Consultative Selling

I was recently introduced to Neil Rackham's book, SPIN Selling by a successful sales executive in my company, a man with a very large girth. A man who's belly is so large it proceeds him in his sales calls by at least half and hour and nearly wraps up the business before the rest of him arrives. He is not an ordinary individual by any means, but a person of character, who wears his prominent abdomen with grandeur, not unlike my celebrated pastor Doug Wilson. I'm sure he's proud that it stands out. Why hinder such a successful protuberance?

He began his presentation on SPIN selling by saying that everything we have learned about selling was bunk. Asking "open-ended" questions, using closing tactics, "always be closing," all nonsense, at least when we get to the big opportunities in business, the sales that really matter. It has been demonstrated, he said, by scientific observation of salespeople that when selling small ticket items, like pest control services or cleaning brushes or cell phones, frequent closing does lead to success. It prompts buyers to think of objections, which can be answered. However, when dealing with big ticket items and expensive ongoing services, which occur often in B to B, success decreases with use of these "tactics."

Okay, that might not be too surprising. You wouldn't ask a woman the first day you meet her if she would like to be married at 3 pm, Saturday, and then continue to ask each time you see her. "Oh, by the way, would Tuesday at 5 work for you then? Is there a conflict? Oh, I see. Oh, you want to be married in Death Valley, Nevada, Friday at five? Okay see you then!" But how does one in fact lead another person to a certain decision, to chose something beneficial for them, something that they need, but just don't know yet? Rackham says you just have to ask people a lot of questions. You have to really, honestly care about them enough to take your mind off of your presentation, your features, your benefits and begin to understand their needs so that you can either custom tailor your solutions for them or, in the event that your product is not right for them, find one that is or just not sell it.

The questions may be divided into four groups and this is where the term SPIN comes from. I think the acronym is unfortunate, because I've always thought of that word negatively, but here they are:

S - Situation Questions
P - Problem Questions
I - Implication Questions
N - Need-Payoff Questions

Situation questions are not just small talk, but questions related to something that is common to your and your prospects environment. For example, in the course of my day, I might ask a merchant, "So did you notice your funding being delayed by Columbus Day?" The point is to set the context in which the details of the business you are about to discuss have meaning. That is the first stage of questions. My aforementioned sales manager calls it "the church of what's happening now," borrowing a phrase from Flip Wilson's comedy sketches.

Problem questions are simply those that uncover problems or "pain" that a potential client may be experiencing. For example, a doctor would say, "Does it hurt when I press here?" But a salesperson in my industry could say, "I noticed you're using a Hypercom T7P-Friction. Does the slowness of the printer bother you when you have a line of customers?" But these questions are not enough, because often people are used to the problems they deal with. Implication questions are required to help people see where things could go if they don't make a change. For example, my sales manager told the owner of a fast food restaurant that, while he was watching his drive through line for a few minutes, a couple of potential customers had driven off when they saw the line of cars. The implication question gently asks what the consequences of this could be over time.

Finally, Need-Payoff questions are those that enable a client to see for himself the advantage that you offer and put it in his own words. When you say it yourself, people do not listen, but when THEY say it, it's gospel. In the previous example of the fast food restaurant, my sales manager asked the owner a series of questions: "How much is your average ticket? How much profit do you make on that?" By then putting a dollar value on the customers that were driving away, he showed him that having a credit card terminal near the drive up window would speed the line up enough to more than pay for the device in just a few weeks.

So that is SPIN selling. In order for it to work you much approach each potential client with the knowledge that can help them, but resist telling them. Do not, as my sales manager calls it, "show up and throw up." Graphic, I know. Instead, ask excellent questions. Below is a short video in which Neil Rackam says that the salesmen of the future will all need to understand this. He could be right.