Beyond the Challenger Sale Part 2: Focus on Value & Make your Product Easy to Buy (with Brent Adamson, Author ”The Challenger Sale” & ”The Challenger Customer”)
One Knight in Product2 Okt 2022

Beyond the Challenger Sale Part 2: Focus on Value & Make your Product Easy to Buy (with Brent Adamson, Author ”The Challenger Sale” & ”The Challenger Customer”)

Brent Adamson is a former Harvard professor turned Wall Street Journal award-winning author and sales researcher. He co-authored "The Challenger Sale" and "The Challenger Customer" with my former guest Matt Dixon, and these days is challenging us to concentrate on making products easy to buy, not easy to sell.

Here are some of the highlights of our discussion:

1. The Challenger Sale shook up the world of sales, but The Challenger Customer was the inevitable follow up

They did further research after the first book and identified a new protagonist, the "Mobilizer", who can be your best advocate within the company (but not a champion!)

2. It takes 5.4 people within an organisation to make a purchase decision & the number's rising

It's getting more & more complicated selling into organisations, and the buying journey has become like spaghetti. Finding the "economic buyer" is no longer enough to land the sale.

3. There's a difference between emerging demand and established demand

If you're going after established demand and known solutions you're going to get dragged into a price-based bake-off. Challengers find unknown pains, challenge the status quo & break the frame

4. Some customers don't even know how to buy any solution, let alone your solution

Buyer journeys are complex & some customers can be surprised when things get held up. But you're not, you've seen it all before! Give them the info they need to help close the sale from their side.

5. It's not good enough to just be insightful anymore, The smartness arms race ended in a draw

Being really insightful is table stakes. You need to be able to help your customers frame their decision and give them confidence in the decisions they're making for their company.

.. And much more!

Check out Matt's episode

I interviewed Brent's co-author and co-conspirator Matt Dixon about his work and how customer indecision is a critical problem for B2B sales. Check out the episode here.

Buy "The Challenger Sale"

"The need to understand what top-performing reps are doing that their average performing colleagues are not drove Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, and their colleagues at Corporate Executive Board to investigate the skills, behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes that matter most for high performance. And what they discovered may be the biggest shock to conventional sales wisdom in decades."

Check it out on Amazon.

Buy "The Challenger Customer"

"In The Challenger Sale, Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson overturned decades of conventional wisdom with a bold new approach to sales. Now they reveal something even more surprising: the highest-performing sales teams don't focus on friendly, attentive customers. Instead, they target challenger customers. Challenger customers are sceptical, less interested in meeting and ultimately indifferent as to who wins the deal. But they also have the credibility, persuasive skill and will to challenge the status quo that will get a deal to the finish line far more often than customers who are easier to connect with."

Check it out on Amazon.

Contact Brent

You can hit Brent up on LinkedIn.

Episoder(269)

CPO Stories: Georgie Smallwood - Moonpig

CPO Stories: Georgie Smallwood - Moonpig

On this episode, I speak to Georgie Smallwood. Georgie is Chief Product, Technology & Data Officer at Moonpig - the UK's best-known online gifting and greeting card platform. Georgie has built a globa...

22 Okt 202553min

Nesrine Changuel - We Should All Prioritise Product Delight! (with Nesrine Changuel, Product Coach & Author of “Product Delight“)

Nesrine Changuel - We Should All Prioritise Product Delight! (with Nesrine Changuel, Product Coach & Author of “Product Delight“)

On this episode, I speak to my friend Nesrine Changuel, product coach and author of the new book "Product Delight". Nesrine started her career at Bell Labs as a research engineer before moving into pr...

23 Sep 20251h 6min

CPO Stories: Katya Denike - Holland & Barrett

CPO Stories: Katya Denike - Holland & Barrett

In this episode, I speak with Katya Denike, Chief Product Officer at Holland & Barrett, the 150-year-old health and wellness retailer that has become a household name on the UK high street. Having pre...

8 Sep 202548min

CPO Stories: Jamie Mercer - TrustedHousesitters

CPO Stories: Jamie Mercer - TrustedHousesitters

In this episode, I speak with Jamie Mercer, Chief Product Officer at Trusted Housesitters, the global pet care and travel marketplace disrupting two industries at once. Jamie has previously held senio...

17 Aug 202548min

CPO Stories: Shiri Mosenzon Erez - commercetools

CPO Stories: Shiri Mosenzon Erez - commercetools

In this episode, I speak with Shiri Mosenzon Erez, Chief Product Officer at commercetools, a global leader in enterprise composable commerce that supports thousands of retailers in hundreds of countri...

11 Aug 202546min

CPO Stories: Hannah Kershaw - Domestic and General

CPO Stories: Hannah Kershaw - Domestic and General

In this episode, I speak with Hannah Kershaw, Chief Product Officer at Domestic and General, a company that you might not have heard of but absolutely need in your corner the next time your dishwasher...

4 Aug 202544min

CPO Stories: Simon Cross - Native Instruments

CPO Stories: Simon Cross - Native Instruments

In this episode, I speak with Simon Cross, Chief Product Officer - now Chief Product & Technology Officer (congrats, Simon!) - at Native Instruments, a company at the heart of global music production....

20 Jul 202555min

Benji Portwin's Hot Take - ADHD Can Be A Product Management Superpower (with Benji Portwin, Founder @ People Building Products)

Benji Portwin's Hot Take - ADHD Can Be A Product Management Superpower (with Benji Portwin, Founder @ People Building Products)

Benji Portwin has a CV stuffed with recognisable names, from Spotify to Monzo bank, alongside product leadership roles at accuRx and New Look. These days, he's running an agency dedicated to helping o...

11 Jul 202525min

Populært innen Business og økonomi

stopp-verden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
e24-podden
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene
tid-er-penger-en-podcast-med-peter-warren
finansredaksjonen
pengepodden-2
utbytte
liberal-halvtime
rss-markedspuls-2
pengesnakk
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
rss-pa-konto
morgenkaffen-med-finansavisen
lederpodden
rss-politisk-preik
stormkast-med-valebrokk-stordalen
rss-investering-gjort-enkelt