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What are your ‘star’ sales people doing that the others are NOT?

Orbit Book Recommendation:  The Challenger Sale By Matthew Dixon & Brent Adamson

Have you ever sat back and thought about all the different individuals in your sales team and thought:  “Hmmm yes… I’ve got a few ‘star’ performers that I feel really proud of, and who are consistently bringing in a large proportion of the monthly revenues. But what about the rest?”  

• are they all able to have a credible conversation at a senior level?
• are they all  asking their prospects the right questions?
• are they all taking the trouble to find out what the prospect really wants?
• do they all have a grasp of the prospect’s unique value drivers?
• do they revert too quickly to detailed technical benefits rather than understanding the business challenges?
• are they able to challenge and suggest new ways of thinking, rather than just saying yes to the customer’s first request?
• are they brave enough to encourage the customer to act and gain commitment?
• are they selling the full range of your propositions, or sticking to what they know best?
• are they engaging wider and growing accounts, or just sticking with the people they already know?
• do your clients see them as ‘just another sales person’ or as a real trusted advisor?
• if you were a fly on the wall in a client meeting with them would you be proud of what you heard?

Sales people have an opportunity to look at a business situation from a unique perspective with a fresh pair of eyes, and this can be absolutely invaluable to their prospects. If the sales person can understand the prospect’s challenges without any of the client organisation’s politics, baggage or constraints – they can communicate the value of your offering, and if they have the skills to engage at the right level – they can soon become a ‘trusted advisor’. This is exactly where you as a business leader need your sales people to be.

Without arguing with prospects, being overly controversial or disrespectful sales people who reach ‘trusted advisor’ status challenge their prospects with new ways of thinking. They present them with well-thought out insight that the prospect may not have ever fully considered before.  Trusted advisors use strong two-way communication and facilitate interactive dialogue.

We have a powerful methodology that is designed to help sales people change their behaviour in this way. One of our favourite books on this subject is “The Challenger Sale” by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson. This international bestseller is based on research with thousands of sales people, and it groups sales people into five different types:  

• the relationship builder
• the hard worker
• the reactive problem solver
• the lone wolf
• the challenger

The Challenger Sale theory is based on the notion that your ‘stars’ (i.e. your top 20% performing sales people) are likely to be ‘challengers’ and it goes on to explore why. For many sales people this is a surprise. They may pride themselves on their ability to build relationships. Relationship building will always be important – it opens the conversation and builds trust. But in today’s competitive world the ability to build relationships isn’t enough – a sales person needs to add real business value. That’s why we call the challenger sale approach ‘Relationship Builder Plus’.

ORBIT BOOK RECOMMENDATION:  The Challenger Sale By Matthew Dixon & Brent Adamson –  a great read, based on solid research, that informs some of Orbit’s sales productivity modules.

Whilst the best sales people are able to professionally challenge their clients instinctively, the good news is those sales people who do not have a natural propensity as a ‘challenger’ can be taught.  If the sales person is hard-working, and has good relationship building skills – the ‘challenger’ aspect of their role is something that can be learned, honed and practised.

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For a great example of The Challenger Sale theory working in practice – Orbit’s Egton Case Study is an intersting read.

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