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A review by karathagan
The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation by Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Assigned for work in preparation for a Challenger class. This was a relatively easy read in terms of writing level, but boring as hell. The authors put in a lot of PowerPoint slides, which made me laugh. Their premise is that they did a lot of research to find out that there are 5 basic types of sales reps and the most effective one is called the Challenger. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when people & businesses were very close-fisted, Challenger reps were still selling. The book goes on to show how a company can prepare and support its sales reps into a Challenger style of selling, and it shares data as well as anecdotes from the customer side.
It made my skin crawl on multiple occasions, and I have serious doubts about my future at the company if this is the direction of my role. The basic premise is really just that you're not a doormat, you insist on a partnership rather than a service role, you talk back and argue and control every conversation as well as the customer's perception. That's fine. But several of the methods are blatantly manipulative and unethical, the typical scammy & scumy sales people strategies. Rational Drowning is one - overwhelm the client with data & graphs until they are confused and desperate for you to show them the way out. Another way is to create a problem. They say that if you only solve a problem the customer already knows about, you've failed. They literally say "now there's a burning platform - one you've created, and the customer is looking to you for salvation." Ew.
It made my skin crawl on multiple occasions, and I have serious doubts about my future at the company if this is the direction of my role. The basic premise is really just that you're not a doormat, you insist on a partnership rather than a service role, you talk back and argue and control every conversation as well as the customer's perception. That's fine. But several of the methods are blatantly manipulative and unethical, the typical scammy & scumy sales people strategies. Rational Drowning is one - overwhelm the client with data & graphs until they are confused and desperate for you to show them the way out. Another way is to create a problem. They say that if you only solve a problem the customer already knows about, you've failed. They literally say "now there's a burning platform - one you've created, and the customer is looking to you for salvation." Ew.