Welcome back! In this part of the Bitrix24 Partner Sales Course, we are going to focus on a sales technique that is called SPIN selling. SPIN is an abbreviation and it stands for Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-Payoff.
These are the 4 types of questions successful salespeople ask their customers to win deals. So, SPIN is more than just a cool abbreviation - it's a sales philosophy. The core idea behind this philosophy could be described in a single phrase: if you offer the right solution to a client's problem, this solution will sell itself.
SPIN selling is a very customer-centric approach since your main focus is not to sell, but rather to identify client's need and show how your product can satisfy it. See, most of the customers out there are not looking for Bitrix24 or even CRM. It's not like one day they woke up and realized: "Oh, my God!
I still don't have Bitrix24 - I better go get me some! " Their real needs and problems go way deeper. What could they be?
Well, maybe the fact that their sales reps are not hitting their sales targets. Or the fact that they keep losing their customer records. Or any other problem that ultimately leads to loss of time, money, or work efficiency.
If you show these people how Bitrix24 can solve their problems, they will be happy to buy it from you without any addition sales pitching. And that's what SPIN is all about - a customer-centric sales technique that works on a personal level. Now, let's take a closer look.
As we mentioned at the beginning of the lesson, SPIN stands for the four stages of the questioning sequence. The first stage starts with a "S" and it stands for Situation. Situations questions are used to establish contact and engage with the client, and gather information.
You can ask Situation questions to learn where your potential client stands, how their business is organized and what their pain points are. This will help you to understand how to pitch your solution. For example, you might ask something like "How long have you been in business?
" or "How many people do you have working for you? ", "Do you run a separate sales department? " For instance, "What are your competitors?
" and anything else that may help you to identify the customer pain points. So, whether you ask, just try to keep it brief and to the point - no one likes being interrogated for too long. In fact, the more Situation questions you ask, the less likely you are to sell something.
Ask only the questions that you think might be useful for identifying the client's needs. Once you get there, it's time for Problem questions. Problem questions are there to help you to identify the problems - both current and potential - and draw the customer's attention to them.
The answers you receive from the client might lead to some really amazing insights and help you to identify potential areas of opportunity. So your prospects may even not be aware that they have a problem, so try to find some areas where your solution adds value. So, how to ask Problem questions?
The author of the SPIN method Neil Rackham asserts that Problem questions should not be improvised. When preparing for a client meeting, try to come up with five or six ideas for Problem questions based on the information you gathered. One of them is guaranteed to resonate with your client.
Another important thing to keep in mind is - do not ask your prospect about their problems directly. And here is why. If you ask a prospect about this with a question like "Do you experience any problems with processing customer data?
", you will most likely hear "No" since any other answer would imply the client's incompetence in this area, and that's something no one will ever admit to, even if it's true. You could easily rephrase this question and ask the client "How do you process customer data? " Based on the answer, you can easily identify the weak spots and come up with a relevant solution.
So, okay! Enough of the bad examples of what you shouldn't do. So, what kind of Problem questions SHOULD you really ask?
Here are a few good examples: How long does it take to do something? How do you measure your sales quotas? What are your key marketing metrics?
How do you manage your sales reps when they have to work remotely? For instance, when you ask actually Problem questions you have to remember that they are mainly there for you to identify the customer pain points. At this stage, it's not enough for your prospect to get a ready-made solution.
You have to explain, how exactly it is going to work and how the prospect will benefit from that. Which brings us to the next type of SPIN questions, and it starts with an "I", which stands for Implication. The Implication questions, this type of questions is designed to draw the customer's attention to a particular problem you've uncovered earlier and instill some urgency to the customer.
So, the Implication questions reveal your prospect's pain points and help you, as a salesperson, to underscore why those points need to be addressed. For example, you can ask something like: What would happen if your sales reps failed to meet your sales target by more than 10 percent? How do you think your client will react if you fail to deliver project on time?
How would you use an extra cash each week? So, ideally you should make the client revisit the emotions he or she experienced during the critical moment. Play it tough, but don't play it rough - you have to walk a thin, delicate line between a potentially negative outcome for your client and a total disaster.
So, when you feel like your question resonated with the client in the right way, it's time to move on to the final, fourth type of questions, which is a Need-Payoff question. Need-Payoff questions - these questions are designed to encourage your prospect to talk about the benefit of your product and your service, but in their own words. If you've done everything right, by this stage, the customer should realize that there might be a problem, and might be willing to hear what you have to offer.
When asking Need-Payoff questions, let your client's imagination run a little bit wild. Go with something like: "Don't you think it would be great if all of your customer data were stored in a single place easily accessed by any of your sales reps from either desktop or mobile device? " Obviously, this should come directly from your Implication questions - hence, the "Payoff" in the name.
So, another example of Implication questions: "Has using different methods of storage ever led to a customer data loss? " Need-Payoff question: "If you could use a single place for storing all your customer data, would it prevent from data loss? " It's actually a good psychological trick, you're asking your prospect a question that demonstrates your product's potential to solve their problem.
Once you've got YES in reply to your question, it's time to finally make your sales pitch. So, this was a SPIN selling technique - a sequence of four different types of questions: Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff, that helps you to make a better sales pitch. One thing we have to mention though - don't treat it as some sort of universally applicable scientific formula.
Sales are all about human interaction and humans can sometimes be unpredictable. So, use the SPIN method as a general guide but don't be afraid to alter it or improvise on the spot as long as you are on the same page with the client. Thank you for watching this lesson!
And good luck with your SPIN sales!
