Chapter 10
Asking Questions
and Listening
The SPIN

The Purpose of Asking Questions

Salesperson as a diagnostician

Provides a roadmap for you to follow
Allows prospects to discover for themselves their problems
Determine prospect’s buying criteria
Salesperson as a diagnostician

Need discovery is more important than any other step in the sales cycle

Plan your questions in sequence to gain information in a logical
Research findings suggest that successful sales interactions:
- Contain more requests for information than opinions
- Contain fewer statements of disagreement
- Closing is directly linked to questions

Specific Planning for Asking Questions

Four key objectives of questions

To discover the prospect's "hot button"
To establish purchase criteria
To agree on a time frame for completion of negotiations
To gain agreement on the problem before beginning the actual presentation of benefits

Gear questions to the benefits of your product

Asking questions in rapid-fire machine-gun fashion…

Causes prospects to withdraw or to become angry
Do not keep the prospect pinned down with a ceaseless chatter of oral machine-gun fire
Avoid attempting to force or manipulate answers you want to hear

SELECTION OF TACTICS
Phrase Each Question so That it Has Only One Clearly Focused Purpose	Questions are easily misunderstood Phrase each question to maximize the amount of information you receive
Avoid Technical Language that Might Confuse the Prospect	Terms Unique to Your Industry, Company, or Product That
Ask Questions That Help to Reveal the Behavioral Style of the Prospect	Amiables and analyticals take longer to respond. Be patient. Drivers are task oriented. Show them that they can win Expressives show personal orientation. Testimonials and showmanship.

The Spin

Neal Rackham - A British research psychologist developed the “SPIN” selling system.
A precisely defined sequence of four question types
Enables the conversation to logically move from
- exploring the customers' needs to
- designing solutions
- To uncover Implied Needs and
- develop them into Explicit Needs that
- You, the salesperson, can resolve.
The SPIN incorporates all of the concepts in this chapter
SPIN is a registered trademark of Huthwaite, Inc., and has been developed into a learning/seminar program by Hodgden Consulting Services.

Some Links at the Huthwaite Site

Why Hospital Sales can be elusive	What makes a high performer?
Understanding how customers buy	A New SPIN on Sales
Improve Your Negotiation Skills - Just take the tablet	Are your presentations sales winners or sales killers?
Think global. Act local.	Are your people negotiating or concession making?
Exploring the no-grow situation.	Huthwaite International Shares Sales Skills Expertise
Telenor Mobil stay ahead with Huthwaite	A positive change in habits helps the habitat experts at Legacy.
SKF Europe look to solution selling with Huthwaite	Xerox Norway takes SPIN® full circle
Creating a customer- focused sales culture	A radical company restructure required big changes in behaviour at ...
Tata Telecom achieve leadership position	Sun Microsystems - a total solutions approach
Coaching for success at Nutricia	Hill-Rom develops its own internal SPIN training capability
Executive Network reaps a ten-fold return on their training	Why coaching is not happening (and how it can) Overview - Effective
Maximising marketing messages Overview - SPIN marketing	Skills and strategies for sales performance improvement
MADKAM Overview - Major account development and Key account management	Creating major sales Overview - SPIN selling
Complex relational selling Overview - Account strategy for major sales	The make or break skills Overview - Effective sales proposals and ...
Insight into the changing role of the procurement professional	Developing customer needs, the key to increasing sales revenue and ...

ituation Questions

Data-gathering questions.
Uncover facts and background information

Examples:

"Would you describe your current account documentation system?"

When overused, these questions bore the customer.
clarify the customer's current situation
Be sure each question is necessary
Can be overused (often are by inexperienced salespeople)
Don't ask a question to get information that you should have obtained before the call.

Individual

What is your position?
How long have you been here?
What do you see as your objectives in this area?

Company

What sort of business do you run?
Is it growing or shrinking?
What is your annual sales volume?
How many people do you employ?

Business

What equipment do you use at present?
How long have you had it?
Is it purchased or leased?
How many people use it?

roblem Questions

Here you help prospects define their needs explicitly

Example:

"So you're having trouble retrieving account-sensitive data on a timely basis?"

Problem Questions
- Every problem implies a need!
- Are designed to identify a customer's problem
- Are more often asked by experienced salespersons.
- Inexperienced reps are tempted to see the customer's problems as a distraction or threat.
- The more experienced you become, the more you want to uncover difficulties
- The more you realize that customer difficulties present you with an opportunity to be of service.
Other examples
- Is this operation difficult to perform?
- Are you worried about the quality you get from the old machine?
- How satisfied are you with your present equipment?
- What are the disadvantages of the way that you're handling this now?
- Isn't it difficult to process peak loads with your present system?
- How is the reliability on this system

mplication Questions

Get the prospect to discuss the problem and how it might be improved

Example:

"What kind of closing opportunities do you think your people have missed because of the data-retrieval problem?"

The customer's problems have

effects
consequences
implications

Implication Questions
- Are strongly linked to success in larger-ticket sales
- Are more difficult to phrase than either Situation Questions or Problem Questions.
- A problem can generate many implications. You may have to ask several of these for each probelm
- Are essential to moving sales forward
- Make the problem seem more acute to the buyer
- Help to make the customer (and the seller) aware of hidden complications or of potential difficulties that may arise if steps are not taken to remedy the immediate problem.
- By definition these questions make the customer uncomfortable? Be careful not to offend or upset
Examples
- How will this problem affect your future profitablity?
- What effect does the reject rate have on customer satisfaction?
- What effect does that have on your output?
- You only have three people that can use them. Doesn't that create work bottlenecks?
- It sounds like the difficulty of using these machines may be leading to an employee turnover problem. Is that right?
- What does this turnover mean in terms of training cost?
- Could that lead to increased cost?
- Could that lead to customer service problems?
- Will it slow down your growth?

eed-PayoffQuestions

Help to build up the value of your proposed solution in the customer’s mind

Need-Payoff Questions
- Are linked to success in more complex sales.
- Can be especially useful when you're talking to top decision makers (or those who will influence them)
- Increase the likelihood that your solution will provide the payoff that answers the need.
- Focus the customer's attention on the solution rather than the problem
- Encourage the customer to outline the benefits that your solution will provide his or her company
- Pre-empts objections
- Enlists customer buy-in.
Examples
- Would it be useful to speed this operation by 10%?
- If we could improve the quality of this operation, would that help you?
- Is it important to solve this problem?
- Why would you find this solution so useful
- Is there any other way that this could help you out?
- So would you be interested in a way to control this cost?
- Would it help you if ................?
- Would you be happier if.................?

TRANSITION FROM APPROACH
Components of a good transition often called a "bridge"	Tell the prospect what you intend to do Provide a logical agenda Tell the prospect what you are doing
Aim toward the bridge with your questions by	Planning questions in a logical sequence Predict all possible answers Prepare a smooth transition from each possible answer
If I could show you a way to get get quicker, more reliable retrieval and the gain in revenues would you like to see it? If I could tell you a way to get get quicker, more reliable retrieval and the gain in revenues would you like to hear about it?

Specific Questioning Techniques
Closed End Questions Structured alternatives Multiple choice	Uncovering specific facts Reducing tension because they are easy to answer Maintain control by directing flow of conversation Bind prospect commitment to a specific position
Open End Questions Identify a topic but do not provide structured alternatives.	Allow the prospect to move in any direction Cannot be answered with a yes or no Ordinarily begin with Who, What, Where, When, Why or How Stimulates the prospect's thinking and increases dialogue Helps uncover the dominant buying motive Uncovers the personality of the buyer.

Classification of Questioning Techniques
Amplification Questions:
Double-Check Question	restate or rephrase the prospect's remarks.
	Tells the prospect That you have been listening That you understand their concerns That what they say is important to you That they are making themselves clear
Non verbal Gestures	Nod head lean forward raise eyebrows inject words or phrases to keep the prospect talking
Use of Silence	Tells the prospect that you don't quite understand Allows you to relax the pace Lets you formulate your next question Don't abuse or you'll make the prospect uncomfortable
Continuation Questions	They simply encourage more communication from the prospect Use a few words or phrases to keep the prospect talking
Advantages of Using Amplification Questions
Checks for mutual understanding Allows the salesperson to rephrase what the prospect appears to have intended Invites the prospect to expand or clarify any point of disagreement Narrows down generalizations and clears ambiguities
Classification of Questioning Techniques
Internal Summary (reflective) Questions	Repeat or rephrase part of the prospect's last response Gets prospect to see things from your perspective Can underscore an important point.
Getting Agreement on the Problem	Formally state the problem Confirm with the prospect

BENEFITS OF ASKING QUESTIONS
Before the presentation	Agree that a need or problem exists Agree to explore your proposal
The goal of fact finding questions	Build prospect confidence Keys your product's benefits focused on specific prospect needs Encourages active prospect participation Determines the prospect's hot button Determines the prospect's dominant buying motive Strengthens your relationship

LISTENING

Faulty listening results in misunderstandings
Effective listening includes

Hearing	Interpreting
Hear and receive the message Listen actively Think as you listen Maintain eye contact Put aside other activities Receive message openly	Process and assinn meaning to the message Detect central meaning Interest Need Rejection Verify your interpretation Get Common understanding
Assessing	Responding
Review Emotions Evaluate content, not delivery Be objective Reserve judgement until message is complete	Clarify your expectations Review priorities Review resources that apply Decide on a response Negotiate if necessary Achieve understanding and commitment

Improving Listening Skills
Capitalize on Speed of Thought	We can speak at 125 - 150 words per minute We can hear at 600 words per minute Use the spare time to Anticipate where your prospect is going Mentally summarize the message Formulate a response Read between the lines Use silence strategically
Annoying Listening Habits to avoid	Disagreeing or interrupting Invasion of personal space Doodling, wandering eyes Overdoing acknowledgements Showing off personal knowledge Having to top everything
Listening Habits to Develop	Be Patient Take Notes Avoid Prejudgment Reinforce strategically

Manipulation
influencing prospects to buy a product or service not in their best interest.

Make use of silence to give prospects opportunity to express their feelings.

Avoid attempting to force or manipulate answers you want to hear.

Straightforward questions make no attempt to manipulate the prospect to make a premature commitment to the salesperson's product.

Integrity and sincerity are the hallmarks of the consultative style of selling.

Manipulation influencing prospects to buy a product or service not in their best interest.
Make use of silence to give prospects opportunity to express their feelings. Avoid attempting to force or manipulate answers you want to hear. Straightforward questions make no attempt to manipulate the prospect to make a premature commitment to the salesperson's product. Integrity and sincerity are the hallmarks of the consultative style of selling.

Chapter 10 Asking Questions and Listening The SPIN

The Purpose of Asking Questions

The Spin

Chapter 10
Asking Questions
and Listening
The SPIN