SPIN Selling explained

S: Situation questions

Questions that establish facts about the buyer's current situation. Necessary, but keep them few. Research what you can beforehand, from their website, LinkedIn and annual reports, and ask only what you could not find.

Listen for: Facts that point to a likely problem: manual processes, recent growth, a new system, a team that has changed size.

1. How is your team set up to handle {{process}} today?
2. Which systems do you use for it?
3. How many people are involved?
4. How long have you worked this way?
5. Who owns the process?
6. How does work get from {{team A}} to {{team B}}?
7. How has the volume changed over the last year?
8. Which locations or business units does this cover?
9. What do you report on, and to whom?
10. How do you handle peaks, such as end of month or end of financial year?
11. Which suppliers or partners are involved?
12. What has changed in the business since you set this up?

A 3 looks like: Three or four well chosen questions that confirmed the facts needed, with the rest researched beforehand.

P: Problem questions

Questions that explore difficulties, dissatisfactions and frustrations with the current situation. They uncover implied needs. Experienced sellers ask more of them than beginners, but in large sales they are a starting point, not an end.

Listen for: Complaints, workarounds, the word 'still', and moments where the buyer hesitates before answering.

1. What is the hardest part of {{process}} at the moment?
2. Where does it break down?
3. How satisfied are you with how {{system}} handles that?
4. What takes longer than it should?
5. Where do errors creep in?
6. What do your team complain about most?
7. Is it harder now than it was a year ago?
8. What workarounds have people built?
9. Where do you rely on one person who knows how it works?
10. What do customers or other teams say about it?
11. What does your manager ask you about it?
12. If you could fix one thing about it, what would it be?

A 3 looks like: At least one specific problem confirmed by the buyer with an example.

I: Implication questions

Questions that take a problem and explore its effects and consequences, making it larger and more urgent in the buyer's mind. They are the hardest to ask well and, in Rackham's research, among the most closely linked to success in large sales.

Listen for: Effects on money, time, risk, people and customers, and problems that connect to things the economic buyer cares about.

1. What does that delay mean for the rest of the team?
2. How does that affect your customers?
3. What does it cost when that goes wrong?
4. How much time does your team spend fixing it each week?
5. What does that do to your ability to hit {{target}}?
6. Has it ever caused a compliance or audit issue?
7. How does it affect staff turnover or morale?
8. What happens at peak times when volume doubles?
9. If it keeps growing at this rate, what does next year look like?
10. Has it held back any other projects?
11. How does leadership see the impact?
12. What would happen if the one person who knows the workaround left?

A 3 looks like: The buyer described at least one consequence with a cost or a number, linked to something senior people care about.

N: Need-payoff questions

Questions that ask about the value or usefulness of solving the problem, so the buyer states the benefits instead of you. They turn implied needs into explicit needs and give your champion the words to sell internally.

Listen for: The buyer describing benefits in their own words, and benefits to other people in the business, which a champion can repeat.

1. If that took half the time, what would your team do with the hours?
2. How would it help if errors were caught before they reached customers?
3. What would it mean for {{target}} if this were solved?
4. Why is fixing it important to you?
5. Who else would benefit if it worked properly?
6. How would it help you at the next board or leadership meeting?
7. What would it be worth to have that visibility every week?
8. Would it be useful to handle peaks without extra staff?
9. How would your customers notice the difference?
10. If you could show leadership the savings, what would that do for the project?
11. What would you be able to start that you have had to delay?
12. What would success look like six months after a change?

A 3 looks like: The buyer stated the value of solving the problem in their own words, ideally with a number.

SPIN CALL PLAN: {{prospect company}}, {{contact and title}}   Call: {{date}}

Objective for this call: {{the advance you want, for example a meeting with the finance lead}}

Situation (keep to the few facts you could not research)
1. {{question}}
2. {{question}}

Problems you suspect, and how you will ask about them
Suspected problem: {{problem}}   Question: {{problem question}}
Suspected problem: {{problem}}   Question: {{problem question}}

Implications to explore if the problem is confirmed
{{problem}} could affect {{cost, time, risk, revenue, people}}.
Questions: {{implication question}} / {{implication question}}

Need-payoff questions to let them state the value
{{need-payoff question}}
{{need-payoff question}}

Advance to ask for at the end: {{specific next step with a date}}
Fallback advance: {{smaller next step}}

MEETING HANDOVER: {{prospect company}}
Meeting: {{date and time}}, {{length}} minutes, {{video or phone}}
Booked by: {{SDR name}}   Account executive: {{AE name}}

Who is attending
{{name}}, {{title}}. Reports to {{manager, if known}}.
Others invited or mentioned: {{names and titles}}

Why they agreed to meet (their words)
"{{the reason they gave, as close to verbatim as possible}}"

What they told us
Current situation: {{tools, team, process}}
Problem or goal: {{what is not working or what they want to achieve}}
Impact they mentioned: {{cost, time, risk, revenue}}
Timing: {{deadline, contract end, project start, budget cycle}}
Decision: {{who else is involved, how they buy}}
Budget: {{anything said, or "not discussed"}}

Qualification score: {{framework}} {{score}} of {{max}}. Gaps: {{elements scored below 2}}

What the prospect expects from the meeting
{{what the SDR promised: a conversation, a comparison, a specific question answered}}

Watch outs
{{objections raised, competitor mentioned, sensitivity, anything not to say}}