• ISBN13: 9780070511132

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...I had no idea how to sell professionally.

I had already read a few books by Tom Hopkins, but felt he was targeting used-car salesmen types. It seems as though Hopkins' techniques relied on "closing" gimmicks when it came down to it. (I must say I did learn some good principles from Hopkins, but his gimmicky style is not for me.)

I was instantly attracted to SPIN SELLING when I saw that (1) it was based on extensive research, and (2) it dealt primarily with the large sale. Since I want to start my own corporation after my MBA, and want to have Fortune-500 companies as my customers, I realized SPIN SELLING was for me.

SPIN SELLING is simply a great handbook on large-sale tactics. Rackham shows how the "closing techniques" used in smaller sales severely damage the success of large sales. He then introduces the SPIN model (Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff).

Although before reading the book I never considered myself a "salesman", I realized afterwards that I was already using Rackham's techniques in other areas of my life -- and having a great deal of success. For example, as a professional IT consultant, I was using (unbeknownst to me) these tactics to legitimately perpetuate my client billings.

Selling is essentially obtaining another person's commitment. Commitments that deal with the purchase of good or services is only one type of commitment. Thus, you can use these tactics/techniques any time you're wanting to obtain another person's commitment.

If your desire is to sell large-value goods or services to sophisticated and intelligent buyers then SPIN SELLING is the tactical handbook you need. This book isn't about gimmicks to trick or pressure the customer into buying. This is professional, high-class selling.

After I read SPIN SELLING I immediately bought Rackham's "MAJOR ACCOUNT SALES STRATEGY". Thus, I now have a tactical handbook and a strategy handbook that are based on the same principles and extensive research.

I've found the SPIN model to be highly effective in my life.

66 of 68 found the following review helpful:


A convincing Model on how to handle the Mjor-Account Sale  Sep 06, 2000
Neil Rackham writes a book that summarizes the ground-shaking discoveries of his Company, Huthwaite. The Whole purpose of their research which lasted for a good Number of years was to discover what certain behaviors on the salesman's part helped In creating a successful purchase in the Major-Account sale, in which the item for Sale was usually expensive and requires a long after-sales relationship between buyer And seller.

Mr. Rackham turns the conventional sales knowledge upside-down and he does so very convincingly. He divides the sale into 4 phases; The Preliminaries, Investigating, Demonstrating Capability and Obtaining Commitment. He lays great emphasis in The Investigation phase, and it is in this phase that the SPIN Model comes into action.

SPIN is an acronym for the different types of questions that a seller must use in order to properly establish the last two phases of the sales call. Situation questions are simple straightforward questions about the buyer's company and current situation they are general questions that basically aim to establish context for the next questions. Problem questions are those which aim to pinpoint the exact problems of the buyer so that it becomes easier to uncover his implied needs. Implication questions take us a step further into examining the consequences of the buyers problem more closely and trying to make him more acutely aware of their ramifications so that we can start asking Need-Payoff questions which basically deal with the value and utility that the buyer perceives in a solution. The Need-Payoff questions lead to the development of Explicit need in which the buyer Has been led to clearly understand the context of his exact need to fix a particular Problem. Only after the SPIN questions have been successfully used to define Those explicit needs can a seller start demonstrating capability. With knowledge Of the needs of the buyer the seller can therefore more easily demonstrate solutions Which satisfy those explicit needs, i.e. the benefits of the product or service.

Mr. Rackham describes the different phase in the different chapters of his book and provides very useful information to discredit many misconceptions that have long Been held holy by salesmen, such as the importance of closing, the true meaning of Benefit as opposed to advantage and feature, the relative value of openings and first Impressions and most of all the value of the investigating phase.

An Essential book if you have anything to do with Sales.

36 of 38 found the following review helpful:


From A Professional Sales Rep, Get This Book!  Aug 05, 2001 By Darren Fox "Sales & Marketing Pro"
This book was an optional text for a college level course on "Personal Professional Selling".

Rackham does a fine job of dispelling the myth of the 1920's straw hat tactics used by the lounge-lizard sales forces.

I am in direct, in-home consumer sales and this book has helped me refocus my questioning technique to a finer art. Now my qualified customers are more likely to go with me simply because I've uncovered their Problems and used Implication questions and finally gave them a few Need-Payoff questions.

Along with Rackham's book, I think you'll enjoy _The Confidence Course_ which is a book that helps you overcome your anxieties and this has helped me in selling. A sales person who cannot prospect is not much of a sales rep at all!

Finally I highly recommend this book and it's compaion volume _SPIN Selling Fieldbook_ by Rackham as it will help you develop the questions you need to be asking your customers and prospects.

Put down the Ziglar and Hopkins books and pick up the NEW generation of Sales books!

22 of 22 found the following review helpful:


Absolute must read  Jan 06, 2003 By Anil "kumaranil"
intially the Name "Spin Selling" came across to be as some cheesy and manipulative model being taught by the author.
after reading various books and attending seminars and workshops i was consistently referred to this book.
also i researched some of the high-performance Sales Professionals and most of them had training on SPIN Selling, so
i finally decided to read Rackham's book "SPIN Selling" and
i'm glad i did and yes this book i feel is the Foundation of all the Modern Sales Training out there.

His Training is backed with extensive proof and facts and every single advice is backed by extensive research conducted by huthwaite. very impressed.

"Situation - Problem - Implication and Need-Payoff", these are the four types of Questioning you will learn and the Value and relative importance of each and in what order to be used effectively.

the biggest lesson for me is the Difference of a "Implied Need" compared to "Explicit Need" and how it all boils down to uncovering "Explicit Needs" and to communicate with customers about "Benefits". this book also clears a very common mistake a lot of us do, to look at a product or solution's advantages and convey that as Benefit to customer. As per the author a "Benefit" is one that solves a Customer's "Explicit Need".

don't be discouraged by any review that writes off the book's style of writing to be research oriented, the book is around 190 Pages and it's worth the weight in gold.

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