The Fascinating Science of SPIN Selling
The Sales Method Developed from the Research of 35,000 Sales Calls
For the longest time I knew of “SPIN selling”, and tried implementing some of the strategies that I knew from the book, but only recently did I start diving into reading it and truly understanding the science behind it.
What is SPIN Selling?
Following a research study of over 35,000 sales calls, Neil Rackham and his team created what they call SPIN Selling.
S - Situation
P - Problem
I - Implication
N - Need/Payoff
This is the formula for Large Sale selling efforts that they found top reps utilize.
The Science Behind SPIN Selling
The first thing to note - the difference between Small and Large Sales is extremely important.
A lot of traditional selling techniques put emphasis on being a Closer that uses strategies to push for the close as soon as possible.
Historically, if you had a product you were trying to sell on a single call - “Closers” and the “closing” skill was the most important aspect of the sale.
This is not the case in Large Sales.
In SPIN selling, they found that traditional closing techniques actually hurt larger sales, but that the Investigation stage is actually most important.
The more questions you ask, the more successful you will be.
In the case of a small sale, once a sale is complete - typically the relationship with a salesperson will be over. Small sales tend to need far less thought behind the purchase.
Think of something random that you bought once, and put in a cabinet to never see again. Very little negativity will come when making a bad “Small Sale” purchase.
With a large sale, other factors are in play.
The sale is often on a group or company-wide scale. For example, take buying a new software that a team/company will use.
There will likely be many months of negotiation, onboarding, training, etc. If this purchase fails, the entire company will see the mistake that the decision-makers made.
“I am not buying just a product, I am buying a relationship.”
Salespeople in large sales become even MORE important to the success of a Large Sale due to the relationship that will be built throughout the several-month purchasing and onboarding process.
The biggest difference between top reps and below-average reps?
In large sales - Closing, Probing, and Objection Handling made no huge difference in the success of sales.
Open or closed questions also made no difference.
The most successful calls were SPIN calls.
1. Situation -
Ex. How long have you had your equipment? Can you tell me about your growth plans?
Understand the current situation at hand. I think of these as general fact-finding questions. What
2. Problem -
Ex. Is this difficult to perform? Are you worried about the quality of your old machine?
Average sellers don't use these questions enough.
Really get down to the surface-level pain. “How long does that take you now?” “How much effort is put into the upkeep of your old product?”
3. Implications -
Ex. How will the problem affect profits?
What will this do to customer satisfaction if something doesn’t change?
Successful sellers help the buyer realize the seriousness or urgency.
“What will your backlog of projects look like in 6 months if this doesn’t get taken care of now?”
4. Need/Payoff -
Ex. If this improves efficiency by 10%, how will this help you?
Get the buyer to tell you how your product can help.
Top performers ask 10× the need/payoff questions than average performers.
What are your thoughts on SPIN selling?
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