The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation

Matthew Dixon is the co-author of The Challenger Sale, which draws from research insights gleaned during his time at American advisory firm Corporate Executive Board. He began working as a research consultant for the company’s information research program, the CIO Executive Board, in 1999. Later, he led the company’s customer contact leadership council as a practice manager before entering an executive director role for the sales and service practice. It was in the latter role that he began sharing the insights from the company’s 2009 global study on high-performing sales representatives, ultimately resulting in the publication of his first book, The Challenger Sale.

Following this publication, Dixon produced two other books for the company: 2013’s The Effortless Experience with Nick Toman and Rick DeLisi, as well as 2015’s The Challenger Customer with Brent Adamson, Nick Toman, and Patrick Spenner. By the time Gartner acquired the Corporate Executive Board, Dixon led the financial services and customer contact practices arm of the company, as well as new product development. He currently works as a founding partner at DCM Insights, a Washington, DC-based consultancy that leverages research on customer behavior to support business and organizational growth.