BLOG 285 – Should you put the SPIN framework of questions to work in your business?

Neil Rackman and his training company Huthwaite put together the SPIN framework of questions to help businesses navigate the tricky road to successfully winning business and having the edge over the competition.

In his book ‘SPIN Selling’ Neil used a great quote from a business leader he interviewed:

‘If I fell into a ditch, 50 salespeople can sell me a ladder to get out, but only 1 can sell me something that stops me falling in, in the first place’.

This is the key to the SPIN framework. Don’t give the customer what you think they want – give them what they ACTUALLY want, or even better, something that they don’t know they want but once discovered cannot do without.

There is nothing revolutionary about the SPIN questions – they’re just the questions that successful salespeople ask on a good day, when it’s all going very well. All 4 types of questions are needed and all can be learned.

So why not give the SPIN framework a try with your customers?

Here are 4 helping hands to get you started:

1. Situation questions – help you understand your customers current situation and gather background information.
2. Problem questions – help search out problems, difficulties and issues that your product solves (sad questions).
3. Implication questions – hone in on the problems you’ve discovered and get clarity on the seriousness off the issues (sad questions).
4. Needs/Payoff questions – these questions lead your customer to the conclusion that your product or service is the solution to the problems they are facing and that those problems would go away as a result of them buying from you (happy questions).