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What it argues
The Challenger Sale is Dixon and Adamson's research-backed challenge to the most deeply held assumption in B2B sales: that the best salespeople are Relationship Builders who develop trust through accommodation and responsiveness. Their study of six thousand sales reps across multiple industries found the opposite — in complex B2B sales, Relationship Builders are the lowest-performing profile, and Challengers — salespeople who teach, tailor, and take control of the sales conversation — are the highest.
The research identified five distinct sales rep profiles: the Relationship Builder, the Hard Worker, the Lone Wolf, the Reactive Problem Solver, and the Challenger. In average economic conditions, these profiles perform similarly. In difficult selling environments — complex solutions, long sales cycles, multiple stakeholders — Challengers dramatically outperform all others, accounting for nearly 40 percent of high performers. Relationship Builders, by contrast, are significantly underrepresented among top performers and overrepresented among low ones.
What it gets right
- 1.
The best B2B salespeople in complex selling environments are Challengers — not Relationship Builders. Relationship Builders are actually the lowest-performing profile in difficult sales conditions.
- 2.
The five sales rep profiles: Relationship Builder, Hard Worker, Lone Wolf, Reactive Problem Solver, and Challenger. Challengers are 40 percent of high performers in complex B2B sales.
- 3.
Challengers teach: they bring customers a new perspective on their own business that creates value, challenges assumptions, and builds credibility. The insight leads to the solution.
What it covers
Who wrote it
Matthew Dixon is a managing director at Korn Ferry and a founding partner of DCM Insights. Brent Adamson is a distinguished vice president and principal analyst at Gartner. Both worked at the Corporate Executive Board when they conducted the research that underpins The Challenger Sale. They followed it with The Challenger Customer, which extends the model to the multiple stakeholders involved in complex B2B purchase decisions. Dixon has also co-authored The Effortless Experience, focused on customer service.
