Eitan Blumin takes us to a seminar:
The SPIN sales strategy is a selling technique that was developed by Neil Rackham in the 1980s. SPIN is an acronym that stands for Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff. This strategy is based on the idea that asking the right questions can help you understand your customer’s needs and provide the best solution for them.
When I first heard about the SPIN sales strategy, I was attending a lecture that was delivered to us by a sales and marketing specialist during one of our company meetings several years ago. As a DBA, I initially assumed this strategy wouldn’t be relevant to my job. But as I listened to the presenter explain the SPIN model, I began to see its potential for use in my daily work:
It’s an interesting approach and I like the way Eitan ties it back to database administration. Of course, we could tie it to application development or any of a number of other fields. I, meanwhile, use the Colombo method, in which I ask a series of seemingly-dumb questions, but just before I leave, I say “Oh, just one more question,” and hit the person with the question proving I know that person committed the crime and have enough evidence to make an arrest.