SPIN (SELLING) DISCOVERING: Using 'Sales Techniques' for 'Product Discovery'

Just imagine: enough data, insights jumping out at you, and a breadcrumb trail (in the form of NPS and detailed feedback) leading us directly to the customers' needs. And, of course, all stakeholders with open arms, ready to share the deepest secrets of their daily challenges. Suddenly, we wake up from the dream...

In the real corporate world, however, we may face the following situations:

• Exploring a new market with little or no historical information;
• Company with limited budget for tools and analytical research;
• B2B environments, where we often do not have access to data and opportunities for direct feedback are rare;
• Regulatory or even legal difficulties;
• Sectors with sensitive data, a lot of intellectual property, intertwined process complexity, or a combination of these factors to which we do not have (easy) access;
• etc., etc., etc... (comment about challenging scenarios you face in your discoveries!)

In these varied but so frequent scenarios, the most advanced technologies, or even the most disruptive agile methodologies, will NOT help us to "read the customers' minds" or to "understand what problems need to be solved". Doing a DISCOVERY will be like assembling a puzzle in the dark, with many pieces missing...

Here comes SPIN Selling®! A Sales technique from the 80s, but surprisingly, it can be a powerful ally in our exploratory process... and it consists of... ASKING QUESTIONS!

However, unlike sales, the use of SPIN Selling in the context of Product Discovery is more open, without a specific 'sales objective'... but the technique can be very well adapted!

So let's get to it: it consists of separating the questions into 4 types, in the following suggested order:

1. (S) Situation: Helps map the terrain of "Where We Are."
2. (P) Problem: Searching for and exploring pains and challenges, avoiding fitting a solution right away. Mapping the problems. An interesting method is Teresa Torres 's "User Story Based Interviews".
3. (I) Implication: Extending the conversation to understand impact, still without assuming solutions, with implication questions that provoke by exploring possible consequences.
4. (N) Need: Here we start to discover opportunities and possible solutions, through co-creation, and the conclusion converging with the interlocutor.

Some examples in a hypothetical scenario:

• Situation: "How do you handle data security?"
• Problem: "What challenges do you face with data usability?" "Tell me in detail the last time you had data leakage issues"
• Implication: "How do these challenges affect your team's efficiency?" "How much you spent with data leak damage control last year?"
• Need for solution: "How could a solution addressing XYZ impact your business?"

And with whom should we have these revealing conversations? With everyone? Of course not! We don't have time for that! We also need to prioritize efforts... and more: a previous challenge is creating these opportunities (sales can help).

But with whom to talk then? I believe that for the Sales Force or those who are PMP, the table below is the biggest cliché of all. But it's still valid to help organize our interlocutors and stakeholders... besides being quite simple and effective! Just use an INFLUENCE MATRIX to categorize our contacts, between HIGH or LOW INFLUENCE, weighing with HIGH or LOW INTEREST.

To conclude, SPIN Selling, adapted for Product Discovery, reminds me that technology, no matter how advanced, does not always replace the need for real, investigative, and revealing conversations.

And more importantly, this method DOES NOT come to replace traditional Discovery, other data analyses, or research. On the contrary, it is a complementary skill that can help product managers.

I conclude with a quote from Peter Drucker that I read in another article:

"The best way to predict the future is by creating it!"

Success to all PRODUCT PEOPLE!

Portuguese Version / Versão em Português: SPIN (SELLING) DISCOVERING

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