SPIN selling
by Neil Rackham · first published 1988
83% recommend14% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Research-based, consultative approach to sales: ask questions to uncover and develop a customer's needs rather than pushing. Suits engineers and founders selling complex, long-cycle, larger deals to organizations.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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…everyone to buy your product or service but to diagnose their needs and only engage with firms that will benefit. For larger deals you "sell with your ears" as much as you talk. I find Neil Rackham's "Spin Selling" very useful. Peter Cohan's "Great Demo" embeds a lot of discovery advice and suggests that a good demo is really a conversation driven by mutual curiosity about customer needs and software capabilities.…
on “Ask HN: How to learn sales?” ↗Good tips here--enterprise sales can be... interesting... Best book I've ever read on selling big ticket items: SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham. Engineers would love it (and it's short!) Basically, you sell million dollar computer systems with the following process: >> (S)ituation -- what are they doing now? >> (P)roblem --…
on “Enterprise Sales Tips for Hackers” ↗…listed in any particular order. I mostly listen to the audio or mp3 versions, that way i can just play them as i do other things. Most of them have actionable steps and are not just high level talk. a. Spin Selling by Neil Rackham b. 50 ScientificallyWays to Be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, Robert B. Cialdini c. Three Steps to Yes by Gene Bedell; -Only print, no audio d. Made to Stick:…
on “Being a Developer Makes You Valuable. Learning How to Market Makes You Dangerous” ↗…low. If you're working with larger lists (personally or for clients), it might not be the best solution, but for beginning freelance web dev and design, it should be fine. # Books You Should Read * Spin Selling: http://www.amazon.com/SPIN-Selling-Neil-Rackham/dp/007051113... This is the best book on selling you'll ever read. It's targeted to people working with larger organizations, but the sales strategies…
on “Ask HN: Freelance web dev best practices...” ↗…it. Find the customers who see their problem clearly, and why your specific solution takes care of their needs better than anything else, an concentrate your efforts on them. Also, if you haven't read SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham, consider doing so when you get some time. Good luck!
on “Ask YC: Competitor flying under us...” ↗* SPIN Selling by Rackman * The Sales Bible by Gitomer * Selling to VITO by Parinello * Lead Generation for the Complex Sale by Brian Carroll * http://www.marketingsherpa.com/ * http://blog.startwithalead.com/weblog/…
on “Ask HN: Sales book recommendation?” ↗- The Ultimate Sales Machine: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591842158/ref=as_li_ss_tl?... - Spin Selling: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0070511136/ref=as_li_ss_tl?... and this is a very good article on the general topic: http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/sales-lessons
on “Ask HN Hustlers: What are you favorite books on sales?” ↗…(i.e. business or professional) buyers happen like that, but if you're selling a product on late night tv, you can minimize and bypass objections through trickery, "sell the sizzle", etc. Neil Rackham's SPIN Selling and Major Account Sales Strategy are the best books I've ever found on sales.
on “Stomp The Heck Out Of Your Customer's Main Objection” ↗I've been in sales 15 years now. Check out these resources and they will give you a GREAT foundation: Read the challenger sale: https://www.amazon.com/Challenger-Sale-Control-Customer-Conv... and read SPIN selling: https://www.amazon.com/SPIN-Selling-Neil-Rackham/dp/00705111... Listen to the advanced selling podcast: https://advancedsellingpodcast.com/ Cheers
on “Ask HN: What do you want to learn in 2017?” ↗Don't read the Dale Carnegie book, read "SPIN Selling" by Neil Rackham and the book "Getting to NO" <- best book on negotiation I've ever read.
on “Learn to sell” ↗…who went thru 10+ years of corporate sales before becoming more technical, I can recommend a couple of books that are going to do the job for you - I built a career on the frameworks offered by them: - SPIN Selling, Neil Rackham [solution based selling is very important] - Major Account Sales Strategy, Neil Rackham [if you're going to work with Fortune 500] - Rain Making: Attract New Clients No Matter What Your…
on “Ask HN: How to learn to sell professional services as an engineer?” ↗…The Personal MBA - crash course MBA Founders At Work - understanding how different startups survived Buy Back Your Time - management and delegation The Charisma Myth - to help w/ charm for sales SPIN Selling - this + The Charisma Myth more than doubled our sales conversion rate These books were the most crucial for me
on “Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?” ↗…suggestions: 1. http://www.svastralwind.com/uploads/2/7/2/6/2726225/the_2-ho... gives a method for setting up informational interviews, good read overall 2. I've suggested this books a couple times, I think its actually really deep when contemplated on Spin Selling by Neil Rackham ------------- Let me do a quick breakdown on why I think Spin Selling is really deep. Its basically a method for asking questions that elicit deeper responses its breaks down all sales…
on “Interviews vs. auditions” ↗…also lack sales skills but early adopters are more tolerant of that if they can figure out what you have. Two good books on technology sales process that are worth reading for additional background are Spin Selling by Neil Rackham Solution Selling by Mike Bosworth
on “Selling software/services to corporate clients” ↗…mentor you can talk to about it, and just go for it. If you can learn how to effectively cold call, you can rule the world. There are lots of crappy sales books, but there are many good ones. I like SPIN Selling by Rackham; it's researched, reasonable, and most other solution selling books that came out afterward just repackage Rackham's results. I like Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling. It's mostly…
on “Ask HN: How do I sell my expensive niche software w/ no sales background?” ↗