The Challenger Sale is a selling methodology in which reps teach buyers a new insight about their business, tailor it to each stakeholder and take control of the sale. It comes from research by Matt Dixon and Brent Adamson at CEB, now part of Gartner.
The research behind it
The research sorted sellers into five profiles: Challenger, Relationship Builder, Hard Worker, Lone Wolf and Problem Solver. Participating companies named the top 20% of their sales force by performance against goal. The authors report that nearly 40% of those high performers were Challengers, and that Relationship Builders produced the fewest, at 7%.
Teach, tailor and take control on a real team
In practice a team builds commercial insights, short arguments that reframe a problem the buyer has underrated, and reps lead with them. Reps then tailor the message to what each stakeholder cares about, and take control by discussing money and pressing for commitments. Managers coach it by asking what the rep taught the buyer that changed how the buyer sees the problem. Challenger shapes the conversation, so teams often pair it with a qualification framework such as MEDDPICC; the sales methodology guide covers the pairing.
A rep can test an insight before the meeting by writing it in three lines: "Most [operations directors] put [mis-picks] down to [turnover]. What we see in [similar warehouses] is [slotting rules nobody has revisited]. Checking that costs you [one export of pick data]." If the second line would not surprise the buyer, it is not an insight yet.
A first meeting that reframes the problem
This example is illustrative. A rep selling warehouse software opens a first meeting with a finding from similar warehouses: mis-picks often trace back to slotting rules set years ago and never revisited. The operations director had blamed staff turnover. The insight reframes the problem, the director asks for the analysis on their own data, and the rep tailors the follow-up for the finance lead around the cost of returns. The rep then asks for a date to review the numbers with both.
The same opener written badly shows the difference. "We help warehouses cut picking errors" teaches the director nothing, so the meeting turns into a product tour. A manager reviewing the call asks one thing: what does the buyer now believe that they did not believe before the meeting? A weak answer is "They liked the deck." A strong one sounds like this: "The director used to blame turnover. Now they want the slotting rules checked against their own pick data, and finance is joining the review." Only the second shows that the rep taught the buyer something.
Related terms
- What is SPIN Selling?
- How to choose a sales methodology
- How to roll out a sales methodology on live deals
FAQ
What are the three parts of the Challenger Sale?
Challengers teach, tailor and take control. They teach buyers an insight about their business, tailor the message to each stakeholder, and take control by discussing money and pressing for commitments, while building constructive tension throughout.
Who wrote The Challenger Sale?
Matt Dixon and Brent Adamson wrote The Challenger Sale, based on research they began at CEB, now part of Gartner. Challenger Inc. trains teams in the method today, on the view that the behaviors can be learned.
Is Challenger better than MEDDPICC?
They do different jobs. Challenger is a selling methodology that shapes the conversation. MEDDPICC is a qualification framework that checks what must be true about a deal. Many teams run both together.