The Challenger Sale
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Five Sales Types

The Hard Worker (21%)

The Challenger (27%)

The Lone Wolf (18%)

The Reactive Problem Solver (14%)

The Relationship Builder (21%)
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Hard Worker

Always willing to go the extra mile

Doesn’t give up easily

Self-motivated

Interested in feedback and
development
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The Challenger


Always has a different view of the
world
Understands the customer’s
business

Loves to debate

Pushes the customer
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The Lone Wolf

Follows own instincts

Self-assured

Difficult to control
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The Reactive Problem Solver

Reliably responds to internal and
external stakeholders

Ensures that all problems are solved

Detailed-oriented
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The Relationship Builder



Builds strong advocates in customer
organizations
Generous in giving time to help
others
Gets along with everyone
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
Relationships are not necessarily the key
to success

Research from the Corporate Executive
Board, as indicated in The Challenger Sale,
shows that in the current business
environment, customers don’t always know
what they don’t know and crave insights that
can help them run their businesses more
effectively and efficiently.
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
The most powerful sales approaching is
based on:
1.
2.
3.
Teaching
Tailoring
Taking control of the customer conversation
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Teaching for Differentiation

Build insights into teaching
conversations


Don’t forget the emotional component
of a well-designed teaching pitch
Tell a compelling story with real drama
and suspense (HBR Guide To Persuasive
Presentations)
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Six Steps
The Warmer
1.
-
Building credibility by reading
prospect’s mind, demonstrating
empathy, giving new information
(Open, Greeting, New Information)
Reframe
2.
-
First, reframe an unrecognized problem,
need, or assumption (Recap and
Purpose)
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Rational Drowning
3.
-
Gradual intensification of the problem,
both in degree and closeness to the
customer (Discussion)
Emotional Impact
4.
-
Psychological features of the problem,
or presence in the individual’s workflow,
humanizing the problem (Discussion
based on Emotional INtelligence)
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Value Proposition – A New Way
5.
A new framework for addressing the
problem—implicitly tied to your value
proposition (Discussion)
-
6.
Your Solution and Implementation
Map

Map of supplier services or solutions
linked back to key teaching points;
highlighted path to implementation
(Discussion)
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Old World: Process
Focused
New World: Judgment
Oriented
The customer expresses
a defined need
QUALIFICATION
CRITERIA
The customer is in a
state of uncertainty
Identify a stakeholder
with the authority to
spend
STAKEHOLDER
SELECTION
Identify a stakeholder
who is open to change
and can influence
decision makers
Demonstrate the value
your solution provides
relative to competitors’
offerings
NATURE OF THE
CONVERSATION
Disrupt the customer’s
thinking and
assumptions about
his/her business
14
“Dismantling the Sales Machine,” Harvard
Business Review, November, 2013
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Use This Call Structure Model

Greeting

New Information

Opening

Recap and Purpose

Discussion and Creating Value

Summary and Close
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1.
Presenting: Call Structure –
Six Steps
Greeting

2.
New information

3.
Provide new, relevant information to enhance your
source credibility and expertise. (The Warmer)
Opening

4.
Set tone of the meeting and build rapport (The
Warmer)
A well-planned statement to pique interest in your
proposal, insights, and solutions (The Warmer)
Recap and purpose
Recap what challenges and problems you will be
addressing, and state the purpose of the call. (Reframe)
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5.
Discussion and Creating Value




6.
Move prospects from desire to conviction that
your solutions are the best ones.
Dealing with objections
Conditions
Discussion tactics – Create Value (Rational
Drowning, Emotional Impact, and Value
Proposition)
Summary and close

Summarize key points – no more than three – and
ask for the order. No ask, no order. (Your Solution
and Implementation Map)
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