The SPIDER Selling Strategy: My Personal Framework for Selling

The SPIDER Selling Strategy: My Personal Framework for Selling

I've been selling for most of my working life. I've sold locksmith services, books, software, training, consultancy and more ideas than I can remember. Some were easy to sell. Some weren't. But the process behind a good sale has always been much the same.

Over the years, I started putting that process into a structure. I wanted something I could use when writing a sales presentation, running a webinar, sitting across the table from somebody or selling a product online.

I call it the SPIDER Selling Strategy.

SPIDER stands for Situation, Problem, Implication, Devastate, Emergency, Remedy and Sell.

The whole framework is based on one belief: you shouldn't introduce your solution until somebody understands why they need it.

Most bad sales presentations get this backwards. The salesperson can't wait to talk about the product. Within minutes they're explaining features, benefits, prices and bonuses to somebody who hasn't decided they need any of it.

I start somewhere else.

I start with the situation.

Where is this person now? What are they doing? What are they trying to achieve? What does their business, problem or life look like today?

You need that starting point because selling is about movement. You're trying to take somebody from where they are now to somewhere they would rather be.

Once we understand the situation, we can look at the problem.

Something is stopping them from getting where they want to go. Maybe they're spending too much money. Maybe they're wasting hours doing something by hand. Maybe they're losing customers. Maybe they've been trying to solve the same problem for years.

Finding the problem isn't enough, though. People live with problems all the time.

That's where implication comes in.

What is this problem costing them?

If a business owner wastes five hours every week doing something that could be automated, the problem isn't the task. The implication is the 260 hours they're losing every year.

Now the problem has weight.

Then I devastate it.

That sounds harsh, but I'm not talking about inventing fear or making ridiculous claims. I'm talking about following the problem to its conclusion.

What happens if nothing changes?

If you've already wasted 260 hours this year, what happens next year? If you're losing customers every month, how many will you have lost twelve months from now? If a competitor is taking business from you today, what happens when you give them another year?

You take the consequence and make it real.

That leads into emergency.

Why should this person do something now rather than next month, next year or whenever they finally get around to it?

There has to be a reason.

If there isn't one, don't make one up.

But when waiting has a cost, show them the cost of waiting.

Only then do I introduce the remedy.

This is the point where the conversation changes. We've spent our time understanding where they are and why staying there doesn't make sense. Now we can talk about where they want to be and how they're going to get there.

The remedy is the bridge between the problem and the result.

This is also why I don't like introducing products too early. Your product isn't the story. The change is the story. Your product is the vehicle that helps somebody make that change.

Once they understand the remedy, we can sell.

This is where I construct the offer.

I'll show them the main product, what they're getting and what it would cost under normal circumstances. Then I'll show them what they're going to pay today.

I'll add bonuses, but every bonus needs a job. It should save them time, save them money, reduce effort or help them get the result. Throwing random crap into an offer so you can claim it has £10,000 of value doesn't make it valuable.

Then I'll remove as much risk as I can with a guarantee.

I'll often use what I call If All statements at this point.

If all this did was save you five hours every month, would it be worth the price?

If all it did was bring you one extra customer, would it be worth the price?

If all it did was remove one job you hate doing, would it be worth the price?

The point isn't to keep stacking claims. It's to show that the offer doesn't need to perform miracles to justify what you're asking somebody to pay.

Then comes urgency and scarcity.

Again, it has to be real. If there are ten available, there are ten available. If the offer disappears on Friday, it disappears on Friday. Fake scarcity might get a sale today, but it destroys trust tomorrow.

Before I finish, I deal with the objections.

By this stage I should have a good idea what somebody is thinking. Will this work for me? Do I have time to use it? Is this going to be complicated? What happens if it doesn't work?

Don't hide from those questions. Answer them.

Then ask for the sale.

That's the SPIDER Selling Strategy.

It isn't about forcing somebody into buying something they don't want. It's about taking them through the decision in the right order.

Understand where they are. Find the problem. Establish what that problem means. Show them what happens if they leave it alone. Give them a reason to deal with it. Introduce the remedy. Then make the offer.

Situation. Problem. Implication. Devastate. Emergency. Remedy. Sell.

That's how I sell.