Challenger Sales Model

DOES THE CHALLENGER SELLING MODEL WORK?

• Challengers are made not just born
• It’s the combination of skills that matters
• Challenging is about organizational capability, not just rep skills
• Building the challenger sales force is a journey not and overnight trip

You should have learned ...

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• A sustainable and proven model that will increase your sales
• The steps and skills to encourage a Challenger environment in your organization

Applications of the

Challenger Model

outside of sales and marketing

Attributes of Challenger

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References

A rep was struggling to gain traction with a prospective customer. The customer had just built a new headquarters facility and one of their competitors had been selected to furnish the building. The company seemed to have been cut out of the business, but the rep - a brand-new hire - still felt there was an opportunity to gain a foothold in the new building before the company took delivery from their competitor. After some persistence, she landed a meeting with the company’s head of real estate and facilities. One of the key priorities for this company was to create collaborative spaces where employees could more effectively interact with one another.

In looking at the architect’s designs, she was able to tell him, “Well, we have robust data that indicates that collaboration doesn’t happen in groups of eights. It happens in twos and threes, and when you get to seven it stops being productive. You may be building the wrong size conference rooms.”

“That’s great to know,” responded the customer, “but the conference rooms have already been built. What can we do about that now?”

• Decide what information your group would need.
• What support structure your sales reps would require.
• Come up with a creative, cost effective solution for your reps that will impress a potential customer.

• Sales reps talk to more individuals at a company than ever before

• To tailor the message, focus on customer industry, company, stakeholder role, individual person

Worksheet and Discussion

We have a handout for you to look at. Take some time to consider which of these five types of sale representatives you would most likely be. Complete the short worksheet to see if you are right. Share your insights with a partner.

Five types of Sales People

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The Challenger Sales Model

Denise Jackson, Jade Johnson, Janay Johnson and Stacey Jones

Gonzaga University

COML 511

Prof. Desautel Johnston

February 24, 2013

Commercial Teaching: 4 Key Rules

1. Lead to your unique strengths.

2. Challenge customers’ assumptions.

3. Catalyze action.

4. Scale across customers.

Building a Conversation

The Warmer

The Reframe

Rational Drowning

Emotional Impact

New Way

Your Solution

Practice

Pair up with someone you haven't met before. Find a mundane item in front of you. Think about the item and its worth to your "client". Think about what you have learned about Challengers. Try to create a challenger sale with your mundane item. Discuss what did and didn't work. What do you need?

History of Challenger Sales Philosophy

• The Need for the Challenger Sale
• Journey to the Challenger Sale

Tailor

• Sales messaging tends to focus on products, not customer challenges

• Learn a sustainable and proven model that will increase sales

• Learn the steps and skills to encourage a Challenger environment

Objectives

You will ....

Take Control

Have clarity of direction.

&

Create value in the sales process.

Demonstrate value, and maintain momentum across the sales process.

Create a sense of urgency by teaching customers about a problem they didn’t previously realize they had.

Background

Discussion

Take some time to think about what skills do you need to become a Challenger? Where do you fall? What obstacles do you face? Take a few minutes and share your insights with three people seated next to you.

Organizational Transition

• Be sure to encourage your mid-managers to leverage the Challenger Coaching Guide for its insight and expertise
• Acknowledge, respect and share the checklist

•They’ll learn to build sales challenges on your team

•Understand their role as that of a coach

•Identify Challenger capabilities on their team

•Plan individual and group exercises and

•Prepare to bring a challenger approach to sales calls

The Challenger Sale

Compete and win in a customer-empowered world

Why Challenger?

Three questions sales leaders frequently ask prompted the research leading to Challenger:

1. What sets the best sales reps apart in a complex sales environment?
2. How do you replicate winning sales behaviors?
3. How do you create a differentiated sales experience? 

We studied thousands of customers and sales professionals around the world, spanning every major industry, geography and go-to-market model, and discovered that classic relationship building is a losing approach in today’s complex business-to-business sales.

Instead, challenging customer thinking and teaching customers new insights are key.  Download Gartner's latest research to learn how Challenger has evolved.

The sales environment is complex

The traditional approach to selling doesn’t work today. Deals are increasingly complex, and customers have access to more information earlier in the sale. As a result, customers are buying in new ways, delaying initial contact with suppliers and requiring greater consensus to move forward.

Today’s customers don’t need sales reps in the same way as in the past — customers now wait until they are 57% through the purchase process before contacting a rep. Buyers do independent research and set their own purchase criteria, all before the first seller interaction.

For the first time, our customers know more about us than we know about them.

Vice President, Sales, Healthcare Industry

It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell

Due to this more complicated sales environment, it’s no longer just about what you sell, but rather how you sell.

Our research revealed that 53% of customer loyalty is driven by the sales experience — more so than by the brand, product, service and price combined. A customer's interaction with a rep largely dictates this experience. 

Sellers fall into one of five profiles

Our research revealed that every sales professional in the world falls into one of five distinct profiles:

Hard Worker: Goes the extra mile, doesn’t give up easily, is self-motivated, likes feedback and development 

Challenger: Has different view of the world, understands the customer’s business, loves to debate, pushes the customer 

Relationship Builder: Builds strong customer advocates, is generous with time to help others, gets along with everyone 

Lone Wolf: Follows own instincts, is self-assured, is independent 

Problem Solver: Responds reliably, ensures all problems are solved, is detail-oriented

Challenger reps are most likely to win

Challenger reps outperform all other profiles. In fact, more than 50% of all star performers in complex sales environments are Challengers.

Challenger rep behaviors build constructive tension

Challengers teach, offering a unique perspective and maintaining two-way communication.

They tailor their approach according to customer value drivers and economic drivers.

And they take control of the money discussion with the customer.

Challengers lead with insight

The Challenger selling approach relies on delivering insight about an unknown problem or opportunity in the customer’s business that the supplier is uniquely positioned to solve.

Challengers capture the customer’s current belief or assumption, expose the flaws or misinformation in that thinking and present a better course of action. The better course of action helps customers learn something new about their business, usually how to save money, make money or mitigate risk.

Keys to a successful Challenger rollout

Companies who achieve the largest commercial impact from Challenger focus on building sustainable capabilities by taking a methodical approach to change management and sustaining momentum over time.

Generate buy-in

Prepare the organization

Align sales and marketing

Equip managers to coach and lead change

Build commercial insights

Design and deliver training

Embed into account planning, opportunity pursuit & CRM

Reinforce the change

Stay ahead of changing customer dynamics