A few years ago, I was in the market for a learning management system. While I was looking into the different offerings, I noticed that each arm of these businesses felt like a different company. The marketing side was fun and relatable. The sales team knew the product best but took a totally different tone. Reading different web pages felt like different experiences.
So, how do you create a company that feels unified? Well, that’s where the SPICED sales framework comes in. This sales method focuses on teams working together so the customer feels like they’re working with one, connected company.
Let’s take a look at the basics of the method and how you can best apply it to your own sales process.
Table of Contents
- What is the SPICED sales framework?
- What are the benefits of SPICED?
- How to Use the SPICED Method
- Tips for Using SPICED
- Moving Forward with SPICED
What is the SPICED sales framework?
SPICED is a customer-centric framework that provides a unified approach for all revenue teams. It gets sales, customer success, and marketing speaking the same language so buyers don’t feel like they’re talking to three different companies. From the first call to the final signature, SPICED keeps things consistent and clear.
“SPICED” stands for:
- Situation. Understand the customer’s current state and challenges.
- Pain. Identify specific pain points and frustrations.
- Impact. Assess the consequences of not solving these issues.
- Critical Event. Highlight any deadlines or events driving urgency.
- Decision. Clarify the steps and stakeholders involved in decision-making.
By aligning sales efforts with the customer’s priorities, SPICED empowers sales teams to close deals more effectively and build lasting relationships.
What are the benefits of SPICED?
Builds Strong Customer Relationships
The SPICED framework is especially effective for sales in subscription-based models, which are becoming increasingly common as more B2B companies adopt this approach. Below, we’ll discuss exactly how the SPICED framework does this.
Fosters Personalized Customer Understanding
SPICED is all about tossing the generic sales pitch. Think of it as curating a Spotify playlist — every recommendation is spot-on because it’s based on what your customer actually needs.
Given that 76% of B2B buyers expect personalized attention from solution providers, this tailored approach is a must. By addressing these expectations, SPICED helps establish strong, trust-based relationships with buyers.
Encourages Long-Term Relationships
Recurring revenue hinges on customer loyalty, yet many industries prioritize acquiring new customers over retaining existing ones. This can be costly. An Accenture Interactive study found that 80% of frequent B2B buyers have switched suppliers within 24 months.
SPICED ensures continuous engagement by revisiting customer needs as priorities change. Retention is also highly profitable. Acquiring a new customer can cost five-to-seven times more than retaining an old one, and improving customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by 25-95%.
Balances Consultative and Provocative Selling
SPICED encourages sales professionals to engage in consultative conversations that prioritize understanding the customer’s needs while incorporating a provocative edge to challenge their current perspectives. By investing time in understanding and addressing customer problems, you build trust.
Think of SPICED as your guide to being a trusted advisor with a little edge. Buyers want someone who knows their stuff, isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo, and builds trust along the way. In fact, 88% of buyers say they’ll only make a purchase if they see the salesperson as a trusted advisor.
That’s the vibe SPICED helps you deliver — insightful, credible, and just bold enough to make an impact.
Offers a Unified Framework for All Teams
One of SPICED’s greatest strengths is its versatility. Unlike frameworks like BANT or MEDDIC, which are designed for specific teams or motions, SPICED can be adopted by all revenue teams.
SPICED is the ultimate team huddle — it gets AEs (Account Executives), marketers, support, and CSMs playing from the same playbook. No more mixed signals or rogue plays — just a unified strategy for winning deals.
This alignment ensures that every team operates with a shared understanding, delivering a consistent customer experience throughout the buyer’s journey. Buyers encounter the same language, objectives, and focus at every stage, creating a unified approach to addressing their needs.
Helps with Forecasting and Pipeline Management
SPICED offers clear insights into deal timelines by focusing on critical events and the decision-making process. This clarity enables teams to prioritize effectively and forecast revenue with greater accuracy.
For leadership, SPICED delivers the added benefit of consistent reporting across teams. A unified framework offers a comprehensive view of pipeline health, identifies gaps, and highlights opportunities. This consistency empowers leadership to make informed decisions and align strategies more effectively across the organization.
How to Use the SPICED Method
Now that we understand the value of SPICED, let’s dive into implementing this sales methodology effectively. I’ll also explore how CRM systems like HubSpot Sales Hub can simplify and enhance this process.
Step 1: Understand the situation.
When approaching a sale, always start by doing your homework. You should have a clear picture of the customer’s current circumstances. What’s their position in the market? Who are their biggest competitors? What are the headwinds that they’re most worried about? This step involves understanding their business environment, workflows, and existing challenges.
When you have a lead enter your pipeline, I suggest doing some digital digging before you make contact. Many of the questions above can be found with a little bit of research. You can also see what the person has posted on LinkedIn during your hunt for clues.
However, your independent research will inevitably leave some gaps. You can piece together the puzzle when you hop on a call. I recommend asking open-ended questions like: “Could you describe your current workflow and point out any areas where you encounter challenges or inefficiencies?”
In Practice
Let’s say I’m in the market for a project management system to help me stay on top of my workload. To sell to me, a salesperson would need to understand the challenges of freelancing.
Ideally, they would highlight the difficulty of managing multiple clients with overlapping deadlines. They could also pitch an offering like Asana that has multiple boards and calendars to track my due dates.
Step 2: Identify the pain.
Once you understand your prospect’s background, it’s time to explore their pain points. Be sure to ask what challenges their customers or the internal team face. At the end of this step, you should understand why the prospect is seeking a solution.
Here, you should know if your offering is a good fit for what they need. If you have multiple solutions, you should be able to tell which ones can help the buyer.
To identify the pain points, try:
- Engaging in active listening during calls or meetings to identify recurring frustrations.
- Asking specific questions like: “What are the most significant roadblocks preventing you from achieving your goals?”
Pro tip: You can leverage Sales Hub’s recording and transcription features to review conversations for missed insights.
In Practice
As a freelance writer, I want to create helpful content that helps my clients meet their marketing goals. One common roadblock in this field is client management. Reaching out proactively can help me find writing opportunities and foster these relationships. A SPICED method seller would explain how a project management system can remind me of when to reach out.
Step 3: Assess the impact.
Now that you know the problem, how urgent is the solution? This step is all about quantifying impact and creating a timeline for your buyer’s needs. The goal here is to demonstrate the tangible and emotional impact of inaction. That can show your prospect why moving forward is essential.
I recommend that you work with the prospect to estimate the cost of inefficiencies or missed opportunities. You can show them how they could drive more business or save with your offering. You can also foster reflection with targeted questions, like “What happens if this issue persists over the next six months?”
In Practice
Client communications and asking about new work do have a dollar value. A SPICED sales rep would help me put a value on those missed opportunities. From there, they would show me how big a blow my business would take if I didn’t make moves to solve my problem. This all highlights why a project management system would benefit me.
Step 4: Highlight the critical event.
From there, reps should highlight the moments that matter — deadlines, market shifts, or big milestones that put your solution on the customer’s radar. Empahsizing these critical events is like finding the plot twist in a movie — it keeps things moving and makes the stakes clear.
You can identify critical events by:
- Doing your research and being mindful of business trends that could be affecting their decision-making.
- Asking questions to narrow down specifics and tailoring the question to find critical events unique to your lead. For example, you could ask: “Are there any upcoming deadlines or business changes that make this a priority?”
Pro tip: Use Sales Hub to set reminders for follow-ups aligned with these critical events, ensuring you never miss an opportunity.
In Practice
So, what would a critical event look like in my freelance writing example? The first thing that came to mind was a big contract renewal date. I don’t want to miss my important clients’ messages related to my contract. That can make a clearer timeline for my purchase.
Step 5: Understand the decision process.
Gain clarity on how the customer will make their purchasing decision, including who is involved and what criteria will drive their choice. To break down the decision-making process, try:
- Mapping out the decision criteria.
- Determining the decision-making hierarchy by asking questions, like «Who else will be involved in the decision, and what role do they play?”
Pro tip: Hubspot’s Deal Pipeline can help you track where the deal is in the process and ensure all decision-makers are engaged.
In Practice
In my example, I run my freelancing business. That makes it really easy to find the decision maker — there’s only one! However, in a larger business, you may need to talk to a person in compliance and accounting before a sale goes through. You may even need to talk to your prospect’s manager to pitch them your solution.
Knowing who to talk to can help you create the right roadmap for your sales process.
Step 6: Build emotional and logical connections.
The last step brings everything together. This is your appeal to both the logical benefits of your solution and the emotional gains your offering can create. I recommend taking a consultative tone here. You should be invested in your prospect’s issue and able to pair your product’s features with their situation.
You can build those connections by:
- Engaging in consultative conversations to uncover unmet needs.
- Provoking new ideas by asking questions like: “Have you considered how implementing this solution might open up new opportunities for growth?”
Pro tip: Use Sale’s Hub sequences to send personalized follow-ups reinforcing both logical and emotional appeals.
In Practice
So, what are some helpful connections for my project management example? A project management tool can help me keep track of my deadlines, so I can maintain strong relationships with my clients. They’ll know I’m reliable and never late, so they can trust me with important tasks.
Beyond that, I’ll be able to get reminders of when I should reach out to my clients. Timing this communication means I can maximize my number of assignments, so I don’t miss any business opportunities.
All of this will make running my business more efficient and help me maintain a balanced life as a freelance writer. Even writing that out, the idea sounds great!
Tips for Using SPICED
Mitigate information limitations.
The effectiveness of SPICED depends on the quality of information shared by the prospect, which may not always be complete or accurate. Building trust early through open communication is the key to success.
To do so, consider using a CRM like Sales Hub to document and cross-check information gathered from various touchpoints. Once you have a unified view of your customers, you can better understand what they need.
Further, if a prospect is unaware of their pain points, share insights from similar industries or businesses to guide the conversation. That’s where doing your homework comes into play.
Stay flexible and adaptable.
While SPICED offers structure, rigid adherence without adapting to the prospect’s unique needs can limit success. Make sure that you customize your approach throughout the sales process.
So, flexibility is important. Be prepared to pivot during the conversation if the customer’s priorities shift. For example, if the prospect emphasizes growth opportunities rather than pain points, focus on the “Impact” and “Decision” stages to demonstrate how your solution drives growth.
It’s essential to regularly check in with your clients and their priorities, even after securing them. After all, maintaining relationships is a key aspect of SPICED.
Manage time and resource demands.
SPICED requires significant time for research, conversations, and analysis, which can be challenging when handling multiple prospects. Make sure your team is spending time where it matters by automating your processes.
Categorizing leads in a CRM allows you to prioritize high-value prospects effectively. This approach enables you to dedicate more time to in-depth SPICED analysis for enterprise clients while applying a streamlined version for smaller prospects.
On average, workers save five hours per week by automating day-to-day tasks, freeing up their brainpower and time for more critical activities.
Moving Forward with SPICED
Working on this piece reminded me how much smoother things go when everyone’s on the same page. SPICED isn’t just about selling. It’s about aligning teams and building trust with customers. It’s like upgrading to a better GPS: once you see the clear path ahead, you can’t imagine navigating without it.
What stuck with me most is how SPICED strengthens relationships — within teams and with buyers. As someone who writes for others, I know how frustrating misalignment can be. SPICED eliminates that guesswork, making collaboration more effective and outcomes more rewarding.
If your sales process feels disjointed, SPICED might be the change you need. Sure, there’s a learning curve, but the payoff? Totally worth it.