4. SPIN Selling
Backed by empirical field research with hundreds of actual
real sale’s call observations, Spin Selling brings to light what offers the
best chance of success in large sale scenarios. Authored by, Neil Rackham, the
book moves through the questioning techniques used by successful and
unsuccessful sales professionals in both small and large sales and via
observation of their sales calls, develops an overall approach for large sales.
Neil Rackham, tackles his “Spin Selling” approach via a careful
review of his field research. In this formal
account, he recounts his experiences with sales professionals at different
levels and the sales techniques employed to get the sale. He first considers the process of gaining
a sale and the impact of various closing techniques in small and large sales.
He also considers the necessary level of commitment from buyers in small and
large sales.
Moving on, Rackham gets into
the primary focus of his research – the SPIN Model. The SPIN model is all about
questions, those being Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-payoff questions. The
main theme to take note of is that sales professionals should be listening
more that talking. The right questions
delivered in the correct manner lead to obtaining the best information which, in turn, lead
to the biggest payoff for the client. This most positively impacts the
success of a sales call. During this portion of his book he also attempts to
debunk many of the popular theories on how questions are used during sales
calls. There is an analysis of the above mentioned questions types going into detail on how
each statistically contribute to the success or failure of a large sale.
The second half of the book examines the application of the
SPIN Selling Model as it pertains to avoiding objections, presenting benefits
and advantages and opening the call. The freedom of the SPIN Model is
accentuated during this portion of the book with Rackham careful to point out
that the model is meant to be flexible enough to follow the dynamic nature of
sales calls. Once again, the main focus is that each question type has a
specific purpose and impact on the success of the sale. It is vitally important
not to be drawn into presenting benefits or advantages as they deal with surface
level objections to early in a sales call. It is more important to dig deep
into the reasons and implications of objections via the SPIN Selling model. In so doing one can
attend to objections at the root and moreover have clients assign specific pay-offs to implications.
Finally, the book ends with a method of turning theory into
practice which is quite refreshing. Rackham fully acknowledges that becoming an
expert SPIN seller is a long process, furthermore outlining some simple steps
to move toward proficiency. The steps are easy to accomplish and the sale
professional is encouraged to focus on quantity of
quality, to try new behaviors at least three times and to practice in safe
situations. The simplicity of these steps to learning is magnificent as it is definitely
easy to apply. Something added to the learning process is the idea of plan, do and review. This lends
strength to the adoption of SPIN Selling.
Looking at the book as a whole, the B2B book club thoroughly
enjoyed this book’s approach to selling. Members focussed heavily on the
movement from Implication questions to Need-payoff questions and how to
facilitate this movement. A question
brought up was in regard to what we termed as filters. Filters we defined as the barriers clients raise preventing free communication between the salesman and the client. Each member agreed that resistance is common during all sales calls and that there are moments during the
call when these filters are dropped resulting in a higher level of engagement
between the two parties. The question surrounding
the SPIN Selling model became, “Which type of question best serves to remove
the filters of clients?” A long
discussion of personal examples did not lead to a firm conclusion but a
thought. Well placed implication questions tend to engage sellers the most as
they are most intimately related to their business.
SPIN Selling, in the end, is a favorite of B2B Books with
each member finding great benefit in reading the book. Personally, I also found
great value in the content and will get a copy of the SPIN Selling fieldbook to
further investigate the model in practice. Should you wish to purchase the book follow
the links below. All the best!
SPIN
Selling
SPIN
Selling Fieldbook
