Level 17 min
Curious
Sofia admits the summer overbooking after one good problem question and answers implication questions in detail.
- One hidden problem
- Gives examples freely
Sales roleplay scenarioSPIN selling training scenario: “Our system works”
A discovery call for SPIN selling training. Sofia, an AI operations director at a hotel group, says her booking system works and asks what problem you think she has. Ask the situation, problem, implication and need-payoff questions that let her find the problem herself and say what fixing it is worth.
SofiaAI operations director
Mood · AI character
Our booking system works. What problem do you think we have?
Maybe none. That’s what I’d like to find out. How do group and corporate bookings get into your system today?
By email. Each front desk enters the block by hand, usually in the evening.
Scored live
- Situation questions: few and informed
- Problem questions: a difficulty in her words
- Implication questions: what it costs
- Need-payoff questions: she states the value
- Earns a dated next step
AI coachOne informed situation question was enough. She just pointed at a manual step; ask where it goes wrong.
The situation
A buyer with no problem. At least, none she’ll name first.
Context
Sofia’s group runs 12 hotels in Spain and Portugal on a booking system she chose six years ago. You sell a central reservation system for hotel groups: one room inventory for every channel, including group blocks and corporate rates. She agreed to a 30-minute call because her commercial director asked her to, and she opens by asking what problem you think she has.
What you know
- The group runs 12 hotels and opens two more in April.
- Online travel agencies sell a large share of its summer rooms.
- A few guest reviews from last summer mention being moved to another hotel on arrival.
- Her commercial director, who asked for this call, wants more direct bookings.
Your goal
- Ask only the situation questions your research can’t answer.
- Help Sofia name a problem and explore what it costs her hotels.
- Let her say what solving it is worth, then agree on a dated meeting that includes her commercial director.
The AI character
Meet Sofia. She chose the system you’re here to replace.
- Her role
- Runs operations for all 12 hotels: front desks, reservations and housekeeping. Any new system needs her sign-off and her commercial director’s.
- Her group
- Mid-size hotels on the coast and in city centers: leisure guests in summer, corporate groups and events the rest of the year.
- What she cares about
- Front desk staff who stay for the whole season
- Guests who arrive to the room they booked
- No new project during high season
- What she won’t say first
- She picked the current system and doesn’t want to call it a mistake.
- Front desks re-enter every group block by hand, mostly after their shift.
- Last summer four hotels sold rooms twice and paid for guests to stay elsewhere.
- Each of the two new hotels needs an outside consultant to set up the old system.
- How she reacts
- A pitch before she names a problemShe defends her system and asks you to send a brochure.
- Questions your research could answerShort answers. She mentions her next meeting.
- Questions about her front desk teamsShe gives examples, names hotels and dates.
- Starting mood
Polite and guarded. She expects you to criticize a system she chose.
What is scored
Four question types, one next step. Scored from the questions you ask.
In SPIN the questions do the work, so the questions are what gets quoted. Under each criterion you see the situation, problem, implication or need-payoff questions that opened Sofia up or shut her down, with timestamped comments. If your team runs discovery its own way, score the call on your own checklist.
- 01
Situation questions: few and informed
What good looks likeAsks only what research can’t tell you, such as how group bookings reach the system, and shows the rest is already known.
Common missOpens with a list of questions about hotel count, room numbers and software.
- 02
Problem questions: a difficulty in her words
What good looks likeAsks where the current process is slow, manual or risky until Sofia describes a problem herself.
Common missTells her what her problem is, or accepts “it works” and moves to the demo.
- 03
Implication questions: what it costs
What good looks likeExplores what selling a room twice costs: guests moved to other hotels, reviews, evening work at the front desk, the two new hotels.
Common missJumps from the first problem straight to the product.
- 04
Need-payoff questions: she states the value
What good looks likeAsks what a fix would change, so Sofia, not the rep, says what it’s worth to her hotels.
Common missDescribes the benefits instead of asking her.
- 05
Earns a dated next step
What good looks likeEnds with a meeting on a set date that includes the commercial director, who shares the decision.
Common missCloses with “I’ll send you a deck.”
How the conversation can go
From “it works” to a meeting with her commercial director.
Sofia · AI operations director
Our booking system works. What problem do you think we have?
You
Maybe none. That’s what I’d like to find out. I know you run 12 hotels on one central system. How do group and corporate bookings get into it today?
AI coach · Situation questions: few and informedOne informed situation question. You showed you’d done the research instead of asking her to recite it.
Sofia · AI operations director
By email. Each front desk enters the block by hand, usually in the evening.
You
Where does that get hard for your front desk teams?
Sofia · AI operations director
In summer. A block goes in late, the online channels still show the rooms, and we sell them twice.
AI coach · Problem questions: a difficulty in her wordsShe named the problem in her own words. Stay on it; your product can wait.
You
What happens to the guest when a hotel sells the same room twice in July?
Sofia · AI operations director
We move them to another hotel and pay for the night. It happened at four of our hotels last summer.
You
And with two new hotels opening in April, does that risk grow?
Sofia · AI operations director
It does. Two new front desk teams learning the same manual process in their first season.
AI coach · Implication questions: what it costsTwo implication questions: what a moved guest costs, and how the risk grows with the new hotels.
You
If a group block closed online availability the moment it was entered, what would that change for you next summer?
Sofia · AI operations director
No guests moved on arrival, and my front desk managers get their evenings back. My commercial director should hear this.
You
Could the three of us talk on Tuesday? I’ll show how one group block would move through a single hotel, start to finish.
Sofia · AI operations director
Tuesday at ten. Send the invite to both of us.
AI coach · Earns a dated next stepShe stated the value herself, and Tuesday at ten puts the commercial director on the next call too.
SPIN discovery call · 5 criteria84/ 100
Strong implication work, but only one need-payoff question. Next run, ask what the fix would mean for the two new hotels.
Difficulty
Three versions of Sofia. From curious to a second buyer on the call.
Level 210 min
Guarded
The default version. She defends the system she chose and names a problem only after a specific question about group bookings.
- Defends her choice
- Several hidden problems
Level 314 min
Two buyers
Her commercial director joins halfway, cares about direct bookings more than front desk workload and pushes you to skip to a demo.
- Two AI characters
- Pressure to pitch early
- Different priorities
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Browse all sales, service and leadership scenariosFAQ
About this scenario.
What is SPIN selling?
A discovery method from Neil Rackham’s book SPIN Selling (1988). Situation questions establish the facts, problem questions find what isn’t working, implication questions explore what that costs, and need-payoff questions let the buyer say what a solution would be worth.
How does this scenario fit into SPIN selling training?
It gives reps a buyer who won’t volunteer a problem, so each question type has work to do. Run it after reps learn the four types, and repeat it until implication and need-payoff questions come without a script.
Can we practice this SPIN discovery call without AI?
Yes. One person plays Sofia from the profile above and gives up a hidden problem only when asked a well-aimed question. A second person runs the call, and a third tallies questions by type and scores the five criteria. Swap roles after each round.
How does the AI score each question type?
The criteria are the question types themselves, so each score quotes the situation, problem, implication or need-payoff questions the rep actually asked. What counts is what the rep asks and says, not their voice or feelings. The mood bar is Sofia’s alone: she is the character, and she warms or cools with the questions she hears.
Can reps practice SPIN on our own product and buyers?
Yes. Describe your product, the buyers your reps call on and the problems they usually have to dig for in the scenario builder. Keep SPIN as the criteria, or score against MEDDIC or your own discovery checklist.
“It works” is where discovery starts. Rehearse the questions first.
Ask Sofia your own discovery questions in a short live demo, or name the buyer your reps can’t get past “it works.”