You can't go to any data center event without running into the vendors and the sales people. The easy thing for me is they don't bother me as I tell them I don't buy things. On the other hand, the people I hang out with buy lots of things and we get frequent laughs watching the sales people maneuver. We rarely seek out a vendor as almost all are just looking to build relationships with the people they see, saying what they do and exchanging business cards.
One of the funny things we discussed at the Facebook Open Compute Summit is how it would be great if we get could have penalty flags for inappropriate vendor behavior.
So, what would be a vendor that people would want to talk to. Consider this Book and new sales research.
Presenting The Challenger Sale
New book from Corporate Executive Board uses research to confront traditional sales wisdom.
In a world of hesitant, risk-averse, empowered customers, what sales approach consistently wins?
To find out, Corporate Executive Board surveyed over 6,000 sales reps across geographies and industries. The research revealed that sales reps fall into one of five profiles:
- The Hard Worker
- The Problem Solver
- The Challenger
- The Relationship Builder
- The Lone Wolf
And the winner is? The challenger, not the relationship builder.
Each profile can turn in average performance, but only one consistently outperforms – the Challenger.
In The Challenger Sale, Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson show how this critical finding has turned conventional wisdom on its head. While most companies focus on building customer relationships, the best focus on pushing customers’ thinking, introducing new solutions to their problems and illuminating problems customers overlook. That is, they challenge their customers.
The Challenger Sale is a must-read book for any business leader, sales manager or rep. It explains why Challengers win and, more importantly, how companies can build the Challengers they need to drive customer loyalty and higher growth.
Think about. How many data center sales people know how to be a challenger?