What'sthesecrettosalessuccess?Ifyou'relikemostbusinessleaders,you'dsayit'sfundamentallyaboutrelationships-andyou'dbewrong.Thebestsalespeopledon'tjustbuildrelationshipswithcustomers.Theychallengethem.
Theneedtounderstandwhattop-performingrepsaredoingthattheiraverageperformingcolleaguesarenotdroveMatthewDixon,BrentAdamson,andtheircolleaguesatCorporateExecutiveBoardtoinvestigatetheskills,behaviors,knowledge,andattitudesthatmattermostforhighperformance.Andwhattheydiscoveredmaybethebiggestshocktoconventionalsaleswisdomindecades.
Basedonanexhaustivestudyofthousandsofsalesrepsacrossmultipleindustriesandgeographies,TheChallengerSalearguesthatclassicrelationshipbuildingisalosingapproach,especiallywhenitcomestosellingcomplex,large-scalebusiness-to-businesssolutions.Theauthors'studyfoundthateverysalesrepintheworldfallsintooneoffivedistinctprofiles,andwhileallofthesetypesofrepscandeliveraveragesalesperformance,onlyone-theChallenger-deliversconsistentlyhighperformance.
Insteadofbludgeoningcustomerswithendlessfactsandfeaturesabouttheircompanyandproducts,Challengersapproachcustomerswithuniqueinsightsabouthowtheycansaveormakemoney.Theytailortheirsalesmessagetothecustomer'sspecificneedsandobjectives.Ratherthanacquiescingtothecustomer'severydemandorobjection,theyareassertive,pushingbackwhennecessaryandtakingcontrolofthesale.
ThethingsthatmakeChallengersuniquearereplicableandteachabletotheaveragesalesrep.OnceyouunderstandhowtoidentifytheChallengersinyourorganization,youcanmodeltheirapproachandembeditthroughoutyoursalesforce.Theauthorsexplainhowalmostanyaverage-performingrep,onceequippedwiththerighttools,cansuccessfullyreframecustomers'expectationsanddeliveradistinctivepurchaseexperiencethatdriveshigherlevelsofcustomerloyaltyand,ultimately,greatergrowth.