What is Spin Selling?
The SPIN Selling method is a technique that was introduced by Neil Rackham, founder of Huthwaite International, via a book published in 1988. The purpose of the technique laid out in the book (creatively titled SPIN Selling) is to anticipate and understand sales situations in order to find a route to a sale. This is done through a series of questions, split into four categories, that the salesperson can ask the customer. The twist is: you aren’t given the questions! The four SPIN Selling categories – Situation, Problem, Implication & Needs-payoff – are defined and the salesperson must determine their own questions for the customer that fit into these four categories.
But KAYBE aren’t in the sales game. Our passion is marketing, and that’s why we’ve found a creative way to utilise the legendary SPIN Selling technique in Digital Content Marketing. We’re particularly fond of creating B2B content like whitepapers, and even certain blog posts, with a layout inspired by the SPIN Selling methodology. But you could lay a webinar out in the same way or even use a similar breakdown for B2C marketing content.
So, what does SPIN Selling look like in marketing? Here’s a look at how you can take the skeleton of Rackham’s methodology – the four categories – and use it to guide & structure your marketing content.
Situation
We can think of this almost as though you’re sitting down with the reader and starting a conversation. There’s a reason people’s go-to conversation starter is talking about the weather: it’s a shared subject that both people know about and are invested in. In this opening segment, we’re going to talk about the landscape of the prospective client’s industry; showing them that you’re knowledgeable and invested. We’re not trying to tell them anything they don’t know here, we’re just building a relationship.
For example, if you’re writing for a retail company, you might talk about how tough it’s been to recover from the economic effects of Covid.
Problem
In this step, we take the problem that’s already been mentioned in a casual, conversational way when discussing the industry landscape in the first segment, and we drill down on a more personal level. If we’ve been writing about how hard it is for companies to manoeuvre the rising energy prices, this is where we’d hone in on how & why that client is being hit specifically badly by those rising costs.
Implication
We say ‘implication’, but really we’re just drilling down even further. From issues in the wider landscape to problems for the specific client and now the dystopian future they face if they don’t confront the problem. We dig into the nitty-gritty at this point; looking at very specific scenarios. This could be how many more staff members need to be hired to complete a job that could be automated, or how many unnecessary costs go into manufacturing that’s not been streamlined. This is the ‘cold, hard reality’ moment: the ice bath epiphany.
Needs-payoff
Once you’ve hit your reader and prospective client with the brutal reality of their problem, there’s nothing they want more than a solution. Fortunately, that’s exactly what you’re going to offer them here. Handy, right?
It’s all been building to this solution, so it’s important to execute this segment well. We personally recommend foreshadowing the solution you’re about to offer towards the end of the ‘Implication’, but that’s really up to you. Either way, you’ve got free reign to shout about how fantastic your solution is here because if they’ve come this far then you can bet your bottom dollar they’re heavily engaged and pretty much ready to bite your hand off when you serve up what you’ve got to offer.
It’s important to bear in mind that, while we mention that the reader and prospective client is ‘heavily engaged’ as you offer the solution, they will already be engaged by the time they start reading. We are talking about marketing content that will be read by people who, if we think about the marketing funnel, have passed through the ‘Awareness’ stage and into ‘Engaged’ the second they chose to read your content. So, this content is driving them from being engaged to taking action. Don’t forget that when deploying the SPIN Selling method in your marketing content.
Your own tailored marketing solution
If you’d like more expert marketing help, KAYBE is the place to go. Our team of experts provides an array of specialist skills that, when working harmoniously together, allow us to offer any business the most comprehensive and effective solution to your marketing needs. Feel free to get in touch with us today.
