Summary of The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation

assertive and would push back if he sees it necessary in order to take control of the sale.

insights on how they can make money and save money. They adapt their sales message to whatever the customer needs at the moment.

Challengers utilize their deep understanding of the business of their customers. They aim to challenge their thinking and take control the sales conversation. They are not afraid to express their views on controversies and they are assertive with whoever they communicate with. Studies show that the top performing sales personnel are most commonly challengers.

Lone Wolf. He has high self-confidence. He is comfortable with breaking rules as long as he does things his way. Lone Wolves have an innate ability to follow their own instincts. They are challenging and would appear to be hard to manage. Statistically, they are the least in number among other seller profiles. Lone wolves are rare and studies show that they are among top performing sales personnel.

Hard Worker. He us very punctual and is always mindful of the time he arrives for a meeting. He stays late and goes beyond what is required of him. He will make a lot of calls in one hour and will conduct a lot more meetings and client visits compared to anyone else on the team.

Reactive Problem Solvers. In the customer’s perspective, he is particular with details and is highly reliable. The focus of the Reactive Problem Solver is one the follow-up after-sales. He ensures that the services issues from implementation until its execution are quickly and thoroughly addressed.

Relationship Builder. This type of seller focuses on his or her strong relationships, whether personal or professional. He or she is an advocate of the customer organization. This type of seller gives his time generously and would strive in order to meet the needs of his customers. He works hard to resolve any tension that can come up in the relationship.

The sales experience is the determining factor of customer loyalty, not price nor quality or brand, like most people assume.