The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson is an interesting read and for me definitely opens my eyes to the challenge those in sales are facing.
In the book it mentions five sales reps: the hard worker, the challenger, the relationship builder, the lone wolf and the problem solver and within this blog I’d like to delve into these five types of reps and look at what really makes them different and good, because not all star sellers are challengers.
So the basics for each of the reps lets have a look at how the book describes the attributes of each type of person:
The Hard Worker –
Always willing to go the extra mile.
Doesn’t give up easily.
Self-motivated.
Interested in feedback and development.
The Relationship Builder –
Builds strong advocates in customer organisations.
Generous in giving time to help others.
Gets along with everyone.
The Lone Wolf –
Follows own instincts.
Self-assured.
Difficult to control.
The Problem Solver –
Reliably responds to internal and external stakeholders.
Ensures that all problems are solved.
Detail-oriented.
The Challenger –
Always has a different view of the world.
Understands the customer’s business.
Loves to debate.
Pushes the customer.
Mentioned in the book is the fact that not all of the best performers are challengers, because in fact there is no one way to correctly sell – there are many. The books looks into each sales rep in more detail so go and give it a read but the below points summarize each rep and their approaches to the sale.
Something that surprised me when reading this book is that ‘The Relationship Builder’ rep who you think would have a great relationship with the customer and therefore be great at selling actually has the lowest percentage of high performing sales reps. Only 7% of Relationship Builder reps are high performers which is the lowest out of the five… Surprised? I was.
There was a lot more in ‘The Challenger Sale’ that had me questioning the way I look at the sales world, so go and check it out and look at the five reps. Understand which one you are and how we can all learn a thing or two from the challengers and their techniques.
Thanks for reading!
