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SPIN Selling

negotiation · hard · 2-3 hours to learn, ongoing practice in real conversations

What is SPIN Selling?

Neil Rackham's research-backed sales methodology based on analysis of 35,000+ sales calls over 12 years. Four types of questions — Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff — guide the buyer to discover their own need for your solution. Especially effective for high-value B2B sales.

Is there evidence for it?

EVIDENCEstrong

How do you do SPIN Selling?

  1. 1.Situation Questions: Ask about their current state (keep these brief — max 2-3, buyers find them boring)
  2. 2.Problem Questions: Identify difficulties and dissatisfactions with their current approach
  3. 3.Implication Questions: Explore the consequences of not solving the problem ('What happens to your team when...')
  4. 4.Need-Payoff Questions: Get the buyer to articulate the value of solving it ('How would it help if you could...')
  5. 5.Never pitch until Implication questions have made the buyer feel the pain — premature solutions kill deals

How long does it take?

2-3 hours to learn, ongoing practice in real conversations.

Is it hard to start?

hard.

Source: Neil Rackham — SPIN Selling (1988), Huthwaite Research Group
sales · B2B · communication · questions · consultative-selling
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> everything in negotiation

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