Neil Packham: SPIN Selling

What techniques work for the small sale do not always apply to the large sale. In fact, what works in small sales can hurt your success as the sales grow larger. 

The building of perceived value is probably the single most important selling skill in larger sales. 

In a large sale, the prospect is more interested in what you are like and the ongoing relationship they will be starting. 

Customers become more cautious as decision size increases. 

Purchase price is one factor that increases caution, but fear of making a public mistake may be even more important. 

Closing techniques (using a lot of them) can help with low-priced products, but with expensive products or services, they reduce the chances of making a sale. 

In a large sale, you need to develop minor imperfections in their existing product (if they are using one) and evolve into clear problems, difficulties, or dissatisfactions. Then, finally, these must become wants, desires, or intentions to act. 

A sale is made when the customer perceives the problem to be larger than the cost. 

The cost can be a multitude of things:

Price, risk of losing their job due to a bad purchase, or fear of making a bad decision in front of peers.

The purpose of questions in a larger sale is to uncover implied needs and eventually develop them into explicit needs. 

The SPIN Strategy:

Situation

Problem

Implication

Needs-development 

1. Situation questions:

If you want to know something about the prospect questions like...

What's your position?

How long have you been here?

Do you make the purchasing decisions?

What do you see as your objective in this area?

If you want to know about their business...

What sort of business do you run?

Is it growing or shrinking?

What's your annual sales volume?

How many people do you employ?

All in all, each situation question collects facts, information, and background data about the customer's existing situation. 

IMPORTANT: research shows that inexperienced salespeople use more situation questions, and situation questions are negatively correlated with a successful call. 

Situation questions are an essential part of questioning, but they must be used carefully. 

Each one must have a focus, or purpose, and don't use too many. 

1. Problem Questions

Ex. 

Are you satisfied with your present equipment?

What are the disadvantages of the way you're handling this now?

Isn't it difficult to process peak loads with your current system?

Does this old machine give you reliability problems?

1. Implication Questions

Decision-makers respond most favorably to salespeople who uncover implications because that person's success depends on seeing beyond immediate problems to underlying effects and consequences. 

Implication questions are particularly powerful in high-tech sales. 

The only downside of implication questions is that they might make the buyer feel negative or somber. 

Ex. 

"But your car must be at least 7 years old. Doesn't this mean that you can't claim any depreciation on it for business use?"

"So you're losing a couple of thousand a year in tax write-offs?"

"And doesn't a 7-year old car mean that you're getting lousy mileage?"

"And that's also leading to higher costs for you...?"

1. Need-Payoff Questions

First they use Implication questions to build up the problem so that it's perceived more seriously, then they turn to Need-Payoff. Need-Payoff questions ask about the usefulness of solving a problem and build up the perception of value. 

Ex. 

Is it important for you to solve this problem?

Why would you find this solution so useful?

Is there any other way this could help you?

What would it let you do that you can't do right now?

How would this help you?

What do you see as the plusses of this approach?

The psychology of need-payoff questions is important. 

They focus the customer's attention on the solution rather than the problem. This creates a positive problem-solving atmosphere where attention is given to actions and solutions, not just problems and difficulties. 

They get the customer telling you the benefits. 

They get the customer off the details and features which they might not understand and onto how your solution will help. 

Need-Payoff questions concentrate on the area that buyers understand best: their own business-and how it would be helped by the solution you're proposing. 

The most common pitfalls with asking need-payoff questions are:

• Asking them early in the call. If you ask need-payoff questions before you identify the customer's problems, you will put them on the defensive. 
• Asking them when you don't have the answers. If you ask a need-payoff playing up the importance of double-sided copying ability, but you can't provide that feature, then it was a bad idea. 

2 types of benefits:

Type A benefit: Shows how a product or service can be used or can help a customer. 

Type B benefit: Shows how a product or service meets an expressed Explicit Need expressed by the customer. 

Often, if you are really enthusiastic about your product, you can fall into the trap of becoming too product-centric and give solely features and advantages, focusing less on the customer. 

Objections are more often created by the seller than the buyer. 

Offering a solution before building a need is what creates objections. 

Using Advantages before creating an explicit need is what leads to objections. 

Objections come when there isn't enough perceived value. 

In order to move from preliminaries to investigating (SPIN Questions) you must establish:

• Who you are
• Why you're there (but not by giving product details)
• Your right to ask questions

Entelechy - the realization of potential.

In order to learn a new complex behavior, for example the SPIN Sales method:

Start by picking just one behavior to practice. Don't move on to the next until you're confident you've got the first behavior right. 

Stages of a successful call progression: