I recently had the privilege of visiting with the newest celebrity of the large sales force consultants, Matt Dixon.
I of course have written before about his brilliant book, “The Challenger Sale.” Since then Mr. Dixon has been a rising star as he attempts to reshape the sales departments at some of America’s largest concerns. In fact, he only works directly with companies whose sales exceed one billion dollars. What was he doing talking to me?
Just being a nice guy and I appreciate it.
Dixon said the reason his program is resonating so much is because with the vast presence of research in everybody’s hands and easily accessibility via the internet, sales people are being left out of the purchasing cycle. This is disturbing to many of the country’s largest concerns.
Recently Forbes and CNBC have featured articles about Dixon and his co author Brent Adamson. In his call with me, he explained that sales organizations used to “focus on building this Superman seller who succeeded via relationships.” That strategy is flawed.
What he emphasized is the importance of the Challenger sales type, which he also assured me can be taught to nearly all sellers.
He outlined the Challenger’s M.O.- Challengers are defined by the ability to do three things: teach by bringing new insights into the conversation with the customer, tailor the message to fit the client’s needs, and take control of the sales conversation.
More to come from this fascinating author.