In this book, Rackham establishes the SPIN selling methodology, a sales technique created to help anticipate and navigate tough sales situations.

The SPIN sales method is built around four types of questions—these four categories give SPIN its name. SPIN stands for:

• Situation
• Problem
• Implication
• Need-Payoff
  

Simply put, the SPIN technique is a sequence of questions—not predefined questions to be quoted verbatim, but types of questions to be asked in a particular order. During a sales call, a salesperson opens with situation questions, progresses to problem questions, and so on. Each type of question fulfills a crucial function in the sales process, all building towards the need-payoff questions, which close the deal.

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