Name: The Challenger Sale
Rating: 4.4 (222 reviews)
Author: Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson

What’s in it for me? Learn the most effective, highest performing approach to selling.

“ABC: Always Be Closing” is a great line from the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, but no matter what Hollywood tells you, it’s not actually the best approach to sales.

The cliche of the oil-tongued salesman with a pricey suit is seriously old school. Today’s salespeople achieve success in a very different fashion.

In these blinks, you’ll explore research that authors Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson have unearthed to discover today’s effective salesman: the challenger. This is a person who isn’t afraid to take control, winning sales through teaching and not through persuading.

It’s a huge paradigm shift in the world of sales. You’ll learn quickly why the challenger technique is so effective and how you or your sales staff can become challengers too.

In the following blinks, you’ll discover

how a “challenger” salesperson embodies all the needed selling approaches;
how to guide a conversation toward a sale without actually pitching a product; and
why the most effective salesperson is disproportionately a “challenger” type.

Effective sellers involve the customer and personalize the product.

When you think about sales, what comes to mind? Perhaps slick, fast-talking sales reps closing deals?

But why is it that we only ever think about the sales rep, and never about the customer?

Sales isn’t a one-way conversation. In fact, the most effective sales techniques put the customer first.

Solution selling is one such technique. It involves selling customizable products and services as a solution to a specific problem, rather than selling a “one-size-fits-all” product.

For instance, a car manufacturer wouldn’t try to sell just any car to a bakery; instead, a salesman would pitch a delivery truck customized to keep fresh bread warm. In other words, the car manufacturer would sell a solution to the bakery’s concerns of delivering stale bread.

So why is this approach so effective? Solution selling helps the seller differentiate himself from competitors as well as control prices.

Look at it this way: The car manufacturer doesn’t have to worry that his competitors also sell a very similar kind of truck. Also, there’s no need to compete by lowering prices. After all, price is only part of the solution on offer; there’s also customization.

Solution selling does have its advantages. But it’s also more challenging than other approaches, because it empowers customers to be more demanding, and also requires salespeople to find creative ways to ensure customer satisfaction.

After all, a solution seller’s job is all about solving the customer’s specific problem, not foisting a ready-made package upon them.

In other words, solution selling requires sales reps to do more than pitch. They have to work closely with the customer, finding out how her business works and researching every detail to offer a good solution.

When it comes to solution selling, innovative sales reps who are “challengers” close deals.

Solution selling is an effective approach, as it is essentially a dynamic interaction between sales reps and customers.

And yet, it’s important to realize that not all sales deals are conducive to this technique.

Challenger salespeople are teachers at the core; they shine light on solutions for the prospect.

What makes a challenger so effective at solution sales? One major aspect of the challenger technique comes down to teaching.

And why is this quality so important? Let’s first take a step back.

A challenger controls the conversation and structures it skillfully to guide a customer to a solution.

So challengers succeed by teaching a customer something about their business.

Does that sound tough? It’s not, and really comes down to thorough preparation, as you need to construct the conversation in a certain way.

It’s crucial to make your solution attractive to every individual involved in the decision.

As we mentioned earlier, solution selling involves the customer a lot more than other techniques. Challengers excel at this; challengers know how to work with the customer.

Of course, with multiple stakeholders and conflicting opinions, this can get complicated.

Don’t shy away from the steering wheel; a challenger takes control of a sale from the very start.

Challengers also excel at taking control of the sale, from beginning to end.

This means that they’re comfortable enough with what they’re offering to stand firm and insist that the prospect sees the value of the solution.

Share knowledge and solutions with your entire sales team, so you all can win together.

If you’re a sales manager, you might be wondering just how you can turn your sales reps into real challengers.

Although some people pick up the challenger model instinctively, the ways to teach this model to individuals are also scalable throughout an organization. Here are three methods!

If you’re ready to make your company a challenger shop, make sure your managers are on board.

Here’s the last key piece of advice to turning your sales team into a team of challengers: Managers are important.

In fact, you can’t do anything without your managers being on board.

The Challenger Sale summary