Huthwaite International, as you might know, is the home of SPIN Selling, the sales methodology that gives customer-facing teams the ability to engage in meaningful conversations that successfully uncover customer needs and build value for a company’s product or service.

Central to our research-based methodology are four types of questions: Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-Payoff questions. These questions aren’t just tools for extracting information, but strategic techniques for guiding conversations towards identifying and addressing a customer’s underlying needs. Huthwaite’s trainers have honed the art of using SPIN Selling questions to facilitate meaningful dialogues that have been proven to improve the number of successful sales.

This article delves into the power of SPIN Selling questions and gives you some great examples to consider when preparing for a sales call. But it’s worth noting that these questions are simply a base. To truly understand how SPIN works, and to really benefit from those “aha” moments, organisations need the support of Huthwaite’s experts within a SPIN Selling training programme. This will significantly improve a sales team’s chance of changing behaviour, and ultimately, improve sales results.

Situation questions

After the initial meeting preliminaries, the first thing you need to establish is the current situation and background information for the prospective client, and you do this by asking Situation questions. These questions allow you to gain further understanding of their organisation and their employees, as well as laying the groundwork for finding out their problems and needs.

It’s important to note that Situation questions, while useful, should be limited. Huthwaite’s research shows that successful sellers limited their Situation questions, but when they did ask them, they were more focused. While situation questions can feel safe for the seller, the buyer may become bored, or even feel as though they’re being interrogated. There’s no point in asking a question that doesn’t have a purpose.

Think about what information you need to progress the sale, instead of getting the customer to answer things you could easily find with minimal research. This is your opportunity to confirm things you discovered during your research and to delve deeper into their world so you can plan your other questions before moving on.

Here are a few example Situation questions:

• Can you tell me about your current workflow and processes?

• What tools or solutions are you currently using to address this challenge?

• Am I right in saying that you have a new product launching later this year?

• How many people are there in your department?

• How is the maintenance budget allocated?

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Problem questions

In order to understand the importance of Problem questions, you need to understand the difference between an implied need and an explicit need. An implied need is a problem or dissatisfaction. An explicit need is a want or desire. Problem questions give you the opportunity to find out the clients implied needs, which you’ll be able to explore a little more as you progress through the sale.

However, it’s important to note, people will live with problems. Just because a potential customer tells you about a problem they’re having, it doesn’t mean they’ll be ready to accept your solution. This implied need should be nurtured through your questions and eventually it’ll be turned into an explicit need that your solution can solve – but more on this later.

Organisations need to make decisions all the time about which problems are worth solving and which are so important and/or urgent that action cannot be delayed. Good problem questions are the start of that analysis, not the end.

Here are some examples of Problem questions you could ask:

• What difficulties have you encountered with your current approach?

• Are you happy with the speed of the existing process? 

• How does the current situation hinder your ability to achieve your goals?

• How satisfied are you with your current equipment/software/product?

• How often do operational problems occur?

• Who experiences this problem?

• How concerned are you about [potential problem]?

• Are you satisfied with the level of customer support you’re currently receiving?

• Is it worrying to have such a high employee turnover?

• How happy are you with the current processes?

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Implication questions

Once you’ve uncovered your customer’s implied needs, you can develop them by asking further questions to highlight the importance of not fixing the problem. These questions, called Implication questions, are used to highlight the implications of not making a change, as they focus on the effects and consequences of a customer’s problems. These are problems that the customer may have not considered, and it’s the problems with the highest negative implications that will push the customer to find a solution. Sometimes, implication questions also extend the problem into other areas that you can begin to explore.

As mentioned earlier, people can live with problems. Implication questions help successful sellers to tip the scale of the cost of change in their favour by making the customer consider how not making a change will affect their business and organisation. Ultimately, you want to increase their motivation to find a solution – your solution.

Here are some examples of Implication questions:

• How often do you find X results in problems with Y?

• Does that lead to difficulties with X?

• What challenges or issues arise when [current problem] occurs?

• How does [problem] impact your team's productivity or efficiency?

• What potential risks are associated with not addressing [problem]?

• Could [problem] be affecting customer satisfaction or loyalty?

• In what ways might [problem] be limiting your ability to expand/grow?

• Are there any bottlenecks or delays caused by [issue]?

• Have you considered the long-term effects of [problem] on your business goals?

• What kind of missed opportunities do you think [issue] might be causing?

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Need-Payoff questions

Once you’ve established, understood and developed the customer’s needs, you can begin asking need-payoff questions. Just as Implication questions extend implied needs, Need-Payoff questions uncover and extend their explicit needs. These questions begin to guide the conversation toward a positive resolution by helping customers envision the benefits of implementing your proposed solution. To do this successfully, you choose a specific need that your customer has and explain how your solution meets that need and how it will benefit the customer, which ultimately increases their perception of value for your offer – and reduces customer objections.

Need-Payoff questions are powerful, as they prompt the customer to think about the solution, instead of the problem, and, if asked correctly, the customer will begin to describe to you the ways in which your product could benefit them.

Take a look at some Need-Payoff questions for inspiration:

• You mentioned [problem]. Can you imagine the time and resources your team would save if these challenges were addressed?

• We’ve discussed [problem]. How would resolving these issues contribute to achieving your strategic goals?

• [Problem] is clearly an issue within your organisation. What positive outcomes do you anticipate for your team once these challenges are overcome?

• Could [desired outcome] lead to a competitive advantage in your industry?

• If [product/service] could help you achieve [explicit need], how much more efficient could your processes become?

• What kind of impact do you think [benefit] would have on your bottom line?

• Imagine how [product/service] could enhance [expressed business need]. How valuable would that be to you?

• How might [product/service] contribute to overcoming the challenges you're currently facing with [problem]?

• If [product/service] could alleviate [pain point], how would that influence your customer satisfaction?

• Can you envision how [product/service feature] might streamline your current workflow?

The SPIN model isn’t a rigid sequence, it’s a framework that enables salespeople to truly understand and develop customer needs, allowing them to build value for a specific product or service and helps to build a persuasive case by providing effective solutions that meet those needs. These SPIN Selling questions allow sales teams to foster meaningful conversations that drive successful sales – something all salespeople and customers desire!

However, it isn’t simply a case of taking these questions and asking them sporadically throughout sales calls. There’s a lot more to consider, and it’s something Huthwaite’s expert trainers can lead people through in our SPIN Selling programme. Huthwaite experts give salespeople the guidance they need to use this model for their benefit (and their organisation’s benefit, too), and teach them how to have more personalised and effective sales conversations by using our research-backed SPIN methodology.