Spin Selling - Neil Rackham | Summarized Books I Books Everyone Should Read

Spin Selling

SPINselling is a method of sales that approaches the prospects using timed and close ended questions to gauge exactly how best to serve them

While regular sales focus more on the smaller scale with not much regard for building value, SPIN selling is an approach to sales that focuses on the larger scaleSPIN selling comes in when the customer base increases. Since this immediately translates to a larger scale of sales, the product or service rendered would be reaching a larger audience. You would be wise to then instill a sense of value in the minds of the customers.

SPIN selling is centered around building and growing values in products and the provision of service. It helps salespeople get a real feel/view of the customer’s real idea of value. This technique focuses more on core foundation which means the sales rep has to ask direct questions at an appropriate time to gauge the customer’s difficulties or problems with the service or product.

This technique helps to highlight common themes and problems the customers are having in order to best design your product. SPIN technique employs questions on 4 key areas.

Situation: these are questions about a prospect’s processes, tools, objectives, and responsibilities, enabling sales reps to learn about the prospect’s goals.

Problem: these are questions about what current challenges the prospect is dealing with to help reps address their specific needs.

Implication: these are leading questions about the problems uncovered in the process step to help the rep understand how they negatively affect the prospect’s company. These will reframe the size of the problem and increase the sense of urgency in solving them.

Need payoff: these are questions about potential solutions to reveal and drive home that the product will benefit the prospect’s organization.

Situation questions are those very relevant questions that should only target the basic and important issues. Situation questions address needs, wants and desires which all stem from either dissatisfaction or displeasure with a service or product. These needs are either implied or explicit. Implied needs are statements made by the customer stating their displeasure and difficulties while explicit needs are those that are statements of wants and desires.

Problem questions are those targeted at solving whatever problems the users have while using the products or services. It focuses on the difficulties and dissatisfaction of using the product and seeks to provide solutions thereafter. If you are unable to identify the problems with your product and how customers use it then you will only reduce the sales you’ll get.

Implication questions are those that tackle the future of a service rendered, how it affects the consumer in the long run. It focuses on the problems encountered whilst consumers use the product and how this ultimately affects the success of the product.

Need payoff questions are those that seek to gauge the usefulness of the improvements from the other fixes. It seeks to put into perspective just how much change should be made to the current state of things.

These questions seek to redefine and restructure the way we think when it comes to sales. Instead of simply creating products and forcing it down the throats of consumers, this technique takes into account the consumer and their exact needs and helps the sales rep gather enough helpful information to better serve their needs with the next product.

SPIN seeks to move beyond the rigid stereotype sales techniques and informs sales reps on the right questions to ask in order to better serve the consumer in the near future.

The benefits of the SPIN model help the sales reps to acquire a whole new understanding of the prospects and build more trust and value with them

The benefits of this SPIN technique are numerous and will be briefly discussed in this chapter. First of all, is that it helps sales reps have stimulating conversations with prospects and this is because they aren’t simply following a rigid “one fits all” script.

This means they are subtly navigating the conversations using appropriately-timed questions. Although there is a list of questions to ask, the sales rep is able to ask all of them but with a timed approach such that it gets only the best of answers from the user. This timed approach makes it much easier to incite and excite the prospect into an actual conversation and learn more than they would have if they had used a script.

This is only possible if the reps are more involved in doing massive research on the product and the target consumers so as to formulate the right questions that are strategically positioned throughout the selling stages.

These questions are important because they help them to
• Understand their prospect’s pain points on a profound level to spotlight their biggest needs.
• Figure out how their prospect makes major buying decisions.
• Build trust with the prospects.

These benefits are for the prospects and are mostly external based, they are helpful with the interaction and relationship between the sales rep and the prospects. But there are benefits that directly affect the company as well.

The sales team will benefit from this because:
• If done well, your sales reps will face fewer objections because positioning your product as an effective solution will be easier.
• Your sales reps can occasionally avoid the pitch stage by closing the deal during a more casual, pointed conversation.
• It provides a framework for planning sales activities that focus on behaviors.
• It creates an action plan for the continued development of on-the-job skills

The SPIN model employs hard data instead of mere assumptions and uses this analyzed data to help the sales team stay ahead of the market

There are a lot of changes this SPIN model makes to the current style of trade/sales. It does this with the help of hard facts and not just assumptions; its techniques are backed up with appropriate data.

There are three previous myths or misconceptions that the SPIN aims to debunk and clear up in the sales world. First of which is that closing is the main goal of a sales team, after all, these sales reps have quotas to meet and revenues to bring in but this is proven wrong by the SPIN model.

It is shown that if you are always concerned about only closing a deal, especially high-end deals, that you will in fact lose more deals than end up closing any deals at all. The success rates of these sales reps that are more focused on closing deals are actually really low. This is only effective in cases where the commodity is cheap or low-priced but with expensive products/services, that kind of aggression will scare business away.

The second myth is that sales reps are to only ask open-ended questions to find out as much about the prospects as possible. The basis of this approach is that open-ended questions that don’t require just “yes” or “no” will provide more insightful answers and as such the sales rep should do away with close-ended questions.

But according to SPIN, the sale’s obsession with open-ended questions was unfounded and based solely on assumptions. It shows that in fact the best questions are those that are timed and targeted at acquiring concise answers instead. It showed that the amount of open-ended questions asked didn’t in any way change or affect the rates of closing success. Rackham insists that successful salespeople experienced more success when they asked closed-ended questions instead.

Lastly, the one myth in the sales business is that it is essential that as a salesperson you must be armed with the skill of overcoming every and any obstacle you face. The author insists that the sale objections aren’t directly connected to the rep’s preparedness. He says that when a salesman heads out to achieve a particular sale with a prospect, that he/she should also be prepared for failure.

This means that a successful salesperson isn’t a function of anything they may or may not do or say. You cannot predict the prospect’s objections and you shouldn’t; instead you should focus on preventing any kind of objections. Although the myth is that you can prepare a list of possible objections and ready yourself to handle each one of them. But this isn’t a surety that you’ll even face those exact objections or that you’d be able to handle it.

But still, you are going to face these stereotypical objections repeatedly even on your sales run, so it is also important that you prepare yourself adequately for these happenings.

The SPIN model is widely applicable and continues to thrive in today’s market but there are also a few negatives to applying this model to your sales approach

As a sales-centered organization, there are countless benefits in using the SPIN model but there are also disadvantages as well. So, what are the pros and cons of using the SPIN model/technique?

The pros of using the SPIN model are of course numerous and they are namely:
• It draws out the customer’s need and encourages them to define the problem and desire for a solution.
• It directs you to the root of a problem to help you frame an ideal solution.
• It helps convince your prospect that they have a need for your product.
• Your sales reps don’t need to force sales closes, it happens naturally as they have been successful in asking the right questions.
• It has proven to be successful in more complex and large-scale sales processes.
• It has proven to be successful in more complex and large-scale sales processes.
• The method has been validated across many industries and countries.

While these are great and essential reasons to use the SPIN model since it bolsters the efficacy of the sales team by giving them real-time answers and solutions to pressing issues, there are also a few reasons to not use the SPIN model, a few drawbacks that make it not so attractive to employ as a sales team.


• It's time-consuming; adopting a SPIN selling methodology requires involved communication with prospects;
• It primarily addresses the sale of a pre-existing product or service; it does not address the development of new products or services. If your product is undefined, the SPIN technique becomes less useful.
• Sales reps need to know the characteristics of the product/solution inside and out to be able to connect it as a solution.
• It can’t be automated.

You see that even with all the groundbreaking strides the model has made, there remain flaws it has to address itself. It is slower and requires a lot of research and man-hours, it also aims to build trust and value on already created goods/services and doesn’t foster the growth of a new product. It doesn’t give as much room for independent action or thought as the sales rep has to increase their knowledge of the product and form argument and counter-argument for when they approach a prospect. And it also cannot be set on autopilot, cannot leave it to run itself or it’ll crash.

The SPIN model stands true even in today’s market, working hand in hand with the modern technologies designed for sale

This SPIN method, although a viable option for changing the sales games drastically, has many worrying questions yet to answer. Chief among them is its practicability in modern times. When the model was created, it was revolutionary and, in the time it was put into practice, there was so much it redefined; the old tactics paled in comparison. But that was over 30 years ago; in today’s market, the question is whether or not it is viable to follow the SPIN model.

The answer however is yes! Even with the numerous evolution the market has had to go through, the model has been made to also go through tests of its own and not once has it fallen short in context of time and applicability. Rackham insists however that the modern sales tools can in fact help the model experience more success even.

Modern technology actually makes it much easier to apply the SPIN model. When a salesperson encounters a prospect, they can record their calls electronically and take notes, and then store them in their CRM — customer relationship management. This is a means to manage the company’s interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers’ history with a company to improve business relationships with customers, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.

This technology makes sure they are able to track which were successful at what stage and make adjustments if need be. It helps sales managers create a visual map to help sales reps move prospects down the funnel. Each stage and the questions pertaining to it can be obtained also and assigned.

This has shown that the SPIN methodology is in fact very viable, regardless of the time and is much more applicable with the aid of technological advances in the area of sales management.

The application of the SPIN model to your sales team will ensure it has a much higher success rate of closing deals

These benefits and advantages the SPIN model boasts of across time and the evolutionary phases of the sales market are the envy of any sales team. But how do you apply it to your sales team? How can you integrate the model into your own team[s] and ensure success still?

One way to introduce the SPIN model to your team is by plotting out the question types in a chart, a flowchart showing the flow the technique follows, ensuring it is clear and straightforward. This ensures that you cannot move to or skip over a problem question without first asking the situational questions. It places each step in the technique into the right hierarchical arrangements such that each one is given enough attention before moving on to the next. It essentially spreads it out into 4 main steps;

Warm-up your prospects: Your sales reps should start by asking “situation’” questions with the goal of introducing themselves and asking questions that will help their prospects feel comfortable. Sales reps should ask generalized, thought provoking questions to help start a conversation. Bearing in mind that while situation questions should be somehow related to your product, the product should never be mentioned or brought up at this stage. Examples of situation questions resemble this: what is the procedure you follow to find customers?

Investigate your prospects problems: This is where the reps are to investigate what is wrong with the product consumption. This involves asking the prospect questions to figure out what part of their business they’re struggling with and how you could help. If a rep fails to connect with the prospect at this stage of the SPIN cycle, it’s hard for them to move onto the “implication” phase. By asking the right questions here, the sales rep can break down conversational barriers and help the prospects be more open about their struggles. Once a prospect starts discussing the challengers they’re facing, sales reps can get a better idea of what product they can offer them.

Prove your product is a solution: Now, the sales rep needs to start amplifying the prospect’s sense of urgency around solving their problems. They should begin to introduce your product as a solution to the prospect’s problems, but without implicitly mentioning the product. Reps should not imply that the product will immediately fix their prospect’s problems. However, hypothetical implication questions will help your prospect come to the conclusion on their own that your product and its features are the solution to their problem.

Seal the deal: The goal now is to see the impact of your product on the prospect’s problem and business, so they see the benefit of buying [or trying] the product. Whether scheduling a demo or offering a free trial, it’s at this stage that sales reps lock in a commitment from the prospect. If the sales rep genuinely listened to their prospect’s situation and positioned your product well throughout, they won’t have to sell too hard in this phase.

These are the steps, arranged in the right order to affect a much better success rate in closing sales. For a sales rep or sales management of a firm, careful adherence to the SPIN model will help the sales team stay ahead of the pack.

Conclusion

The SPIN model has been in use for the last 30 years and its continued relevance is proof of its effectiveness. Today it is still advised that sales teams should implement it vigorously as older techniques of sales were mostly rigid and sought to approach the prospects with the idea that it was best to ask them open – ended questions, but these never ensured the overall success of the deal. Sales teams that desire to succeed are those who have acknowledged the sense in employing the SPIN models.

Try this:
Educate your sales team on the SPIN technique: Situation questions, Problem questions, Implication questions, Need pay-off