SPIN Selling By Neil Rackham, Huthwaite, Inc. McGraw-Hill © 1988, 197 pages.

Buy This Book – SPIN Selling

This book is a classic sales book and I have provided my own summary below.

Below are the key points from this book – SPIN Selling Summary

“There’s no doubt about it, questions persuade more powerfully than any other form of verbal behavior. And this is not just in selling.”

(I would agree that powerful questions are key, but note that “persuasion” in the traditional sense is out-dated when it comes to selling effectively. Persuasion can put the prospect on the defensive and can make the sales person uncomfortable as well. Learn more about my Sales Coaching Programs)

The SPIN Sales Stages

Preliminaries: These are the way you introduce yourself and how you begin the conversation.

Example: “Hi John, nice to meet you. Thank you for your time today. I am here to understand more about your business, goals and challenges. To do this, I am going to ask you various questions today, sound good?”

Investigating: Uncovering needs and getting a better understanding of your prospects.

• Situation Questions: Data-gathering questions. “How long have you had your present equipment?” or “Could you tell me about your company’s growth plans?”
• Problem Questions: “Is this operation difficult to perform?” or “Are you worried about the quality you get from your old machine?”
• Implication Questions: “How will this problem affect your future profitability?” or “What effect does this reject rate have on customer satisfaction?”
• 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?”

Demonstrating Capability: Features, Advantages and Benefits.

• Features: Describe facts and data. Example: “Because of… ABC Logistics Company’s own in-house customs brokers in 140 countries…”
• Advantages: Illustrate how products or services can be used to help the customer. Example: ”You can… expedite the clearance process…”
• Benefits: Show how services or products meet the needs expressed by the customer. Example: ”Which means… your shipments will arrive to their final destination faster, increasing your customers’ satisfaction.”

Obtaining Commitment (Instead of “Closing”)

• Give a great deal of attention to Investigating and Demonstrating Capability. Spend more time in the Investigating stage than any other stage. The prospect will become more clear on their needs will realize they need to buy on their own.
• Check that all concerns are covered and addressed. Example: “Well, I think that covers everything, Ms. Johnson. But before we go further, could I check whether there are any areas that you feel I should tell you more about?” Once the concerns are raised and addressed, commitment can happen.
• Summarize all the benefits before you try to get any commitment from the prospect.
• Propose a Commitment. Simply suggest a next step to take that will move the sale forward. The suggested next step is a realistic proposal that the customer will likely accept without feeling pressure. Example: “I suggest that the next step would be for you and your partner to come see a demonstration of this copier.”

“It’s not enough to go Barnes & Noble and read the books. Jeremy puts it all together in a package that transcends the information itself, and takes you to a place where you can see how it all pieces together. Moreover, he shows how it’s not just about information, but about how people feel, and he does it in a way you just can’t get from a book. Highly recommended.” -George, PhD, Director of Consulting

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Spin Selling Summary