The Core Elements of the Challenger Selling Style

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What sets Challengers apart from their peers? What sets Challengers apart from their peers? 6 attributes are statistically different for Challengers What sets Challengers apart from their peers? Offer their customers unique & valuable insights Have strong two-way communication skills Know each individual customer’s value drivers Can identify economic drivers of customers’ businesses Are comfortable discussing money Can pressure their customers to take action Teach Tailor Take control The Challenger Sale, 2011, Mathew Dixon and Brent Adamson

Elements of effective teaching Challenging customers to rethink current assumptions & approaches This reframing links challenges they may be aware of with bigger problems or opportunities than they ever realized These insights require reps to know the part of their customer’s business that relates to their capabilities better than customers know it themselves Results in a “huh, I never thought of that before” rather than “Yes, I totally agree! That’s exactly what we’re working on.” Quantifying financial impact to customer (losses or foregone gains) Leads customers to your unique strengths Applies to substantial segment of customers Results in customers making more money or saving more money The Challenger Sale, 2011, Mathew Dixon and Brent Adamson

Elements of effective tailoring Industry Minimal Company Layers of tailoring Role Individual Optimal The Challenger Sale, 2011, Mathew Dixon and Brent Adamson

Decision drivers vary widely by role Drivers of sales representative loyalty Relative impact compared w/ most important decision driver The Challenger Sale, 2011, Mathew Dixon and Brent Adamson

Top marketing and sales organizations tailor messages by role The Challenger Sale, 2011, Mathew Dixon and Brent Adamson

Keys to taking control of the sale Separate viable prospects from price shoppers Viable prospects grant access to senior decision makers Create urgency to address previously unrecognized opportunity/cost If problem is not urgent, it’s probably not worth solving Define customer decision timeline needed to capture opportunities Gain commitment that up-front consulting investments will result in some form reciprocal investment by the customer Gain agreement to park pricing questions until supplier can establish full extant of incremental sales and savings they’re able to generate The Challenger Sale, 2011, Mathew Dixon and Brent Adamson NOTE: Challenger’s take control throughout the process, not just at the end

Summary What sets challengers apart from other reps is their ability to teach, tailor and take control of the conversation Challengers teach by reframing assumptions and then quantifying the ability of their offerings to either make more money or save more money. Teaching must lead to your unique strengths Effective challengers also tailor their pitches depending on the industry, company, role and individual that their speaking with. This is critical because decision drivers can vary widely by group Finally, challengers take charge of the conversation by separating viable prospects from price shoppers, creating urgency and gaining commitment to explore a bigger picture view of their opportunities