SPIN: Four Kinds of Questions
Ask a few Situation questions, then Problem, Implication and Need-payoff questions, so the buyer states the problem and its cost in their own words.
Built on a very large observational study of real calls, but it was run and published by Rackham's own firm and never peer-reviewed or independently replicated.
Why it works
Rackham found that in larger sales, the calls that succeeded had more questions about the effects of a problem and fewer about facts. When buyers describe the cost themselves, they believe it more than if you had told them.
How to do it
- Ask no more than two or three Situation questions; find the facts beforehand.
- Ask Problem questions: what is hard, slow or costly?
- Ask Implication questions that link the problem to money, time or people.
- Ask Need-payoff questions so they say what a fix would be worth.
- Only then link your offer to the problem they named.
What to say
How many field roles are open right now? (Situation)
Which of those are hardest to fill? (Problem)
What happens to dealer sales in a territory with no manager for two months? (Implication)
If those seats were filled before the season, what would that mean for your targets? (Need-payoff)
Avoid
Asking ten Situation questions you could have found on their website. Rackham found these bore buyers and are linked with failed calls.
Example
At a potato processing company in Gujarat, Sanjay asked the plant head what happened when a shift supervisor post stayed empty. The answer was overtime, missed dispatches and one lost contract. Sanjay did not need to argue for his fee after that.
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