SPIN Selling
SITUATION ⋅ PROBLEM ⋅ IMPLICATION ⋅ NEED-PAYOFF
By Neil Rackham
1. Sales Behavior and Sales Success
Small Sales Selling Techniques
• The traditional selling techniques that most of us have been trained
to use work best in small sales – a sale which can normally be
completed in a single call and which involves a low dollar value.
• These selling techniques don’t work for major sales and in fact can
hurt your success as the sales grow larger.
Characteristics of Major Sales
• Longer Selling Cycle - Whereas a simple low-value sale can often
be completed in one call, a major sale may require many calls
spread over a period of months.
• Building Value is Critical to Sales Success - As the size of the
sale increases, successful salespeople build up the perceived value
of their products or services. The building of perceived value is
probably the single most important selling skill in larger sales.
• On-going Relationship – As the sales grows larger, the customer
puts more emphasis on the salesperson as a factor in the decision.
In a large sale, product and seller may become inseparable in the
customer’s mind.
• The Risk of Mistake – Customer’s become more cautious as the
decision size increases. Purchase price is one factor, but fear of
making a public mistake may be even more important.
The Four Stages of a Sales Call
- almost every sales call, from the
simplest to the most sophisticated, goes through four distinct stages:
• Preliminaries – These are the warming-up events that occur
before the serious selling begins. This includes such things as the
way you introduce yourself and how you begin the conversation.
• Investigating – Almost every sale involves finding something out
by asking questions. Investigating is the most important of all
selling skills.
• Demonstrating Capability – In every sales call you must
convince your customer that you have something to offer.
