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  1. Laurence H. Seton, P.Eng., PMP

    Great article, John. This helped me understand how it fits into the selling model. I’ve also picked up the SPIN Selling Workbook which I hear is a good compliment to the title book. Cheers, Laurence

  2. Laura Watson

    Thanks for writing about this. You first introduced me to SPIN and since then, I use the approach myself and I also highly recommend it to my clients. Thanks for reminding us of this valuable approach!

  3. John Golden

    Thanks John – good article and a very succinct explanation of why SPIN is more relevant than ever.

    Your comments about needing additional components to address other aspects of the sales process are completely correct and Huthwaite now has a SPIN Solution suite of offerings that do so – not sure if you have visited our site lately http://www.huthwaite.com but you will see them highlighted there.

    Regards

    John Golden
    CEO Huthwaite

  4. John Watson

    Thanks for your comments John.

    I took your advice and went to your website for an update. I did see that you now offer a more end-to-end solution set. What I could not find was how to access that information. How is this more complete sales program delivered and what does it cover? I would be happy to post more information on my blog once I know more about it.

    Cheers
    John Watson

  5. John, your insights are dead on.

    We see this time and time again, especially in the B2B space. Typically B2B C-Level teams rarely have a marketing lead, hence why marketing becomes an afterthought. This almost always leads to a tactical spin cycle when it is time to tell the world how great the product or service is. That’s why we hear cries for help, rather than requests for advice.

    Our agency has learned the valuable skill of asking “why” as well, because too often, as marketers, we want to appease our new accounts and do what they want, rather than taking the time to find solutions that actually grow their business. “Why” is the most powerful, yet least used question in marketing.

    Great post.

  6. “As entrepreneurs, executives and business owners, our choices affect far more than ourselves.” This is so true and John is right in times like this is can difficult to choose the narrative that is best for us and the people we love. Good article John

  7. This was very helpful, thanks! I just jumped on to a couple of networking groups on MeetUp and it turns out they were BNI groups, which were a complete mystery to me. You’ve provided some great specific ‘screening’ criteria here. I especially liked your’ honest assessment and conclusion that your business was ‘difficult’ to refer. My IT consulting business may be too niche in the same way, and you’ve helped me to focus so that I can make a quick decision on whether to continue on this path. Well done, sir!

  8. René Guido Steg

    Great article. I am just in the process of joining, and actually already submitted the registration form, Just received the contract which then made me a bit hmmmm. That started with the fact that a network contract contains 17 pages. And is titled “service contract”. Well…. I wanna do networking and join the weekly meetings yes, but I really don’t see why I am entering a service contract with BNI. I have been invited to a session where I found exactly what the article described. Entrepeneurs who are dedicated to BNI and their business. Main focus: who is the best this week, who gets the oscar for something etc. So really a contest in scoring, mentioned by John. What I missed in the article was the real monetary benefit for your business John you got out fo BNI. Personal development ok, but was that worth it? That is my key question I am currently asking myself…. My company is in Cyber Security, my customers are CISO and CEOs from medium and large business so I am in the large B2B market…. I got the feeling that BNI is more for small enterprises as myself which look for other business in the same size. As mentioned actually, niche is difficult …

    • Hi Rene, BNI is not ideal for connecting with medium-sized and large businesses, unless the members of your chapter have those types of connections. Most of the BNI chapters are organized predominantly around consumer focused businesses and to a lesser extent on small business owners. Re your question about was it worth it. It was very effective economically for me, but only because I busted my butt and networked like crazy. It’s not BNI that gets results for you, it’s about you learning to leverage BNI in a way that makes sense for you. The most useful thing I learned from BNI was that I did not need BNI. What I needed was to be more consistent and purposeful with my own networking efforts. It was the structure of BNI that lead me into better behaviours. Once you systematized the behaviours, you just need to keep at it on your own.