Portfolio The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation

Interesting concepts, although much of book is spent on selling the methodology to the reader. Lots of detail on their customers using the techniques and how critical it is for everyone to adopt this "new style" of sales. Heavy sales-pitch nature of the book really comes across on the audio book version. Paper version avoids this and allows you to skim through at a faster pace.

Like many, I've had all of them; TAS, SPIN, NLP, and all of the other variations on the theme of "how to make gazillions in sales"The thing that intrigued me was the suggestion that we should challenge customers for best results ultimately. For sure relationships, etc. are key the premise of this book is that customers will see value in a person/organisation that takes time to understand their business and then challenge the accepted wisdom where appropriate.Whilst still midway though the book, it is an interesting read and I'll reserve judgement til the end - although so far, so good.

In my CRM (Customer Relationship Management) business, I have struggled for a while to develop a sales strategy. This book managed to summarise very succinctly why it is so difficult to sell a complex solution, and provided insights that have had an immediate impact.Well written with very practical explanations, it had me nodding my head from page 1. And I absolutely must disagree from the detractors (some scoring this book as a 1-star?!). I have a small business, with less than 10 employees, and The Challenger Sale is very, very relevant to me.If you are looking for some quick sales steps and guidelines to sell (uncomplicated) widgets, then perhaps this is not the best starting point. If you are a business owner / manager, or a sales professional of ANY description, this is a must-read.I have recommended this book to 5 other people (so far!).

The book is well written and provides clarity on the mechanics of an effective selling strategy. It draws on themes based on other proven selling methodologies, but extends the argument in 2 ways:* It recognises that the internet has empowered customers and that they cannot be 'managed' through a traditional sales cycle.* It also identifies the need to change the organisation to work more effectively with prospects and customers. This requires an internal change initiative which will not be easy, based on my own experience of such programmes. However, the results are worth the effort.

We all love Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Neil Rackman etc etc but this book is a real 201x sales book and the Challenger model make so much sense.More for a business than an individual, if you are looking for new ideas for your business on how to increase sales through real value differentiation this is a great concept and if everyone works together can make a massive difference.Also good for an individual, I am trying to use the tactics in my solution selling process. Must read for ANY sales professional.