The SPIN selling technique was developed by Neil Rackham, an American researcher of sales and marketing, in the 1980s for the implementation of large sales. The peculiarity of such transactions is that several meetings are required to complete them, and more than two people (seller and buyer) may participate in the negotiation process.
The word SPIN itself is an abbreviation of capital letters of four types of questions: situational, problematic, extractive and directive (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff). These directions are the basis of sales techniques.
Stages of SPIN Selling
The SPIN methodology dentist database emerged from a study conducted by Neil Rackham and his team. During this work, they studied in detail the tactics of selling expensive goods and services in 23 countries. The study involved 22 companies, and the consultants had to analyze about 35,000 negotiations between sellers and clients.
The first conclusion Beckham made was that the vast majority of contacts take place in four stages:
Beginning of the meeting. The participants of the event get acquainted and start a conversation. During the first two minutes of the dialogue, the client begins to form an impression. The sales process depends on what it will be.
Research . At this stage, the seller mainly asks questions about the buyer and his company. That is, information about needs is collected.
Demonstration of possibilities. During the presentation organized by the seller, the buyer can clearly see how his problems will be solved.
Obtaining a commitment. A successful event entails some kind of commitment from the potential client. This could be a visit to the showroom, a decision to test a new product, etc.
Rackham's second conclusion is that effective small-scale sales techniques do not work when selling expensive goods or services. Adhering to the classic scheme, the manager spends a lot of time focusing on demonstrating the product's capabilities, working with the client's objections and closing the deal. It is these well-developed stages that bring success in making small sales.
But in large sales, the most important step was the second one, which is researching the client's needs. The managers whose questions were the most precise showed the best sales results.
The accumulated statistical data has shown that for large-scale sales, the stages of handling objections and closing the deal are not so important.
The researcher explains this phenomenon by the following reasons: