Kenny Montaine

KMO3

Non-fiction business book reviews English for SME3

The CHALLENGER SALE
Taking Control of the Customer Conversation
By Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson
1. Summary of the book
How can we sell our way through the worst economy in decades? This was the most pressing
question on the minds of sales leaders in early 2009. Within the context of this question CEB
launched what has become one of the most important studies of sales reps productivity in
the decades. This study uncovered three insights.
It turns out that every B2B sales rep falls in the world falls into one of the five distinct
profiles, as specific set of skills and behaviors that define his or her primary mode of
interacting with customers. The second insight changes everything. When you take the five
profiles and compare them with actual sales performance, you find there is a very clear
winner and a very clear loser. This is very disturbing, because when they showed this to sales
leaders, the leaders placed by far their biggest bet on the profile least likely to win. And this
brings us to the third and final core insight from this work. The profile most likely to win isnt
winning because of the down economy, but irrespective of it. These reps are winning
because theyve mastered the complex sale, not because they mastered a complex economy.
The book calls these winners Challengers and tells their story.

The five profiles are the hard worker, the relationship builder, the lone wolf, the reactive
problem solver and the challenger. The difference about all these profiles is the fact that the
challenger is very likely to succeed in a complex sales environment. He stands out when it is
become more difficult.
You can define a challenger through some principles. Challengers are made, not just born
and its their combination of skills that matters. Challenging is about organizational capability
and not just rep skills. You can also state that building a challenger salesforce isnt an
overnight trip, but a journey.
Challengers use a typical selling model. It exists out of 3 steps. Teaching for differentiation.
They can teach customers something new and valuable about how to compete in their
market. A second step is Tailoring for resonance. A challenger is also able to tailor the
teaching message to different types of customers. The last step is Taking control of the
Sale. Challenger reps have the ability to assert and take control over the sale.

Kenny Montaine

KMO3

In this context it is also important to have a good and professional frontline sales manager.
He has a critical role in building Challengers across the sales force. Specifically, they look at
coaching. Not only coaching is important, but also sales innovation. These are different skills
but both are hugely important in an organization seeking to make a shift to the Challenger
Model.

2. Vocabulary I looked up

Flavor of the month = someone or something that has suddenly become very popular,
but may not remain popular for long

Upskilling effort = you are enrolling into an effort at a higher level than any effort you
have completed previously and are therefore upgrading your skills.

To reframe = to change the plans or basic details or look at something in a different way

Procurement = To get by special effort; obtain or acquire:

A metric = A standard of measurement.

Quota-carrying = having a limited amount

Commoditization = is the transformation of goods and services, as well as ideas or other

entities that normally may not be considered goods,[1] into a commodity.

3. Questions
a. - The book gives you insight in the different types of sales reps. The study also shows
which reps are most productive in what situation. This can be very interesting for
business students to determine which type they are and what skills they need to
obtain.
- The book explains how the Challenger Selling Model works. This model is the most
effective way of making deals in very complex situations. Business students need to
be prepared.
-It doesnt only explain this model. It teaches you how to adapt the model and take it
to practice.
- The book learns you to teach, but also commercial teaching. This method has four
key rules and ensures every sales rep to be competitive and profitable.
* Lead to your unique strengths
* Challenge customers assumptions
*Catalyze action
*Scale across customers
- The book show you what a decent pitch should include to be affective.

Kenny Montaine

KMO3

b. A sales manager should definitely read this book, it includes the newest insight in
nowadays sales. You will also find lots of practices and guidelines to become a better
sales manager. These following four keywords should make you a more effective
sales manager.
i. Sales innovation - Create new ways to solve deal-level problems and invent
new ways to position offers based on customers unique needs and
priorities. Deeply understand whats preventing a deal from closing, figure
out why and where there is a holdup, and innovate ways to move it forward.
ii. Coaching - Guide reps to adapt their message to each opportunity and show
reps how and when to control the sale. Drive high quality rep performance.
iii. Selling - Tailor offers to each unique buyer. Help your reps close the largest,
most complex deals.
iv. Resource allocation - Emphasize adherence to the sales process and fix issues
as needed.

c. I agreed with the content. I was rather skeptical about the fact that everything is
based on a study. Only the challenger is effective in difficult situations, while the lone
wolf can handle this also.