SPIN Selling: the questions that closeOpen now
The classic consultative framework. Turn your pitch into four kinds of questions (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff) so the buyer talks themselves into it.
Teach me and then run SPIN Selling on my sale. SPIN, from Neil Rackham's research on thousands of real sales calls, found that top performers don't pitch, they ask four kinds of questions in order, and the buyer ends up making the case themselves. Explain the four question types in one line each: - SITUATION: understand their current setup (use sparingly, do your homework first so you don't interrogate). - PROBLEM: surface the difficulties and dissatisfactions they have. - IMPLICATION: make the cost of those problems real (what it leads to, what it's costing them). - NEED-PAYOFF: get them to say out loud what solving it would be worth. Then ask me what I sell and to whom. Then, for MY specific offer: - Write 3 to 5 strong questions of each type, tailored to my buyer and my product. Make the Implication questions especially good, because that's where deals are won: they turn a small annoyance into a real reason to act. - Show me the natural order to ask them in, and how to move between types without it feeling like a script. - Flag the rookie mistake for my situation, usually too many Situation questions, or jumping to the pitch before the Implication has landed. End with a roleplay: you play a realistic version of my prospect, I practice running SPIN on you, and you break character at the end to tell me what worked and where I reached for the pitch too early.