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Almost 30 years ago, Huthwaite was approached by several major multinationals. They asked us to investigate the process of creating major sales, with a view to defining, once and for all, the skills used by the most effective sales professionals.
They came to Huthwaite not because we were experts in sales training, but because we had a unique and proven behaviour analysis research method.
Very early in the research project, it became apparent that there was a big difference between what top sales performers said they did, and what we actually observed them doing in front of customers. When asked what they thought it was that made them a good salesperson, they’d inevitably talk in terms of top tips they’d invented themselves or learned from a mentor. From our observations, we noticed it wasn’t these tricks of the trade that made them good salespeople; it was the things they did naturally.
Having identified this discrepancy between perception and reality, we conducted live behaviour analysis of sales transactions. So controversial were the initial findings in their contradiction of conventional sales theory that the scope of the study was expanded several times until the research results were statistically incontrovertible.
Thirty years later, the process is ongoing. Our research never stops. It is the largest-ever investigation into sales behaviour and, not surprisingly, this invaluable research is now the basis of SPIN®, our renowned sales training programme. While we continually filter our most up-to-date findings into the SPIN® Selling Skills programme, it has at its heart the nine key behaviours we now know for sure make a good salesperson into a truly great salesperson.
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