A survey over 6000 sales representatives from about 1100 enterprises (CEB) clearly demonstrate that there are 5 major types of salespeople, and the Relationship salesperson gets the least orders (5%)

 5 main categories of salepeople:

1. The Little Bee: Makes more calls, more visits and more propositions than any other Salesperson;
2. The Relationship Salesperson: Always has the nicest word, the nicest attention, to maintain the best relationship with everyone;
3. The Lone Wolf: Follow is or her instincts, it has to be his or her way, even to the detriment of others;
4. The Repair Person : Spends a lot of time fixing other people problems, instead of spending his time on sales;
5. The Challenger: Has an educate decision on important matters, understand his  or her industries, knows intimately the needs and problems of his or her prospects and clients.

In sales, the Challenger gets the deal in 54% of the cases,  athe Relationship salesperson, a mere 4%. He closest to the Challenger is the Lone Wolf with 25% of the deals

So why are the Challenger salespeople so successful? Well, it seems that they went from the art of selling to the science of selling. They offer a unique experience to the prospect or client during the sales campaign.

• They offer unique industry perspective to the prospect or client;

• They always come up with alternative solutions to problems;
• They are not shy to share advice and suggestions;
• They guide their prospects and clients to avoid potential problems;

• They inform the client on new methods, new approaches;
• They ensure support from all concerned parties;
• AND they maintain excellent and meaningful relationships.

Instead of asking the prospect to describe their problems, the Challenger starts by talking about innovative approaches to solve them, with creative ways of staying on top of the competition.

His sales pitch is not one size fits all, to the contrary, his approach is personalized to everyone involved in the selection process.

In good or difficult times, the result is fascinating, The Challenger sales rep consistently earns roughly 50% of the sales.

 Good luck and good selling!