The Challenger Sale

perfectly captures what Challengers ultimately must do: teach customers something new and valuable about their business—which is what they want—in a way that reliably leads to commercial wins for us—which of course is what we want.

This is exactly where we see Relationship Builders struggle all the time.

• Rep offers unique and valuable perspectives on the market.

As we work through these rules, you’ll find that they are as much about building an organizational capability as they are about developing an individual skill, a key lesson of the Challenger selling model we discussed in the previous chapter.

It’s a powerful conclusion that runs contrary to years of thought and training in B2B sales.

No one wants to work with a supplier that makes any purchase more complicated than it has to be—especially a solutions purchase.

Of the fifty or so attributes we tested in our loyalty survey, seventeen of them fell into the sales experience category, each reflecting at least a marginally positive impact on customer loyalty.

A ROAD MAP FOR THE REST OF THIS BOOK

One of the key lessons from our work is that it’s the combination of the Challenger attributes—the ability to teach, tailor, take control, and do it all while leveraging constructive tension—that sets Challengers apart.

If you step back and look at the five profiles, ask yourself: Which would you prefer to have on your team?