10
Need-payoff Questions
Overview
A Need-payoff Question asks about the
Value
Importance, or
Usefulness
of the solution.
They help you sell by increasing the attractiveness of a solution.
Need-payoff Questions, like Implication Questions, are strongly related to success in larger sales. Their purpose is to develop the buyer’s desire for a solution by:
Focusing on the payoff of a solution instead of the problem.
Probing for Explicit Needs.
Getting the buyer to tell you the benefits of the solution.
Huthwaite’s research shows that Need-payoff Questions increase the acceptability of your solution and are particularly effective in sales that depend on maintaining a good relationship, such as sales to existing clients or customers.
Need-payoff Questions are positive, helpful, and constructive, because they focus on the solution.
They reduce objections, because they cause buyers to explain how your solutions can help and, in doing so, convince themselves of the value of your solutions.
They move the discussion forward towards action and commitment.
How much of a saving would this mean?
What other tasks would the streamlined process enable you to complete that you can’t do now?
How important is it to double the response time?
CHECK YOURSELF—NEED-PAYOFF QUESTIONS
Before you learn more about using Need-payoff Questions, see if you’re clear about the difference between Need-payoff Questions and the other SPIN® questions.
Need-payoff
Question?
Answers are on the next page.
NEED-PAYOFF QUESTIONS—ANSWERS
1. Yes The question is about the value of a solution to the overtime problem.
2. No This is an Implication Question, developing the seriousness of the problem, not the solution.
3. Yes The question asks the buyer about the usefulness of the proposed solution.
4. Yes The solution being explored involves saving two processing days. The worth or importance of the solution is developed in terms of output.
5. No This is a Problem Question, because it asks about buyer concerns, dissatisfactions or difficulties.
6. Yes This is clearly a question about the importance or value of a solution. As we’ll see later, many sellers make the mistake of asking “If I could show you a way …” questions too early in the call.
7. Yes The solution (our new system) is being developed into other payoff areas.
8. No This is an Implication Question, since it extends the staff shortage problem to possible missed calls.
Using Need-Payoff Questions Effectively
Need-payoff Questions are fundamentally different from all the other SPIN® questions. They aren’t easy questions to ask, and you have to ask them at the right point in the sale. But they are one of the most powerful types of question and they can help you get results.
How do Need-payoff Questions help achieve sales success? In Chapter 9 you learned that an Implication Question develops one of the two components of an Explicit Need: It builds the buyer’s problem so that it is strong and clear. A Need-payoff Question addresses the other component of an Explicit Need: the desire for a solution.
How Need-payoff Questions Help You Sell
Understanding the different functions of Need-payoff Questions will make them easier to ask and will be helpful in selling more effectively. The three functions of Need-payoff Questions are to:
Identify Explicit Needs—One function of Need-payoff Questions is to uncover whether or not an Explicit Need exists; for example, “Do you need a faster machine?” or “Would it help you to have a reliable source of supply?” This is what most people mean by Need-payoff Question. But the other two functions, less often used, can have even more influence on the buyer.
Clarify Explicit Needs—These Need-payoff Questions get the client or customer to explain the importance of the need in detail by asking such things as “Why is that important to you?” or “Could you tell me more about your need for flexibility?” or “Do you want faster turnaround to save costs or to better utilize your other equipment?” If it’s a need you can solve, this kind of question gets the buyer to tell you the Benefits. And the buyer’s acceptance is key to a successful sale.
Extend Explicit Needs—These Need-payoff Questions invite the buyer to specify additional payoffs by asking, for example, “Is there any other way this would help you?” or “Besides adding useful space, would the design enhance your image?” or “What other benefits could you foresee from using this solution?” Their responses can help your solution offer extra value to the buyer.
Try Out the ICE Model
The ICE (Identify, Clarify, Extend) model puts these three functions together to enable you to plan different levels of Need-payoff Questions. Here’s how it works:
Now try this exercise with a case of your own:
How NOT to Ask Need-payoff Questions
The purpose of Need-payoff Questions is to clarify and develop the buyer’s perception of payoff from your product or service and thus develop a clear explicit desire for your solution.
But whether you believe your solution has value for the buyer is irrelevant. Unless the buyer believes it, you won’t make a sale. And unless your buyer is willing to do something—to take action—you still won’t make a sale.
We’ve mentioned already that one of the biggest mistakes sellers make is introducing their solution before they’ve built the seriousness of the buyer’s problem. Because Need-payoff Questions focus on solutions, they can have a negative effect if they’re used too early in the sale. And if introduced too early in the discussion, they can make the potential buyer feel confused or manipulated.
Helping Buyers Understand the Payoff of Your Solution
Since you know the capabilities of your product or service, it’s generally much easier for you to see the payoff than it is for the buyer. You have to help by developing the buyer’s desire for a solution. Need-payoff Questions enable you to establish the range of payoff areas and their importance to the buyer. There are two ways to do this, as these examples illustrate:
Which of these two questions is more likely to have the buyer actively specify payoffs?
The answer is Question 2. Question 1 allows the buyer to passively accept payoffs without thinking about the solution. Question 2, however, asks they buyer to actively specify the payoffs from solving the problem—particular things this buyer would be able to do as a result of the solution that can’t be done now.
Such an active thinking process often extends a buyer’s Explicit Need into new payoff areas. But it has an even more important function:
Because they’ve specified the payoffs, buyers will be more committed to your solution and feel more ownership of it.
Need-payoff Questions and the Complex Sale
In a simple sale there’s usually a straightforward relationship between your product or service and the problem it solves. The solution may even fit the problem exactly. So, for example, a person worried about fire risks for important company papers has a problem that might be solved perfectly by purchasing a fireproof filing cabinet.
There Are No Perfect Solutions in a Complex Sale
But as the sale grows more complex, the fit between problem and solution becomes less straightforward. Problems in the complex sale may have many parts, and the solution you offer will deal with some of these parts better than others. A problem such as low productivity, for example, could be caused by dozens of factors. When you present your solution, you run the risk of having the buyer focus on the areas you don’t solve rather than the ones you do solve. In that case, the buyer might challenge your whole solution, as this example shows:
SELLER So your main problem is a high reject rate on the material you use for technical tests. Our new material is so easy to use that your technicians’ reject rate would be reduced by 20 percent.
BUYER No. Wait a minute. It’s not only the test material that creates the reject rate. There are a lot of other factors, like processor temperature and developer oxidation. So don’t give me all that stuff about easy-to-use material.
What’s happening here? The buyer is raising objections because the seller’s solution only deals with one facet of a complicated problem. By making claims for the product, the seller prompts the buyer to think about some of the other facets and reject the point the seller is trying to make.
In a complex sale, the problems you’re trying to solve will almost always have many facets. It’s unlikely that you or any of your competitors will be able to provide a perfect solution that can resolve every facet of a complex problem. Nor does the buyer really expect your solution to be perfect.
Sophisticated business people look for the ability to deal with the most important elements of the problem at a reasonable cost. And because vendors rarely have a perfect solution, it’s dangerous for you to point out how well you can solve a problem. By doing so you invite the buyer to focus on the elements you don’t solve and to raise objections.
How can you gain the customer’s acceptance that your solution has value, even though it may not solve every facet of the problem? This is where Need-payoff Questions can be very helpful.
Need-Payoff Questions Reduce Objections
Need-payoff Questions get the buyer to explain which parts of the problem your solution can solve. When the buyer tells you the ways your solution can help, then you don’t invite objections.
Using Need-payoff Questions makes your solution more acceptable to the buyer, as the next example shows:
SELLER So your main problem is a high reject rate on the material you use for technical tests. And from what you’ve said, you’d be interested in anything that could reduce that reject rate.
BUYER Oh yes. It’s a big problem and we’ve got to take action.
SELLER Suppose you had a material that was easier for your technicians to use. Would that help?
BUYER It would be one factor. Remember, there’re a lot of other factors, like processor temperature and developer oxidation.
SELLER Yes, I understand that there are several factors and, as you say, an easier material is one of them. Would you explain how having an easier material would help you?
BUYER Well … it would certainly cut some of the rejects we’re getting at the exposure stage.
SELLER And would that be worth doing?
BUYER Probably. I don’t know exactly how much is lost there, but it might be enough to make some difference.
SELLER Is there any other way using an easier material could help?
BUYER Those neat cassettes of yours don’t require an experienced technician to set them up. Maybe that would help … yes … if we had a material that was easy enough for an assistant to set up, then the technician could spend more time on the processing stages, which could make a big impact on those processor problems we’ve been having. Hey, I like it …
In this example, the seller’s use of Need-payoff Questions has enabled the buyer to explain the payoff and, as a result, to find the solution more acceptable.
Planning Need-payoff Questions
To plan for asking Need-payoff Questions, think about potential payoffs of your solution from the buyer’s point of view, based on the relevant problems you’ve explored.
Be sure you identify any problems that still need to be clarified and developed by asking Situation, Problem, and especially Implication Questions, so that the buyer will be receptive to this payoff.
Example
Product/Service: A/V services and equipment
1. Potential Area of Buyer Payoff:
Decrease A/V costs 20 percent, while improving response time and quality, regardless of seasonal demand fluctuations.
2. Problems You Could Resolve That Need to Be Developed Before Buyer Fully Recognizes Payoff:
Costs of second shift A/V staff—especially during off-season (idle time)
Complaints of poor A/V response times during busy season
Possible effects on overall service quality due to lack of equipment knowledge
Possible impacts of busy manager spending so much time handling A/V staffing problems
Planning Need-payoff Questions
Now try this method with a case of your own.
1. Write down a potential payoff that the buyer could get from your solution.
2. List any problems you may need to develop by using the other SPIN® questions, especially Implication Questions, so the buyer will feel strongly enough to want a solution.
Having done this exercise, you probably found that you need to uncover and develop several problems before a buyer will fully realize the potential payoffs from your solution.
Later in this chapter, you’ll also have a chance to practice the next step: preparing the actual Need-payoff Questions to ask your buyer.
When to Ask Need-payoff Questions and When to Avoid Them
Few sellers ask Need-payoff Questions at the optimal point in the sale. If you ask them too soon, such as right at the start of the call, then the buyer’s lack of clarity about problems prevents you from effectively developing a strong desire for a solution.
At the other end of the scale, many sellers wait until too late to ask Need-payoff Questions. They describe their solutions before they generate an appetite for what they can offer. As we’ve seen, this very frequently provokes objections from the buyer.
The best time to ask Need-payoff Questions is:
Before describing your solution, and
After developing the seriousness of the buyer’s problem by using Implication Questions.
Although the research has clearly shown that more Need-payoff Questions are asked in successful sales, the average seller uses fewer than two Need-payoff Questions in a typical call. Yet when used at the right point, Need-payoff Questions increase the chance of making a sale.
Low-Risk Need-payoff Questions
The are two low-risk areas where Need-payoff Questions are especially valuable for increasing a buyer’s desire for your solution:
When the solution has payoffs in other areas—If there are potential spinoff benefits as a result of your solution, Need-payoff Questions are especially powerful in helping you sell. Asking a Need-payoff Question like “What could you do with the extra time our solution would save you?” or “Are there other ways this solution would improve …?” can get the buyer thinking of additional benefits you can develop, especially given the complexity of many buyer situations.
When the buyer has to justify the decision—Even a buyer with purchasing authority may need to justify the purchase to management, a board, or others. The more you use Need-payoff Questions to clarify and develop the buyer’s understanding and ownership of the potential benefits of your solution, the easier it will be for the buyer to communicate about them to others in their organization. By answering your Need-payoff Questions, the buyer practices explaining how your solution will help.
High-Risk Need-payoff Questions
Other areas are high-risk for asking Need-payoff Questions. Be cautious about using them:
Too early in the call—Your Need-payoff Questions won’t have any real effect unless and until the buyer has recognized and clarified a problem. Asked before this point, they may even antagonize buyers into denying the existence of genuine problems and needs.
When the buyer’s need is subjective—Sometimes a buyer just likes your product or is prepared to purchase your services when few of the objective facts about problems and their implications directly support a decision to buy. In such a case it’s important to help the buyer think through the business reasons for buying your solution. First, be sure to identify and develop the buyer’s needs by asking Problem and Implication Questions. Then, selectively ask your Need-payoff Questions to develop and extend solutions that meet the buyer’s identified needs.
How to Phrase Effective Need-payoff Questions
Once you’ve used Implication Questions to fully develop the relevant problems on your list, you’ll find it easier to ask Need-payoff Questions smoothly and naturally. Using the following methods will help you prepare effective Need-payoff Questions:
Use linking phrases—Link your questions to buyer statements or responses.
If there were a way for you to get out of that day-to-day payroll administration, how would it help you cover the other areas you manage?
You mentioned that you have to replace a lot of heat-damaged customized transparencies. At $50 each, wouldn’t it be worth paying a higher one-time cost for a projector that would increase their working life?
Use variety—Be clear and specific, and avoid repetition of the same phrase, such as:
How would this help you save time?
How would this help you reduce costs?
How would this help you speed up response times?
Instead, you could ask, e.g.,
How could you use the time you’d save?
What budget relief would you get in other areas if our volume discount saved you over 15 percent?
Would it speed response time if you had people who were fully trained in repairing both current and older equipment?
Get the buyer to actively specify payoffs—Wherever possible, use Need-payoff Questions that ask your buyers to actively specify the payoffs that are important to them, e.g.,
Passive Acknowledgment:
Wouldn’t it save time?
Buyer Actively Specifies Payoffs:
What important projects could you work on if you didn’t have to spend so much time on billing problems?
Practice Your Own Need-payoff Questions
1. List the potential payoff area you identified in the earlier exercise, Planning Need-payoff Questions.
2. Prepare 3–5 variations of Need-payoff Questions based on that one potential payoff, listing them in the spaces provided below.
Example
Payoff:
Decrease A/V staffing costs 20 percent, while improving response time and equipment quality, regardless of seasonal demand fluctuations.
Need-payoff Questions:
If you could reduce your annual A/V staffing costs by 20 percent, what would you do with the savings?
How would your other management responsibilities benefit if you didn’t have to spend time dealing with A/V staffing problems?
Are response time and equipment quality equally important to you?
How valuable would it be for you to be able to reduce A/V staffing costs while actually improving response time?
If seasonal demands didn’t affect A/V staffing levels, how would that help you?
Beyond the Basics—Need-payoff Questions
Need-payoff Questions Help Rehearse Internal Sponsors to Sell for You
As the size of a sale grows, more people become involved in the decision. Your success depends not just on how well you sell but how well people in the targeted organization sell to each other. Successful sellers help internal users and influencers sell a solution on their behalf.
When opportunities are limited for you to meet with the ultimate decision maker (or decision-making team), one of the best ways to sell is rehearsing the internal people who will be selling for you. The better prepared your internal sponsors are, the easier it will be for them to sell your solution to others.
But what is the best way to rehearse an internal sponsor? Need-payoff Questions have a special use here. By getting the buyer to describe Benefits, Need-payoff Questions accomplish several things:
The buyer’s attention is focused on how the solution will help, not on product details. Need-payoff Questions engage your sponsors in identifying exactly how the solution you’re proposing will meet their company’s needs. Discussing these Benefits with others in the business who share the same needs is the most effective way that they can sell for you.
The buyer explains the Benefits to the seller, not vice versa. It’s a much better rehearsal for buyers to actively describe Benefits in their own words than to listen passively while you do it. This way the buyer will remember the Benefits you offer.
The buyer’s enthusiasm and confidence in your solution are increased. Those qualities will sell for you when you’re not present.
You’ll find more details and examples of using Need-payoff Questions to rehearse your sponsor in SPIN® Selling, pages 85–88.
NEED-PAYOFF QUESTIONS—SUMMARY CHECK
Check your understanding of the use of Need-payoff Questions by answering the following questions.
Answers are on the next page.
SUMMARY CHECK—ANSWERS
1. (b): The purpose of Need-payoff Questions is to increase a buyer’s desire for a solution to a problem.
2. (a) and (b): The exception is (c)—an Implication Question that develops a problem, not a solution. (See Chapter 9.)
3. (c): The time to ask Need-payoff Questions is after you’ve developed a buyer’s problems but before you introduce your solution.
4. (b) and (c): These questions ask buyers to specify the payoffs of the solution in their own terms.