The Challenger Model for B2B Sales

The Challenger Model for B2B Sales

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The hardest thing in successful B2B sales? It’s not prospecting. It’s not cold calling. It’s not building rapport or running demos. It’s changing how your prospects think.

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Too many sales teams are still stuck in the past, relying on being likable, building rapport, nodding along to every request, and following rigid qualification checklists.

But unfortunately that’s not how real deals get done anymore. Not when you’re selling something complex.

You don’t win by being liked. You win by being respected. And respect comes from challenging how people think, not just agreeing with them.

That’s the core mindset behind The Challenger Sale, a fantastic book and framework on complex B2B sales developed by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson.

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The Five Types of Salespeople. And the One That Consistently Wins

In their research, Dixon and Adamson mapped salespeople into five profiles:

• The Hard Worker: Always grinding, shows up early, follows up relentlessly.
• The Relationship Builder: Focuses on building connections, fostering trust, and cultivating rapport.
• The Lone Wolf: Follows instinct, resists process, often hits quota, but is impossible to manage.
• The Problem Solver: Detail-oriented, always helping, excellent post-sale.
• The Challenger: Pushes thinking, teaches new perspectives, and controls the conversation.

The surprising (and uncomfortable) finding?

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The Relationship Builder, the archetype most companies think they need, performs the worst in complex sales.

The Challenger, on the other hand, dominates when the sale involves multiple stakeholders, higher risk, and a longer decision process.

Sources:

• The Uncommon Customer Experience: Sales, by Hubspot Research
• Its How You Sell, Not What You Sell, CEB Research

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But what Challengers Actually Do

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The Challenger playbook isn’t complicated on paper, but it's tough to execute consistently. This Pipedrive article does a great job summarizing the key behaviors that set Challengers apart.

Essentialy Challengers consistently do 4 things: Teach, Tailor, Take Control and Leverage Constructive Tension.
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1) Teaching

They teach. not in an academic sense, but in a way that makes the buyer pause and think: “Wait! We hadn’t considered that.”

Because you’re not just selling software that automates workflows. You’re showing how their operational model might be leaking margin.

Because you’re not just offering analytics, you’re exposing blind spots that are quietly compounding into systemic risk.

In the end you’re teaching something about them, they didn’t know before. And in other words: you start reframing reality and changing how they think.
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2) Tailoring

Challengers tailor. Every message. Every meeting. Every conversation.

Because B2B sales isn’t one single conversation. It is a multi-threaded chess match.

• Finance wants numbers that de-risk the investment.
• Ops wants a deployment plan that doesn’t create chaos.
• Legal wants contractual clarity.
• The CEO wants to know if this aligns with strategic priorities.

Every single stakeholder has their challenges, concerns (both professional and personal), and language preferences.

A True Challenger adapts the narrative for each audience, connecting the same core insight to each stakeholder’s lens.

They don’t repeat the same pitch. They orchestrate the conversation.
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3) Taking Control

This is where many reps stumble. Because “taking control” sounds aggressive. But it isn’t.

Taking control means owning the sales process, pushing the deal forward with intention.

Every next step. Every call. Every decision. You don’t wait passively. You lead.

You get involved, you push for action, and pushing for some level of commitment when everyone else wants to “circle back”

The best salespeople are never at the mercy of the buyer's indecision. They create momentum.
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4) Leveraging “Constructive Tension”

This is the final, and often most misunderstood, behavior: Challengers are comfortable making prospects uncomfortable.

I know it sounds weird, so I’ll repeat: Challengers are comfortable making prospects uncomfortable.

“But isn’t that the fastest way to lose a deal?”

It does sound counterproductive, but here’s the truth: tension drives action.

And every time you push back, share an opinion, or deliver an assertive insight that catches them off guard… your prospect might not like you more, but they’ll almost certainly respect you more.

And if your buyer feels completely comfortable throughout the sales process, something’s off.

Challengers don’t create tension to be difficult, they do it to create movement.

Because comfort doesn’t drive change. Tension does.

Most reps instinctively avoid tension.

The best ones learn to create it, and manage it with confidence.
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When Challenger Doesn’t Make Sense
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The Challenger Model isn’t magic. And it’s not for every deal.

If you’re selling a $20/month SaaS tool, you probably don’t need to reframe anyone’s worldview.

You can see it above. This model is most effective in high-stakes, multi-threaded, long-cycle B2B sales. And being a Challenger actually performs worse on transactional sales.

However, to win in complex B2B sales, stop trying to be liked and start aiming to be respected.

Teach. Tailor. Take control.

And don’t be afraid to make the buyer uncomfortable.

That’s where real progress happens.

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