By encouraging their customers to consider new opportunities, the Challenger sales rep can begin to offer an alternative way forward. This creates some slight tension in the form of a casual debate. Challengers intentionally dispute their customer’s way of thinking and force them to contemplate a new perspective.
The Challenger profile allows reps to build up to a sale by creating constructive tension.
Has a different view of the world, understands the customer’s business, loves to debate, pushes the customer to get out of their comfort zone. Is reliable, ensures all of their customer’s problems are solved and is detail-oriented. Follows their own instincts, is self-assured and independent. Builds strong customer advocates, generates customer loyalty, is generous with giving their time to help others and gets along with everyone. Goes the extra mile, doesn’t give up easily, is self-motivated and likes feedback and development.
#The challenger sale matthew dixon pdf how to
Using the Challenger sales model, Dixon and Adamson argue that with the right sales training and sales tools sales reps can take control of any customer conversation.īefore we look at how to take control of a sales situation using the challenger sales methodology it’s essential to dive into what exactly it means to be a “Challenger”.ĭixon, Adamson and their colleagues researched the attitudes and behaviors of thousands of sales reps and discovered that they fall into one of five distinct profiles: The Challenger sales model and methodology is built around a sales process that focuses on teaching, tailoring and taking control of a sales experience. So, is the Challenger sales methodology the answer to these new buying behaviors? If they reach out to a sales rep, they are most interested in their purchase experience and the answer to ‘why’ they should buy, rather than ‘what’ they should buy. Yet, rather than feeling confident in their purchase path forward, buyers are becoming overwhelmed by the seemingly endless good choices and need help making a decision. Because of this power, most prospects already know what's out there. Buyers are inundated with and have access to high-quality information readily available on the internet. The prospects aren’t as interested in being told about the product features and benefits, as they already know about them from their own research. It’s in this environment where the Challenger sales model shines. This tells us that prospects are coming into a selling environment with preconceived ideas about what features they want and how much they’re willing to pay. Instead, they’re spending 27% of their time researching independently online. Gartner’s research found that when considering a purchase, B2B buyers only spend 17% of their time meeting with potential suppliers. Research from Gartner highlights a growing trend in the customer buying journey. What does “The Challenger Sale” say about customer conversations? How to apply the Challenger sales methodology.How to adopt the Challenger sales methodology in five Steps.Using "Reframe" to turn your sales team into Challengers.What are the pros and cons of the Challenger sales methodology?.How can businesses benefit from Challenger selling?.To summarize, in this piece we are going to look at: Instead, they argue that sales reps who take control of a sale and teach their prospects how to solve their problem are more successful than sales people who spend long amounts of time building a relationship with their lead. The authors say that when it comes to top-performing sales reps, building relationships is the least effective strategy in closing sales.
However, the authors of “The Challenger Sale”, Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, have different ideas, which they explain through their challenger sales model.
Many sales strategies would lead you to believe that building relationships with prospects is an integral part of the sales process.