SPIN В2В. How to sell at a high price to an unmotivated client

CHECK YOURSELF

— How do the summary formulas of all four SPIN question groups sound — from memory, out loud?

— Why do situation questions, which make up most negotiations, not influence the sale?

— In the dog-on-a-nail metaphor, what does a problem question do, and what does an implication question do?

PRACTICE

Return to the client from the previous practice — the one whose nail you described. Formulate two questions of each type for him: two situation, two problem, two implication, two need-payoff. Eight in all. Write them in his words, about his business — not in the abstract. A draft, clumsy — fine. The main thing is in writing.

9. A Session With the Psychologist: Test SPIN on Yourself

Theory’s over. Now you’ll test the technology on your own skin — and this is perhaps the most important exercise of the first chapter. I call it «A Session With the Psychologist,» and after it people always wear one and the same expression. Which one — you’ll find out when you do it.

The essence is this. Two people work: the psychologist and the client. The psychologist’s task is elementary: read the questions off the sheet. No improvising, no cleverness, no elaborate sympathizing — just read, word for word. Here is the psychologist’s script; all of it fits in a palm:

How are things? What would you like to talk about?

What problem is worrying you? (And one clarification: more specifically — what exactly doesn’t suit you?)

What happens if this problem isn’t solved? — and this question must be asked three times in a row. The person answered — you: and what else happens if it’s not solved? Answered — you again: and what else? Three passes; this is fundamental.

What happens when you solve this problem?

And the finale: if a solution existed — are you ready to get acquainted with it and use it?

That’s all. The psychologist says nothing more. The client’s task is different: come with a real small problem. Real — not invented. Small — this matters: it’s time to change the oil in the car and I never get around to driving over; I want to drop a couple of kilos; I keep meaning to change the tires; I can’t make myself clear out the garage. Don’t come to the psychologist with a divorce or a depression — he won’t have time to help you; his script runs six minutes. Then you switch roles.