The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-10-27 06:56:38
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Matthew Dixon
- ISBN：1591844355
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
What's the secret to sales success？ If you're like most business leaders， you'd say it's fundamentally about relationships-and you'd be wrong。 The best salespeople don't just build relationships with customers。 They challenge them。
The need to understand what top-performing reps are doing that their average performing colleagues are not drove Matthew Dixon， Brent Adamson， and their colleagues at Corporate Executive Board to investigate the skills， behaviors， knowledge， and attitudes that matter most for high performance。 And what they discovered may be the biggest shock to conventional sales wisdom in decades。
Based on an exhaustive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies， The Challenger Sale argues that classic relationship building is a losing approach， especially when it comes to selling complex， large-scale business-to-business solutions。 The authors' study found that every sales rep in the world falls into one of five distinct profiles， and while all of these types of reps can deliver average sales performance， only one-the Challenger- delivers consistently high performance。
Instead of bludgeoning customers with endless facts and features about their company and products， Challengers approach customers with unique insights about how they can save or make money。 They tailor their sales message to the customer's specific needs and objectives。 Rather than acquiescing to the customer's every demand or objection， they are assertive， pushing back when necessary and taking control of the sale。
The things that make Challengers unique are replicable and teachable to the average sales rep。 Once you understand how to identify the Challengers in your organization， you can model their approach and embed it throughout your sales force。 The authors explain how almost any average-performing rep， once equipped with the right tools， can successfully reframe customers' expectations and deliver a distinctive purchase experience that drives higher levels of customer loyalty and， ultimately， greater growth。
The need to understand what top-performing reps are doing that their average performing colleagues are not drove Matthew Dixon， Brent Adamson， and their colleagues at Corporate Executive Board to investigate the skills， behaviors， knowledge， and attitudes that matter most for high performance。 And what they discovered may be the biggest shock to conventional sales wisdom in decades。
Based on an exhaustive study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies， The Challenger Sale argues that classic relationship building is a losing approach， especially when it comes to selling complex， large-scale business-to-business solutions。 The authors' study found that every sales rep in the world falls into one of five distinct profiles， and while all of these types of reps can deliver average sales performance， only one-the Challenger- delivers consistently high performance。
Instead of bludgeoning customers with endless facts and features about their company and products， Challengers approach customers with unique insights about how they can save or make money。 They tailor their sales message to the customer's specific needs and objectives。 Rather than acquiescing to the customer's every demand or objection， they are assertive， pushing back when necessary and taking control of the sale。
The things that make Challengers unique are replicable and teachable to the average sales rep。 Once you understand how to identify the Challengers in your organization， you can model their approach and embed it throughout your sales force。 The authors explain how almost any average-performing rep， once equipped with the right tools， can successfully reframe customers' expectations and deliver a distinctive purchase experience that drives higher levels of customer loyalty and， ultimately， greater growth。
Reviews
Eric Abrahamsson
，
Great book， especially if you’re looking to learn more about how solution sales works。 A lot of practical examples of how other companies have implemented different strategies mentioned in the book。 I would have liked even more customer cases
Sam Murphy
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A bit drawn out but useful in ways
Remi
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Excellent en théorie， affaire à suivre en pratique 🔭 Quelques apports vraiment géniaux en tout cas。
Yahya Eid
，
The book explains a new type of sales approach that has been uncovered through years of research by the CEB institute。 There were previously 4 wifely accepted types of sales people， each with varying degrees of success。 The fifth， uncovered by the research， is titled the 'Challeneger'。 This type of sales person focuses on education and insight to change a customer's behaviour。 The goal with their approach is to encourage customers to understand the cost of continuing with certain decisions or ch The book explains a new type of sales approach that has been uncovered through years of research by the CEB institute。 There were previously 4 wifely accepted types of sales people， each with varying degrees of success。 The fifth， uncovered by the research， is titled the 'Challeneger'。 This type of sales person focuses on education and insight to change a customer's behaviour。 The goal with their approach is to encourage customers to understand the cost of continuing with certain decisions or choosing not to act。 The challenger sales approach has the demonstrated ability to perform in all market conditions。 A must read for any sales leader/sales person to stand out against the rest。 。。。more
Prad
，
Great books and concepts that challenged the conventional approach to solution selling but it needed more stories & examples。 Was quite dry & technical， and stories and case studies wouldve brought the teachings to life。
Alexey Averyanov
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Не могу сказать， что данная книга лучшая по продажам， но точно могу рекомендовать ее всем тем， кто занимается продажами。 В ней есть тот "элемент"， которого не хватало в других технологиях， точнее - на этом не делали акцент。 Да， SPIN， безусловно остается лучшей техникой в продажах， но без понимания того， как "продавать" решения она становится неэффективной。 На мой взгляд， Нил Рэкхам просто не до конца проделал свою работу， так как для него и группы， которая с ним работала， само собой очевидным ос Не могу сказать， что данная книга лучшая по продажам， но точно могу рекомендовать ее всем тем， кто занимается продажами。 В ней есть тот "элемент"， которого не хватало в других технологиях， точнее - на этом не делали акцент。 Да， SPIN， безусловно остается лучшей техникой в продажах， но без понимания того， как "продавать" решения она становится неэффективной。 На мой взгляд， Нил Рэкхам просто не до конца проделал свою работу， так как для него и группы， которая с ним работала， само собой очевидным остается момент продажи экспертизы， а большинство выпускников тренингов и читателей его книг этого не учли。 。。。more
Kelly
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This book is informative and helpful， but it’s horribly dry。 It’s overly formal and the examples aren’t super easy to understand。 Had to read it twice to grasp the importance of it。
Jacob Smith
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Shifting from selling to providing value。 Very simple reframe of how to approach modern buyers who are over being sold to， or are simply well equipped to sell to themselves。 Frank Bettger in "How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success" shows how this approach is executed， he was born in 1888 and published the book in 1947。 There have been "challengers" around for a long time， this Challenger book highlights the stats behind it all and the approach to round up a salespersons game。 Worth reading Shifting from selling to providing value。 Very simple reframe of how to approach modern buyers who are over being sold to， or are simply well equipped to sell to themselves。 Frank Bettger in "How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success" shows how this approach is executed， he was born in 1888 and published the book in 1947。 There have been "challengers" around for a long time， this Challenger book highlights the stats behind it all and the approach to round up a salespersons game。 Worth reading twice。 Worth considering the Sphere Challenger Selling Course for $800USD or so to pair with this read。 。。。more
Sheila Hirschauer
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As with any sales training， the lessons need to be tried and practiced or they will be forgotten。 Good concepts， not the easiest to follow。 Companies naturally want to open a meeting with the "About us" section and I've found it harder to get the COMPANY to change this approach than the salesperson。 As with any sales training， the lessons need to be tried and practiced or they will be forgotten。 Good concepts， not the easiest to follow。 Companies naturally want to open a meeting with the "About us" section and I've found it harder to get the COMPANY to change this approach than the salesperson。 。。。more
Cole Zeller
，
I read this with my team at work。 It was a harder read for me， and the author had nine chapters full of a lot of jargon that I did not understand。 This was my first business read， so it was a bit challenging for me。 I did find the different salesman types that he listed out very interesting。 It was helpful to see what type I was， and where my strengths and weaknesses were with that type。
Krzysztof Wawrzynkiewicz
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Wciągająca książka， która w bardzo interesujący sposób pokazuje jak powinien przebiegać/być zaprojektowany proces sprzedaży。 Dla mnie bardzo ważnym aspektem jest to， że wszystkie odkrycia przedstawione w książce są poparte badaniami przeprowadzonymi na dużej próbie uczestników。
Andrea Dumont
，
Was a good read。 I can tell why my COO likes it a lot。 A unique and intriguing view at how to provide value/differentiation。 Even though it's been done for ages， describing it this way is new。 Book is centered around selling solutions not just products。 Audience is supposed to be sales managers but had some good info for everyone。 Was a good read。 I can tell why my COO likes it a lot。 A unique and intriguing view at how to provide value/differentiation。 Even though it's been done for ages， describing it this way is new。 Book is centered around selling solutions not just products。 Audience is supposed to be sales managers but had some good info for everyone。 。。。more
William Jeanes Memorial Library
，
The principles behind this book were great， but overall it was much longer and verbose than it needed to be to get the job done （maybe they need to read Essentialism？）-Patron L。P。
Michael Marcucci
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Highlight: Working in a relatively new career， with a new sales process， this book is one I will come back to and use as a resource in the future。 Theme: Bringing Science to Sales Enjoyment of reading: 4/5Pace / Length: 4。5/5
Christina Shumpert
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I just couldn’t get into it :/
Michael Massad
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Generally， these books present skeptical arguments and "air-tight" examples， and this is no different。 However， the premise was novel。 This is less a verbatim tactical guide to sales， although it does offer a few suggestions， but rather a framework for the overall goal of selling software。 Therein lies the crux， it is specific to software sales and for that reason gets a higher rating for the laser focus on what it is and not what it isn't。 Teaching， Tailoring， and Taking Control serve as the ba Generally， these books present skeptical arguments and "air-tight" examples， and this is no different。 However， the premise was novel。 This is less a verbatim tactical guide to sales， although it does offer a few suggestions， but rather a framework for the overall goal of selling software。 Therein lies the crux， it is specific to software sales and for that reason gets a higher rating for the laser focus on what it is and not what it isn't。 Teaching， Tailoring， and Taking Control serve as the backbone for the framework。 The authors offer a highly encouraged platform to sell from， and they leave the door open for someone to be themselves as they enact this platform。 Overall， I would recommend this book to any person selling software， but like with ALL business books， read it skeptically and critically and see if their arguments have merit。 。。。more
David Rainwater
，
It's hard to argue with the data The Challenger Sale is built around。 However， from an individual contributors perspective， you're somewhat at the whims of your company's ability empower you to enable this strategy。 So many organizations claim to elevate their Challenger's， but don't deliver。 There's a lot of gold in this book， but its strategy is hard to employ without a company that's on board。 It's hard to argue with the data The Challenger Sale is built around。 However， from an individual contributors perspective， you're somewhat at the whims of your company's ability empower you to enable this strategy。 So many organizations claim to elevate their Challenger's， but don't deliver。 There's a lot of gold in this book， but its strategy is hard to employ without a company that's on board。 。。。more
Matjaz Jevšnik
，
Great book with supporting data and a good re-frame on what sales nowadays are and what clients really really want。 It offers a new perspective and challenges companies， not just sales professionals to change their approach to sales innovatively。 Good read and quickly implementable for an individual sales rep。
Paul
，
Decent book with some good tips and learning opportunities。 Read it for a class， and we hardly ever talked about it。
Luke Smith
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A short book that says little but demands a lot。 In today's sales world it has never been more important to stand out and the challenger sales discusses how you do exactly that。 By offering advice instead of pumping a client for information you emerge as a partner， not a vendor。 A short book that says little but demands a lot。 In today's sales world it has never been more important to stand out and the challenger sales discusses how you do exactly that。 By offering advice instead of pumping a client for information you emerge as a partner， not a vendor。 。。。more
Ryan Hegarty
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Challenger’ certainly rocks the boat of conventional sales wisdom。 It has many thought provoking insights。 You can split the book into thirds， - What is a challenger and why it’s good to be one。 - How to be a challenger。- How to manage a challenger。 Dixon and Adamson have written a great summary of their research， and their main arguments should be explored by anyone who works in business。 With clear and robust talking points， Challenger backed up it’s claims up well。 I enjoyed the way that the Challenger’ certainly rocks the boat of conventional sales wisdom。 It has many thought provoking insights。 You can split the book into thirds， - What is a challenger and why it’s good to be one。 - How to be a challenger。- How to manage a challenger。 Dixon and Adamson have written a great summary of their research， and their main arguments should be explored by anyone who works in business。 With clear and robust talking points， Challenger backed up it’s claims up well。 I enjoyed the way that the data and research was delivered， which I thought gave each claim good credibility。 The book’s ability to explain in matter of fact terms of how someone is more likely to be successful in sales vs unlikely was very clear。 It also emphasised the steps the reader can take to become a successful ‘challenger’ themselves， which inspired me to make changes in my own career。 I thought it was refreshing to see the writers openly critique their own biases about sales and the process it took to identify what’s important。 Overall I was impressed with the first two thirds of the book。 Particularly in the last third I thought Dixon and Adamson on were contradictory of themselves， and the writing was somewhat repetitive。 The idea that you’re ‘able to train anyone into a challenger’ was used many times through the book， but when discussing hiring， the authors just describe how to hire someone who is innately a challenger。 They also describe a rigid framework to follow in sales， but then go on to forefront flexibility and ingenuity as an integral part to being a challenger。 Do I rigidly follow the framework， or do I use flexibility and creativity？ Do I hire someone willing to learn， or do I hire someone who is already a challenger？ I can see that not everything is black and white， and most things live in the grey， but I did think these contradictions and some of the repetitiveness pulled a good book down。 This book was recommended to me by management at work， and I can see why。 This book has great ideas， backed up by seemingly robust data， and provides specific steps to follow in order to increase your likelihood of success in sales。 Just a little repetitive。 4/5 stars。 。。。more
Simone Bocedi
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Great sales book to start with and understand if you fall into a “dangerous” category （like Lone Wolf or Relationship Builder） and try to get out of it to become a Challenger。 I would have liked less data。 WE BELIEVE YOU， you did ONE research， you don’t need to mention it every 3 pages。 Apart from that， great tips。
Scott
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Sales approach book that is as good as any。 Our sales team is reading， so I joined them。
Andrea Turner
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Sales book I had to read for work。 Very similar to many other sales books。 Just a different spin。
Juan
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Una visión muy Interesante y sorprendente。 del mundo de las ventas
David
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I recommend this book to read through for gems and new perspectives related to selling， whether B2C or B2B。 Understanding the intricacies of sales， seeing the cues of the stakeholders and holding your ground are crucial skills to have in the market， irrespective of the era or industry。 Teaching， tailoring and taking control are major themes of this book， and it does a great job illustrating how those themes apply to a challenger rep。 The book is repetitive， probably by design， but certainly wort I recommend this book to read through for gems and new perspectives related to selling， whether B2C or B2B。 Understanding the intricacies of sales， seeing the cues of the stakeholders and holding your ground are crucial skills to have in the market， irrespective of the era or industry。 Teaching， tailoring and taking control are major themes of this book， and it does a great job illustrating how those themes apply to a challenger rep。 The book is repetitive， probably by design， but certainly worth a quick read。 。。。more
Kate Bray
，
anyone in sales should read this
Christopher Atwell
，
Great guidance on being aware of keeping the conversation on track and adding value to the sale。
Yangzi Jiang
，
As an engineer， I used to think sales is bs， no anymore after this bookAs an engineer， I used to think sales is bs， no anymore after this book。Sales is in every part of business， challenger mentality is in every part of life
Esben Kranc
，