SPIN Selling

Best book on sales ever written. The focus is on asking the right questions and not pitching a product. This is required reading for all employees at our firm.

I feel like 99% of self-help books, be it self-help in work, love, friendships, what have you, are useless. They always have fluff chapters of 'act motivated and be motivated!' or 'think like a winner!' and various platitudes of that nature. You wind up finishing the book and realizing you read nothing but pseudo-motivational dribble that will wind up having zero impact on whatever you were looking to improve upon. Enter 'SPIN Selling' - this book delivers where all of those other books have failed. In this book is a solid layout of how you should structure your sales calls, and not only that, but data to back up their claims and examples to on how to lead. Read this book, take notes, and I guarantee if you weren't already aware of how to sell in this style, your selling WILL improve. I'm a novice to sales. Last year when I was interviewing for a sales position I was asked to put together a sales presentation and to sell a product. I was given the product brochure and 1 day to come up with something. Using 'SPIN Selling' as my guide, I put together a list of ideas and pitched them in my presentation. My interviewer was blown away. After I got the job, my manager told me he had never had someone deliver such a good presentation - everyone always focuses on selling the product, but they never try and sell the customer. Taking a note from this book, I asked the questions I needed to ask, developed them into problems for the buyer, and then walked them through the solution with their own words. It was a total and complete win. I was tempted to give this book 4 stars because it really does falter in a few areas. For one, some of the research is tenuous at best - <100 sales calls that they then base their report on. That's frankly not enough data to prove or disprove anything. Secondly, this book is very weak on opening/closing a sale, which are both obviously rather important. The book mentions briefly what you shouldn't do to open a call, but doesn't really expand on good ways to introduce yourself. Even worse, it has a whole chapter on closing, but doesn't give you specific advice on what to do! It gives you a whole lot of data on why you shouldn't constantly close, why the worst sellers are always trying to close, how it annoys customers, etc. It never actually says 'Here is the best way we found to bring a sale to the next level: A/B/C". It kind of boggles the mind because the book even shows a study where sales that had no closers in them had something like 20% the success rate - obviously a close is necessary, but the book skimps a bit on that aspect. I couldn't bring myself to give it less than 5 stars because the meat of the book is just so good.

"Spin Selling" by Neil Rackham is a powerful and refreshing resource that revolutionizes traditional selling techniques with the simple yet effective SPIN model. The book shines in applying these strategies to real-world scenarios, loaded with insightful case studies that provide practical guidance to master the art of sales. However, its focus is more suited to high-value B2B sales, and the repetitive emphasis on the SPIN concept can occasionally feel heavy-handed. Nevertheless, Rackham's innovative take on salesmanship makes this a must-read, especially for those in the B2B sector. Despite the repetition, the book succeeds in presenting complex ideas in an accessible, friendly manner. It's not just about selling—it's about helping the customer buy, making "Spin Selling" a solid addition to any salesperson's toolkit.

Really easy to follow examples and core principles of sales

Good read.

EVERYONE who sells or studies sales knows about SPIN questioning. There can be a problem when an idea or term is ubiquitous: it becomes almost generic or commonplace. Everyone who has had a sales class -- at least mine -- can list the words that comprise the acronym. But it is valuable to return to the original source for insights. It was a pleasure to recently re-read SPIN Selling. Rackman does a fine job of summarizing the results of a massive sales research effort. Anyone who has been a salesperson or has taught professional selling must be amused by his anecdote on p. 25 about a salesperson who diligently followed the closing procedure that he had been taught: (see if you can identify each type of close attempted!) ..... Salesperson: So, Mr. Robinson, you can see that our product is clearly best for you -- if you just sign here. Mr. R: Just a minute -- I don't see... I haven't decided. Salesperson: But Mr. Robinson, I've shown you how we can improve the efficiency of your office and save you trouble and also money -- so if you can decide when you'd like delivery... Mr. R: I'll do no such thing. I'm not making a decision this week. Salesperson: But as I've explained, this model is in great demand. I can let you have one now, but if you wait for next week, there could be a several month delay. Mr. R: That's risk that I will have to take... Salesperson: Would you prefer a month's trial installation, or would be better for your budget to buy outright? Mr. R: I'm going to throw you out of my office. Tell me, would you and your friends in the corner prefer to go of your own accord, or would you like me to call security. ..... There are good stories and insights on every page. It is fascinating to understand how SPIN questions evolved. This book should be on the shelf of every student of sales.

This was a great book even if you are not in sales. This will help you in strategy meeting and interviews as well.

I found this book very helpful in providing a framework for customer interactions. I am an account manager and responsible for long-term, high-value sales in the consulting business; reading this book helped make me aware of the flow of a customer interaction resulting in engagment and the impact of my behaviors on that interaction. I have found the SPIN framework useful not only for sales-oriented activity but also for project launches. Rackham’s target audience is clearly those with a background in traditional sales techniques, and he spends a lot of effort arguing for salespeople to unlearn things they may have been taught in the past, such as closing techniques. I have no background in sales (I am an engineer by training) and have always been turned off by gimmicky sales techniques. Therefore, it was hard to relate to his many appeals to drop closing techniques, for instance; I was already put off by that behavior, and although I am happy to hear why that doesn’t work, if felt like wasted time for me. Another minor complaint I have with this book is its rigid empiricism. It makes perfect sense for a sales research and consulting firm to present a lot of data, but the approach was strongly based on behavior-based premises. Thus, he talked about testing ideas that seemed obvious to me from a character-based approach (a la Stephen Covey, for example). I was a little put off by the surprise he expressed in discovering that closing techniques don’t work and irritate buyers. The complaints I have are minor, and overall I found the book useful and will recommend it to my coworkers.

Great book to get into sales

The best book ever needed to understand the call process, which can give you the psychology involved in probing and how to prepare for a call. Must read book for people involved in sales and marketing. Go for it .....It's worth

spin selling is the best book out there to help you become better at selling. it's a simple methodology to help the seller get more out of their conversations; through asking decent questions which ultimately helps with qualification. if you are struggling in sales/or are new to selling and finding the job fustrating (which everyone goes through by the way) then this book will definetely put you in the right direction.

best book on sales i ever bought, really scientific method for sales

Muito bom a leitura, recomendo para quem pratica venda consultiva.