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.

Against Pew-Sitting Christians

Notes on Corporate vs. Individualistic Salvation:

Does God save people as groups or does he hunt them out individually? That is a false dilemma. He does both. Jesus saved John Bunyan, Martin Luther, the Apostle Peter, you, me, etc. But he also saved the Children of Israel from Pharaoh at the Red Sea. And at Calvary he purchased the Church and is sanctifying her and beautifying her to this day.

At my congregation today, Christ Church, which I love very much, we sang this hymn:

The churches one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
She is His new creation By water and the Word.
From heav'n He came and sought her to be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her and for her life He died.

There it is: "for her life He died." Such a beautiful hymn and one that few would wish to read in the quiet of their homes if they knew the joy of singing it in church. Christ died not just for each of us separately, but for the Church.

Of course, this is also a scriptural truth, as well as one embodied in hymnody. Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word." Here we see that Christ not only gave Himself for the Church, but He is engaged in sanctifying the Church. This would seem to suggest that a follower of Christ cannot grow in sanctification unless he is engaged in the life of the church.

Some will object, "I wasn't saved when I was sitting in a pew!" Okay, that may be true, but I would argue that the Bible teaches we were saved to sit in a pew, though that is a dismal way of putting it. We are saved to that, but to so much more. Consider the previous chapter in Ephesians:

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-13).

According to this verse, Pastors (individual pastors whom we can know personally) are a gift from Jesus, a gift from God. And lest we think that televised sermons are an equal substitute for this gift, Paul says that the pastors are for the purpose of building us up until we have unity, that is, unity with other saints. God wants people to have unity. But what does that mean? It means we are equipped for the "work of service." It means simply that we serve one another. It's not enough to be a hearer of the Word. We must be doers of the Word.

Now there are many ways to serve one another. And there is no reason to believe that Paul is speaking of "religious" ways of serving people, by offering sanctimonious words or belting window-rattling gospel solos. One way that we serve is simply by smiling at people and spending time with them. People need the esteem of others. It's one of the most basic necessities of life, without which we will die. If anyone doubts this, consider an older man whose wife has died. By degrees widowers often spend more and more time alone. They stop keeping up their appearance; they don't clean their surroundings as often or take care of their bodies as they used to. And eventually they stop eating right. Death is hastened. Consider also the homeless. We know that people become homeless and stay that way, because they are alone. Somehow they stopped reaching out to to others and others stopped reaching out to them.

Another way that people serve each other is materially and not just by giving to the deacons fund, but by doing business with one another. Scriptures prohibit Christians from being unequally yoked, which would include going into business with a non-believer. But it is scriptural for believers to go into business with other believers. This is one way that we can provide for one another's material needs, by making deals, by shaking hands. Yet another way we may serve one another is by guiding and leading each other. Businesses need CEOs. Schools need principals and teachers. And folk dances need callers, etc. All of these rolls are ultimately for the purpose of "building up the body of Christ." God made us both kings and priests (Rev. 1:6). The kings are those in business called to support the Church in one way. And the priests are the pastors and teachers, etc., called to serve the Church in another way. Both are needed in the Church. And finally, another way to serve others is through seeking and imparting wisdom. There are those who do not play a direct role in leadership, but who are scholars and so serve others through their research and writing.

Of course, no one will be relegated to just one category of service. All will partake in each category to some degree. But the point is that we all must serve one another and, according to the scriptures, the place that we learn this is in church. Christ died for the Church and, by inclusion, you and I. When we go to church, worshiping in faith, we are not merely sitting in a pew, but a mysterious spiritual reality is unfolding. We are being equipped to serve, equipped for our callings in which we serve both saints and unbelievers. Equipped to serve our families. And Christ is fashioning us again into mature men. Men who "measure up" to even Christ.

Is it possible to be saved outside the church? Sure, the thief was saved on the cross. But why would you want to be? The Church is the whole point. She is the Bride of Christ.