CHALLENGING  

"THE CHALLENGER SALE"

Dan:

I recently read the book called "The Challenger Sale." I can see similarities to your workshop content.  Do you have consistent approaches?

Bob

Sun City, AZ

Bob,

The Challenger Sale (Adamson, B and Dixon, M. of the Corporate Executive Board,  The Challenger Sale. New York: The Penguin Group, 2011) represents the most thorough research publication on sales, in my humble opinion. The size, scope and focus of Dixon and Adamson's research are outstanding. The authors studied 100 global companies in multiple B2B industries and 6,000 sales reps over a period of three years.  

I would like to highlight some of the key points of this work from my vantage point. Then we can address the similarities within my book Building Trust Growing Sales and what I share in my Trust Triangle Selling Workshops and my Sales Strategizer App. Finally, I offer my editorial on the tradeoffs or challenges I have with The Challenger Sale.  

"The Challenger Sale" Key Points

Using factor analysis (a statistical methodology) to group the data, it was determined that sales reps fall into one of the following distinct categories:  

• The Relationship Builder
• The Challenger
• The Problem Solver
• The Lone Wolf
• The Hard Worker  

Can you guess which group outperformed all the others? Much to the surprise of sales executives and training managers, the winning profile was not "The Relationship Builder." The clear winner was "The Challenger." The big loser in the 5 categories..."The Relationship Builder." This finding had to send shock waves around the corporate training community, as most US corporate learning directors are spending $20 billion a year on training the so-called "Relationship Builders." (Canaday, H. The Transformation of Enterprise Sales Training. Selling Power, White Paper citing the American Society of Training and Development). Surprisingly, it also they found that the more complex the sale, the greater the performance distance between The Challenger and The Relationship Builder.

What are the specific skills that The Challenger possesses which cause her to perform so well? There are three. She can teach, tailor and control. The Challenger teaches or consults with the customer to persuade him to value the differentiation of his offering. The Challenger is able to tailor her message to her target audience. The Challenger also controls the sales process.   

Trust Triangle Selling & The Challenger Sale Parallels

Here are just a few of the similarities in content and objectives of The Challenger and TTS Best Practices, as I see them: 

The Challenges With "The Challenger Rep" When Compared to the Trust Triangle Selling "Sales Superstar"

Let's start with a simple, high-level real-world example to describe the challenge I have with "The Challenger Sale." In the real world, sales reps begin to engage with the customer who:

1. Believes that they either do not have a problem or have already decided that they have problem "A"
2. Believes that the solution is "B"
3. Believes that the best process to evaluate the vendors will be "G"
4. Believes that the decision criteria and their importance for vendor selection should be "C", "D" & "E" (in that order)
5. Believes that the best person to influence and make the decision is the SVP of Manufacturing known as Mr. "F"

The Focus On The Problem and Solution

The Challenger Sale really focuses attention on challenging #1, #2 and #3 above. "The Challenger" rep confronts the customer with unique insight, asking him to re-think both the current problem and expected solution. Both are very important to the Sales Superstar also, but The Challenger does not go far enough. In addition to numbers one, two,and three, the real Sales Superstar uses strategy (See The Sales Strategizer) to provide insight to 4, and 5, above. The Superstar may decide to add additional purchase criteria, redefine existing criteria and/or change the priority of their criteria. The Superstar may also recruit additional players to participate as decision makers. Finally, the Superstar is adroit at the three D's: Developing, Documenting and Driving a mutually agreed-upon buying process. These are all classic "Change the Game" sales strategies as described in the Building Trust, Growing Sales book and Sales Strategizer App.

Where is the Customer Research?

The Challenger Sale publication does not appear to emphasize the importance of researching the client and using client interviews to fully comprehend the challenges, issues, pains and opportunities that may exist. The book may allude to  "problem solving" as a matter for the client to handle.  

Early in the book there is a reference to "customer solution fatigue". That is when customers are subject to a "ping pong" style of questioning during a rep's Q & A session. To the book's credit, it is mentioned  that The Challenger needs a deep understanding of the client in order to tailor a message.    

I agree that a profound understanding of your client is necessary before you can make any progress. The Sales Superstar knows that you need to conduct independent outside research in order to achieve an understanding of your client's challenges within the industry.  

 
The Sales Superstar has internalized two key quotes:  

"No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."  -Unknown  

"More trust is gained through the definition of the problem than through the solution."  -Unknown

Solution Sales is Dead?

Some authors have suggested that The Challenger research means the death of Solution Sales (Adamson, B and Dixon, M. The Death of Solution Selling. Spotlight on Smarter Selling. HBR.org: Harvard Business Review, July-August 2012). Nothing could be further from the truth as I see it. Solution Sales is alive and well, if practiced by a Sales Superstar. This means that the rep, in many cases, has to go far beyond addressing a problem that a client brings to the table. The Sales Superstar uses insight to provide solutions to new problems that she might identify herself, or might discover along with her client. The Superstar knows that this is really turbo-charged strategic, consultative, solution selling.

The Well-Rounded Rep

The rep or manager reading The Challenger Sale may appreciate that the authors may have pigeon-holed reps into five categories.  The authors do indicate that it is more likely that reps have aspects of several identities but the reader may skim over this key point.

Is it also possible to misconstrue these findings merely by the use of the term "Challenger?" Some inexperienced reps may perceive that they are encouraged to confront a client in a hostile win-loss, arrogant way, although the authors do caution that arrogant behaviors should not be utilized. 

Where is the TRUST?

My biggest challenge with this publication is the lack of understanding of the importance of Trust in the B2B buying decision. My 30 years of "research" selling B2B high technology solutions has proven to me that there is absolutely nothing more important in sales than building trust (See Building Trust, Growing Sales). Now, if executed effectively, providing insight will help achieve trust with a client, but it is very difficult to genuinely assist an executive without having gained trust first.  

No One Wants To Be Controlled!

The authors frequently discuss how The Challenger controls. The wording here is poorly selected. A rep would lose a significant amount of trust in most large B2B sales situations if the customer felt that they were being controlled. Does that mean the control is not a prerequisite to being a Sales Superstar? Definitely not. I write and speak extensively on this topic but I prefer to promote guiding rather than controlling. A VERY important difference. Guiding a client down a mutually agreed-upon pathway has a much different connotation than controlling a client. I have never met any senior executive who is directly responsible for a major B2B decision would say that they would buy from someone who controlled them. On the contrary, I am confident that the same executive would appreciate and trust a rep who would help him navigate the many minefields associated with a complex B2B investment decision. The Superstar does this by using his experience with other similar projects to guiding the client down a pathway to successful decision and implementation.

Summary

The book is an excellent proof point for the unique, highly-strategic and consultative approach and many best practices we deliver to Sales Superstars in our Trust Triangle Selling workshops. The Superstar knows my motto: My time, My field, My rules, My game. It confirms the importance of the 3 D's:  developing, documenting and driving the client's entire buying process.