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SPIN Selling

Huthwaite

22630 Davis Drive, Suite 100
Sterling, VA 20164-6400

Telephone: 703-467-3800
Fax: 703-467-3801
Toll Free: 800-851-3842
Email: info@huthwaite.com

About the Company:

Huthwaite’s story begins with our founder, Neil Rackham, a behavioral psychologist whose seminal 12-year research study of sales excellence remains to this day the only research effort of its kind. Observing and analyzing more than 35,000 sales calls conducted by the world's leading selling organizations in 23 countries, Neil and his research team were able to isolate and identify distinct behavioral traits of successful sales people.

The results were astonishing in that the research pointed to behavioral differentiators, not “sophisticated” or “slick” closing techniques, as the key to successful selling. These findings gave rise to a number of models and frameworks including SPIN Selling®, our renowned methodology that revolutionized the world of sales and defines consultative selling to this day.

Every year since the completion of our initial study Huthwaite has revalidated and expanded our research. What has emerged from this continuous effort is the ability to objectively measure the actual impact of organizational change. By removing the subjectivity from the performance improvement process, the effectiveness of a change management strategy can now be accurately and empirically quantified.

Huthwaite is the only firm in our industry that can claim with certainty that the skills and models comprising our change management solutions are scientifically correlated with improved business outcomes. Our use of behavioral research and analysis to inform the development of tailored solutions, influence business outcomes and impact change is what sets us apart.

At Huthwaite, we have the skills, knowledge and know-how to diagnose problems, develop customized solutions, drive change and deliver results. We know how to win in even the most competitive environments.

About the Methodology:

Huthwaite helps our clients achieve results through a continuous organizational improvement process. In practice, this process begins with defining a client’s market trends, organizational needs and desired outcomes. Next, we draw the appropriate strategic models and skills from our extensive research base to develop a customized improvement process and training intervention. We then deploy reinforcement, coaching and measurement to increase proficiency and drive business results.

But our commitment doesn’t stop there. Our goal is to help clients continuously leverage their investment in their people. By creating opportunity for on-going improvement we enable clients to build on existing skill sets and empower their employees to attain increasingly higher levels of sales excellence—providing significant rewards to both company and individuals alike. And by helping clients reassess their needs based on the evolving market we can identify new opportunities for them to stay ahead of the competition.

Over the past decade numerous research efforts from a variety of disciplines have derived a set of principles on which performance improvement efforts must be based. Initiatives that do not incorporate these principles are destined to fail. Those initiatives that do include these principles consistently generate higher ROI and ROE. We call these principles the Four Truths.

Huthwaite has spent considerable time looking at two areas of human performance research: (a) the principles of adult learning, and (b) the latest research into effective change management. An interesting conclusion emerges from the juxtaposition of these two bodies of research. Together, they indicate that launching a sales force improvement effort will always fail if it relies on training alone to make the difference. Achieving a measurable, tangible and significant change involves far more than just training.

In short, any such effort must adhere to the Four Truths of sales performance improvement.

Truth One: Organizations don’t make changes easily, nor do they make changes on demand. Only those things that are measured will get done; the engine of change is measurement.
Truth Two: Adults only learn in the context of what they judge to be important and relevant to them as individuals. Just because it’s good for the company does not mean it will necessarily be embraced by individual sales people.
Truth Three: Spending time in classrooms is an expensive proposition. Classroom time should be devoted to the kinds of learning that require interpersonal practice and feedback.
Truth Four: Organizations don’t make change suddenly. Success will only come from an initiative that nests training experience in a process that includes reinforcement, coaching, and quantified, objective, individual feedback.

Learn more in our white paper The Four Truths of Behavior Change.

Short List:

This methodology is supported in the following CRM solutions:

Rich's Recommended Web Sites

Huthwaite White Papers

http://www.huthwaite.com/go.cfm?do=WhitePaper.List

Rich's Recommended Reading List

Rethinking The Sales Force by Neil Rackham & John DeVincentis

SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

"Rackham's books are the books that I wish I'd had at the start of my sales career! If I had the ideas taught in SPIN Selling 20 years ago, my net worth would be a lot higher today!" Rich Bohn

The SPIN Selling Fieldbook by Neil Rackham

Major Account Sales Strategy by Neil Rackham

Managing Major Sales by Neil Rackham & Richard Ruff

Getting Partnering Right by Neil Rackham, Lawrence Friedman & Richard Ruff

Buy these books from Amazon.com

Have a question about this topic?

Then please just email me your question! If the answer is short & sweet, I will pop you back an answer. If the question requires further research, I will look into it and post the reply on my blog, AskRichBohn.com, to share with others. As always, you can email me at rich@sellmorenow.com !