SPIN Selling: Situation Problem Implication Need-payoff

When it was published, SPIN Selling had to prove that over 60 years of sales knowledge and advice needed to be corrected. Because traditional sales techniques had a proven track record and millions of dedicated followers, the book cautiously approaches the problem, continuously reaffirming that traditional methods are effective—but only in smaller sales. The book relies on data to prove the ineffectiveness of conventional methods in major sales, all while repeating that the project’s initial goal was to demonstrate their effectiveness. This allows the text to strike a balance between asserting its own methods and critiquing traditional ones.

The most significant argument against traditional sales methods is Chapter 10 on closing, or obtaining commitment. When SPIN Selling was published, most works on sales techniques were dedicated to closing alone. However, Huthwaite’s research found closing was detrimental to larger sales. They also tested another variable, the size of the transaction, and discovered that increasing closing techniques in small sales raised success rates by 5%. They also shaved 30 seconds off the average transaction time. However, when the same salespeople moved to larger sales, transaction time dropped, and the success rate dropped by nearly 10%. This led to the conclusion that traditional closing techniques led to success in small sales but hindered larger sales.