stage, where the salesperson probes the customer's needs.

Conventional Openings

Traditional sales training programs often recommend two common opening techniques:

1. Relating to the Buyer's Personal Interests: This involves connecting with the customer on a personal level by referencing facts or incidents related to their personal life. However, research suggests that while this approach may be effective in small sales, it doesn't significantly contribute to success in larger sales.

2. Making an Opening Benefit Statement: This entails starting the call by stating a benefit the customer could receive from the product or service being offered. Despite the popularity of this technique, research indicates that it doesn't have a strong correlation with sales success, particularly in larger sales.

A Framework for Opening the Call

Instead of relying on formulaic openings, the sources recommend a more flexible framework for opening calls, focusing on obtaining the customer's consent to move to the Investigating stage. This involves:

• Establishing Your Identity: Clearly introducing yourself to the customer.
• Explaining Your Purpose: Briefly stating the reason for your visit without delving into product specifics.
• Confirming Your Right to Ask Questions: Obtaining the customer's agreement to proceed with questions.

Making Your Preliminaries Effective

The sources offer three key suggestions for effective Preliminaries:

1. Get Down to Business Quickly: Avoid unnecessary small talk and focus on the purpose of the call.
2. Don't Talk About Solutions Too Soon: Refrain from discussing products or services in detail until you have explored the customer's needs.
3. Concentrate on Questions: Prioritize planning and asking questions to uncover customer needs during the Investigating stage rather than dwelling on how to open the call.

The sources emphasize the importance of transitioning smoothly from Preliminaries to the Investigating stage, where the focus shifts to understanding the customer's needs through effective questioning.

Chapter 8: Turning Theory into Practice

This chapter focuses on how to turn the theory of SPIN Selling into practice. It begins by acknowledging that improving skills is difficult and requires concentrated effort and practice.

The Four Golden Rules for Learning Skills

The chapter introduces four golden rules for learning skills:

• Practice Only One Behavior at a Time: People often try to improve too many things at once, but this is ineffective for learning skills. Focus on one behavior at a time until you are comfortable with it.
• Try the New Behavior at Least Three Times: It takes time to feel comfortable with a new skill, and you may be unsuccessful the first few times you try it. It's important to persevere and not to give up on a new skill just because it feels awkward at first.
• Quantity Before Quality: It's better to use a new skill many times than to focus on using it perfectly from the start. Focusing on using the new skill often will naturally improve the quality over time.
• Practice in Safe Situations: It’s best to practice new skills in situations where you are unlikely to fail. This will help you to feel more comfortable with the new skill before trying it in more challenging situations.

A Summary of the Call Stages

The next section of the chapter provides a summary of the key points from the previous chapters, organized by the four stages of a sales call.

Preliminaries

• The purpose of the Preliminaries stage is to get the customer's agreement to move to the Investigating stage.
• There is no single best way to open a call, but it's important to be flexible and to adapt your approach to each customer.
• Keep the Preliminaries stage brief and focus on getting to the Investigating stage quickly.

Investigating

• The purpose of the Investigating stage is to uncover Implied Needs and develop them into Explicit Needs.
• The SPIN sequence of questions is a powerful tool for achieving this:
  • Situation Questions gather background information, but they should be used sparingly.
  • Problem Questions uncover Implied Needs.
  • Implication Questions develop Implied Needs into Explicit Needs by making the customer aware of the consequences of their problems.
  • Need-payoff Questions encourage the customer to focus on solutions and to describe the Benefits of solving the problem.

Demonstrating Capability

• The most effective type of Benefit is one that shows how your product or service meets an Explicit Need expressed by the customer.

Obtaining Commitment

• Closing techniques are not effective in larger sales.
• A more effective approach is to:
  • Check that you have addressed the customer's key concerns.
  • Summarize the Benefits.
  • Propose an appropriate level of commitment.

A Strategy for Learning the SPIN Behaviors

The chapter then offers some practical advice for learning the SPIN behaviors:

• Focus on the Investigating Stage: The Investigating stage is the most important stage of the call. If you can develop strong needs, the other stages will be much easier.
• Develop Questions in the SPIN Sequence: Don't try to master all four types of SPIN questions at once. Start with Situation Questions, then move on to Problem Questions, then Implication Questions, and finally Need-payoff Questions.
• Analyze Your Product in Problem-Solving Terms: Shift your focus from the Features and Advantages of your products to the problems they solve for customers.
• Plan, Do, and Review: Planning and making calls are important, but the most crucial element for improvement is reviewing each call in detail to analyze what worked and what you could do differently next time.

Success Depends on Details

The chapter ends by emphasizing the importance of details in selling. Successful salespeople focus on the small behavioral details of their calls. They plan and review their calls in detail, and they are constantly looking for ways to improve their skills.