In a previous post on the five salesperson archetypes and the one that performs best, we explored the five salesperson archetypes and learned that the “challenger” salesperson archetype outperforms all others by a wide margin. The data from Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson’s study, which resulted in their book titled “The Challenger Sale,” suggests that the challenger archetype is defined by three unique capabilities. They called them the three Ts: teach, tailor, and take control.
Three Ts – Teach Prospects
The first of the three Ts (Teach) is to remind the challenger of the value of educating the prospect to build trust.
If you are going to continually bring value to a client, you have to embrace the responsibility of always bringing them new ideas and educating them on ways you can help improve their performance.
Challengers focus the sales conversation by providing insight. Not by quoting the features and benefits of their product or services because, today, any prospect can research your offerings with an Internet search. Don’t waste their time repeating information they likely already know. The challenger salesperson archetype researches the prospect’s business and capabilities and brings a unique and typically provocative perspective to the consumer or their business.
Rather than demonstrating your value by providing the same data as everyone else, prove your value by helping the prospect better understand their own situation. Most companies can clearly see the challenges they are currently facing. However, far fewer have the vision to see the challenges that are beyond their mental worldview. This is the “message” you need to be bringing to the table. This is your opportunity to begin a conversation with your prospect that they probably won’t get from anyone else.
Challengers come to the table with new ideas for their prospects, that can make or save them money. Often, their insight includes opportunities that the prospect hadn’t realized existed. You know you are doing it right when the prospect pauses during the meeting and says, “Huh, I never thought of that” or begins to take notes.
The challenger attempts to answer the following types of questions to find what knowledge the prospect may find most valuable:
- What are the business problems that your business solves better than the competition?
- What are the prospect’s business problems that prevent them from achieving their business objectives?
- How innovative and intriguing will your insights be to the prospect?
- Why hasn’t the prospect figured it out already?
Teach Prospects Summary
- Shares insights relevant to the prospect’s current challenges and industry.
- Prepares a theory regarding the prospect’s needs to be verified during the sales conversation.
- Challenges the prospect to think differently about their business.
- Ensures that they understand the prospect’s unique situation by paraphrasing their thoughts.
- Looks for verbal and physical cues to see if the prospect is surprised or interested in their insights.
- Asks open-ended questions to help uncover valuable information about the prospect’s organization.
Three Ts – Tailor the Sales Message to The Prospect
The second of the three Ts (Tailor) is to remind the challenger of the value of customizing the pitch not only to each prospect but also to each of the stakeholders during the sales meeting.
The challenger salesperson archetype has a finely tuned sense of the individual prospect’s objectives and values, by preparing DISC profiles for each of the stakeholders. They use this knowledge to effectively position their sales pitch to target the different stakeholders within the organization.
Rather than try to sell the prospect a list of solutions, the challenger focuses on identifying the prospect’s real needs, and then pares down and aligns their solution to these identified needs. After learning about needs that the prospect didn’t realize they had, they will find much more value in the challenger’s solutions and be much more compelled to engage with the challenger’s company to fix their newly discovered problems.
We wrote about the three distinctly different stakeholders in a complex sale (money person, purchasing person, and technical person) and what they need in a previous post. Challengers need to have a clear understanding of the driving objectives that come with each stakeholder. Rather than tailor the pitch on the fly, the challenger should anticipate each stakeholder’s needs based upon their research and experience with other similar clients. Then, use that information to prepare a tailored message for each stakeholder.
The challenger attempts to answer the following types of questions to find how best to tailor their sales presentation:
- What is each stakeholder’s DISC profile?
- What are some of the latest trends in the prospect’s industry?
- How would the prospect describe how these trends are affecting their company’s operations?
- What is unique about the prospect’s company’s position in the marketplace?
- Where are they most vulnerable?
- What are the stakeholder’s job responsibilities and key performance indicators?
- How does each stakeholder measure success?
Tailor Prospects Summary
- Establishes how an opportunity directly impacts each stakeholder’s business success.
- Thinks through their strategy for each stakeholder and knows that the conversation will vary based upon the stakeholder and their communication preferences.
- Demonstrates knowledge about the prospect’s industry and the current economic climate.
- Arms the prospect with data or information to back up statements.
- Presents information in an easy-to-understand format.
Three Ts – Take Control of The Sale
The third of the three Ts (Take Control) is to remind the challenger of the value of not letting the prospect drive the sales process.
Challengers, while not aggressive, are certainly more assertive. They size up the prospect early on in the process. Prospects that can’t make a buying decision waste a salesperson’s time. Challengers recognize early if they are talking to the right people and don’t waste time pitching to the wrong audience.
Challengers are also comfortable with a bit of tension and are unlikely to acquiesce to every demand from prospects. When necessary, they have the fortitude to press the prospect a bit. They challenge the prospect, not just in terms of thinking, but also on issues such as price. When faced with a price objection, they are quick to redirect the conversation back to lifetime value and avoid compromising on price.
The challenger attempts to answer the following types of questions to find the best way to take control of the sales presentation:
- What information do you want to protect from the prospect and what are you willing to share?
- What are the next steps to ensure the purchase process moves forward?
- What do you understand about the prospect’s buying process?
Take Control Prospects Summary
- Focuses on the lifetime value of the solution, the pain points it solves, and the value created for the prospect.
- Acknowledges and delays price requests to a more appropriate time in the conversation.
- Anticipates any objections the prospect may have to the proposed solution and prepares a response.
- Understands and articulates the outcome the prospect is hoping to achieve by the end of the conversation.
- Creates a sense of urgency to drive the sales process.
- Clearly explains the next steps and guides the buying process.
How can you incorporate the three Ts of the challenger salesperson: teach, tailor, and take control of your sales process?
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