The Challenger Sale

THE PURCHASING REVOLUTION
Interestingly, there 
has
been a breakthrough development on the other side
of the selling interaction. Purchasing has gone through a major revolution.
From being a dead-end function in the 1980s where those who couldn’t cut
it in HR went to die, it has emerged as a vibrant strategic force. Armed with
powerful purchasing methodologies such as supplier segmentation
strategies and sophisticated supply chain management models, the rise of
the new purchasing has demanded fundamental shifts in sales thinking.
I’ve been waiting to see how the sales world would react to the changes
in purchasing. If ever there was a time for the next breakthrough, it’s due in
response to the purchasing revolution. But nothing big has appeared on the
sales scene. It’s been a bit like waiting for the inevitable earthquake. You
know it’s going to come someday, but you can’t predict when—you just
have a feeling that it’s due; something is about to happen.
THE FOURTH BREAKTHROUGH?
Which brings me to 
The Challenger Sale
and the work of CEB. It’s too
soon to know whether this is the breakthrough that we’ve been waiting for:
Only time will tell. On the face of it, their research has all the initial signs
that it may be game-changing. First, like the other examples, it flies in the
face of conventional wisdom. But we need more than that. Many crazy
ideas violate established thinking. What makes this different is that, like the
other breakthroughs, once sales leaders understand it, they say, “Of course!
It’s counterintuitive, but it makes sense. I should have known.” The logic
you’ll find in 
The Challenger Sale
leads to the inescapable conclusion that
this is very different thinking and it works.

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I’m not going to spoil their story by telling either the details or the
punch line. That’s for you to read. But I will tell you why I think the
research that they have done is the most important advance in selling for
many years and may indeed justify the rare and coveted label of “sales
breakthrough.”