Introduction

The success of SPIN® Selling took me by surprise. While I was writing it, I had an uneasy feeling that the book might not be well accepted. And initial events made it seem that my unease would prove correct. My original publishers, who had persuaded me to write the book, cancelled the contract when they received the manuscript. “It conflicts with generally accepted sales ideas,” they explained. Other publishers wouldn’t touch it because they too thought it went against conventional sales wisdom.

Finally, McGraw-Hill agreed to publish the manuscript and SPIN® Selling became a best seller. Even more satisfying, it wasn’t a flavor of the month book. Each year it has gained more new readers than the year before. The SPIN® model has become widely accepted in major corporations. In fact, half of the Fortune 100 companies use it to train their salespeople. Universities and business schools teach it, and the underlying research on the effectiveness of the SPIN® model has become a widely quoted case study in textbooks on evaluation methodology.

I say this not to brag but, oddly enough, to register a growing dissatisfaction. Although our work has influenced large and leading corporations, I’m constantly reminded that the majority of salespeople don’t work for big organizations. Most salespeople, whether they sell products or services, work for small companies. My firm, Huthwaite, gets letters, phone calls, and e-mail every day from sole practitioners, individual professionals, and one- or two-person salesforces. These are people who have read SPIN® Selling, who are convinced that the ideas in it are right, but who now need further help and advice on how to put the concepts into practice. They don’t have the resources or the numbers to justify attending Huthwaite’s customized training programs, but they do need practical tools to help them take the next step.

I talked with many of these people—with an architect from New Mexico, a software developer from San Diego, a sawmill owner in West Virginia. I tried to be helpful and to answer questions but knew, as I put the phone down, that they needed more than just a few words of advice. Gradually the idea of The SPIN® Fieldbook evolved. It would consist of tools, exercises, and practical advice. It would help people struggling to turn good concepts into productive sales. It would particularly appeal to those in smaller organizations who didn’t have access to our customized training programs. The only problem was finding the time to put it together.

My colleague Leni Gurin volunteered to search through thousands of pages of the books, articles, and programs I have written over the years and to cull from them useful material to help people sell better with the SPIN® model. With the addition of several new chapters, she has synthesized and expanded that material into a practical, step-by-step implementation guide. The SPIN® Fieldbook is the result.

Acknowledgments

Let me introduce Leni to you. Before Leni joined Huthwaite, she ran her own consulting practice for almost ten years, learning the hard way what it means to be an individual out there selling for a small company. She’s also worked for large consulting practices, including two Big 6 accounting firms. Her practical experience in managing change and implementing performance improvement programs has given her a real sense of how to help people develop skills. She worked hard to communicate the ideas and suggestions in this Fieldbook in a way that would be useful and practical. If this book helps you, it’s thanks to her efforts and down-to-earth approach.

Three others in Huthwaite deserve special mention for bringing this Field-book to pass. Sandy Rose and Pam Smith undertook the graphic design, and Elaine Lasky edited and proofed the manuscript. Elaine has worked with me for ten years, helping to prepare four of my books for publication. Sadly, she’ll be leaving Huthwaite for a new career, and we’ll miss her greatly.