Confidential©
© 2014
2013 Busbud
Inc.
Confidential
Busbud
Inc.
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Agenda…
• The Sale and Buying Cycles
• The Implied and Explicit Needs
• The SPIN™ Questions
• Demonstrating Capability
• The Obtaining Commitment Stage
• Preventing Objections
• Developing New Skills
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
Planning
Prospecting
Following-up
Opening
Obtaining
Commitment
Investigating
Demonstrating
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The Buying Cycle...
Planning
Prospecting
Opening
Following-up
Changes over time
Investigating
Recognition of
Needs
Implementation
Demonstrating
Obtaining
Commitment
Evaluation of
Options
Decision
Resolution of
Concerns
Demonstrating
Major Account Sales Strategy -McGraw – Hill
Demonstrating
......as it links to the seller’s sales activities
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The 4 Stages of a Sales Call - SPIN™
The Investigating is the most
important stage of a sales call –
This is where successful sellers
invest most of their efforts
Opening
Investigating
A poor Investigating stage
will greatly compromise
the call’s outcome
Demonstrating
Capability
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Obtaining
Commitment
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The 4 Stages of a Sales Call - SPIN™
•
•
•
Opening
Investigating
•
•
Preliminaries
Purpose of the call
Permission to continue
Effective deployment of the SPIN™ Model
The development of Implied Needs to Explicit
Needs
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The 4 Stages of a Sales Call - SPIN™
•
Demonstrating
Capability
•
Presentation and/or Demonstration of the
solution by describing Features, Advantages
and Benefits
Main source of objections in complex sales
A poor Investigating stage will greatly compromise the
call’s outcome
Obtaining
Commitment
•
Obtaining Commitment requires 3 steps :
1. Check that key concerns are resolved
2. Summarize benefits
3. Propose a realistic commitment
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The Development of Needs
Unknown
Problems
Difficulties
Dissatisfactions
Needs
Desires
Wishes
Implied Needs
OK for Simple Sale Transactional Selling Approach
Explicit Needs
Required for Complex Sales Consultative Selling Approach
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The SPIN™ Model
Effectively using the SPIN™ Model:
•
•
•
•
S
P
I
N
Situation questions
Problems questions
Implications questions
Need-Payoff questions
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The Objectives and Value of the SPIN™ Questions
Situation Questions:
•
Collect facts and background data about the customer’s existing situation
that is relevant to your products and services;
•
While these questions are easy to ask, they bring little value to the buyer
and can certainly aggravate him if too many of these questions are asked;
•
A good knowledge of the customer’s industry and/or the information
provided by an internal or external contact can help planning the call in a
way to reduce the number of Situation Questions required;
•
The most effective Situation Questions are targeted toward customer
problems.
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The Objectives and Value of the SPIN™ Questions
Problems Questions:
•
These questions probe for problems, difficulties or dissatisfactions. They
prompt the buyer to state Implied Needs to which we can provide
solutions;
•
These questions have a lot of value to the customer because of the
latter's interest to resolve its problems;
•
It is essential to effectively plan these questions ahead of time, otherwise
the sales call will most likely remain in the Situation Questions stage;
•
The best way to plan problems questions is to previously set a minimum of
three potential customer problems on a form and then planning examples
of questions that will be used to highlight these issues.
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The Objectives and Value of the SPIN™ Questions
Implications Questions:
•
Discover the implications of customer problems related to our business
solutions;
•
These questions are very valuable because they develop the Implied Need
toward other potential problems;
•
The Implications Questions are particularly efficient in a complex sales
approach;
•
These questions, much more difficult to ask, requires careful planning
because of their importance in the development of Implied Needs to
Explicit Needs.
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The Objectives and Value of the SPIN™ Questions
Implications Questions:
• As for Problems Questions, Implications Questions must be planned by
thinking of the possible impacts associated to the customer’s potential
problems.
• To begin your planning on the problems possible impacts, use the following
model:
B.O.T.C.H.
B
O
T
C
H
Bottlenecks/ Backlogs
Other People Affected
Time Lost/ Wasted/ Needed
Costs Associated
Hassles
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The Objectives and Value of the SPIN™ Questions
Need-Payoff Questions:
•
Need-Payoff Questions are intended to develop the buyer’s desire for a
solution to their problems;
•
When the Need-Payoff Questions are asked too early in the sales call, the
customer is naturally suspicious;
•
Need-Payoff Questions, certainly the most difficult to ask effectively,
should start from the Implied Needs to develop toward Explicit Needs;
•
Effective Need-Payoff Questions will engage the buyer to openly talk about
the benefits of solving their problems.
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
The Objectives and Value of the SPIN™ Questions
Need-Payoff Questions:
•
Only when the buyer recognizes the severity of the problems and the
urgency to find a solution to them, it makes sense to ask Need-Payoff
Questions.
•
To avoid a common discomfort in the deployment of Need-Payoff
questions and also to encourage the buyer to elaborate on the expected
benefits, it is easier to ask these questions by adopting the ICE method …
I.C.E
• Ask closed questions to IDENTIFY the Explicit Need
•
Ask open and closed questions to CLARIFY the Explicit Needs and the
expected Benefits
•
Ask open and closed questions to further EXPAND on the long-term
Benefits of a solution for the customer`s business environment
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
Demonstrating Capability
The 3 Ways to Demonstrate/Present a Solution
Features
• Demo/ Presentation of the features, price, accessories…
• Low impact in the customer’s buying experience
Advantages
• Demo / Presentation of the advantages linked to the features
• Sufficient impact in a simple/transactional sales call
Benefits
• Demo/ Presentation of the solution in response to the customer’s explicit needs
• High impact in the customer’s buying experience during complex/consultative sales call
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
Demonstrating Capability
Buyer’s reactions:
Features
• Objections related to the cost of the product/service;
Advantages
• Objections related to the value of the advantages mentioned;
Benefits
• Buyer’s agreement because it meets with his expectations.
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
Obtaining Commitment
The Call’s Outcomes in a Simple Sale:
2 Possible Outcomes
• Win the Sale
• Loose the Sale
The objective is to win the sale
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
Obtaining Commitment
The Call’s Outcomes in a Complex Sale:
2 other Outcomes:
• Advance
The buyer accepts to move to the next step
• Continuation
The discussion continues, but no action is agreed upon
The objective is to obtain an Advance
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
Obtaining Commitment
Opening
Investigating
Demonstrating
1. Obtaining Commitment starts before the call by
planning a realistic advance (and a plan “B”)
2. Obtaining Commitment is easier when the explicit
needs were discovered at the investigation stage and
that benefits were offered during the demonstrating
capability stage
3. Obtaining Commitment in 3 steps;
Obtaining Commitment
1.
2.
3.
Check that key concerns are resolved.
Summarize the benefits
Propose a realist commitment (Advance)
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
Managing vs Preventing Objections
Situation Questions
Problems Questions
Managing Objections
Implied needs
Preventing Objections
The seller offers
advantages
The seller develops needs
with “Implications” and
“Need-Payoff” questions
The buyer objects
The buyer express’
“Explicit Needs”
The seller manages
the objections
The seller offers
benefits
The buyer demonstrates
approval and agrees
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
How to apply new skills efficiently?
Rule # 1:
Practice one skill at a time
Rule # 2:
Try a skill at least 3 times
Rule # 3:
Concentrate on quantity before quality
Rule # 4:
Practice the new skill in “secure” situations
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
Advices
•
Practice, Practice, Practice
- You don’t want to sound like a robot
•
Study – Listen Great Interviewers such as:
- Charlie Rose
- Larry King
- Cesar Milan
•
Do your homework and gather as much information you can…
- Validate this information with your customer without boring him.
•
Know every aspect of your industry, company and competition
- Prepare a lot of questions… do not underestimate the length of a sales call!
- Build upon your company strengths and business opportunities…
Do not ignore your company weakness’ and business threats (S.W.O.T)
•
Beware of condescending and hurtful questions…
… use open and close ended questions wisely
•
Never Assume and Always Confirm
•
Commit in developing these new selling skills thoroughly…
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre
Good Selling!
Confidential © 2013 Busbud Inc.
Tous droits réservés - Marc Lamarre