Matthew Dixon

A proven approach used by today's best professional service partners to win, retain, and grow client relationships. There is a growing problem in the professional services industry that is often acknowledged but rarely discussed: clients—even long-standing ones for whom firms have consistently delivered unquestioned value—are much less loyal to those firms and partners than they once were. This dramatic shift in client behavior has rendered traditional approaches to business development not only ineffective but counterproductive. But top performers have figured out a radical new approach that is redefining what it means to be a rainmaker in today's professional services market. Drawing on a comprehensive, quantitative study of nearly three thousand partners—spanning law, accounting, consulting, investment banking, executive search, and public relations—The Activator Advantage identifies five types of partners found across the professional services landscape and shows how only one of them—the Activator—drives consistent growth. Activators deeply embed business development habits into their daily workflow, aggressively leverage their internal and external networks, and proactively deliver both business and personal value to clients—all of which not only helps shield them from the vagaries of modern client buying behavior but also lays the groundwork for more loyal, longer-lasting relationships. Packed with eye-opening data, counterintuitive insights, and robust case examples, The Activator Advantage provides the road map for any professional services partner or firm leader looking to chart a path to greater client engagement, internal collaboration, and firm profitability in the new era of fading client loyalty.

From the bestselling co-author of The Challenger Sale, a paradigm-shattering approach to overcoming customer indecision and closing more sales In sales, the worst thing you can hear from a customer isn't "no." It's "I need to think about it." When this happens, deeply entrenched business advice says to double down on your efforts to sell a buyer on all the ways they might win by choosing you and your business. But this approach backfires dramatically. Why? Because it completely gets wrong the primary driver behind purchasing decision-making: once purchase intent is established, customers no longer care about succeeding. What they really care about is not failing. For years, sales expert Matthew Dixon has been busting longstanding business myths. Now in The JOLT Effect, he and co-author Ted McKenna turn their trademark analysis and latest research to the vital and growing problem of customer indecision--and offer a shocking new approach that turns conventional wisdom on its head. Drawing on a brand-new, first-of-its-kind study of more than two and a half million sales conversations from across industry, they reveal the surprising truth that high-performing sales reps grasp and their average-performing peers don't: only by addressing the customer's fear of failure can you get indecisive buyers to go from verbally committing to actually pulling the trigger. Packed with robust data, counterintuitive insights, and practical guidance, The JOLT Effect is the playbook for any salesperson or sales leader who wants to close the gap between customer intent and action--and close more sales.

On 22 July 1916 Lieutenant Arthur Stevens of the 9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, sat down to write a letter to the chaplain of his old school, Bloxham School in Oxfordshire. Informing him of the death of Gordon Peecock, an officer in the same battalion as well as a contemporary at Bloxham, he had a favor to ask of the Rev. Hugh Willimott: 'As his closest friend out here, I would like to ask you to remember him at the altar.' Peecock was killed by machine gun fire coming from Prussian positions to the North of Ovillers on 7 July, a week into the Battle of the Somme. By the time the school received Stevens' letter the summer holidays had begun, and so it was not until the first Saturday of term in September that Gordon Peecock's name was remembered in the school chapel, and by this time Arthur Stevens too was dead, killed in early August at Pozi res, a couple of miles away from where Gordon was killed. Arthur Stevens was 19 years of age.Taking one small boarding school in rural Oxfordshire, this book tells the story of the 80 Bloxhamists who died in the Great War, tracing their lives from school to the grave, but it also examines the experiences of those who served and survived and looks at the way in which the lives of those at home were affected by the war. The authors take the story up to the present day to study the way in which the remembrance of those who fell has changed over the years, and what these changes tell us about how we view the war.The two authors are uniquely well qualified to tackle this subject, having dedicated many years to researching the lives of the men whose stories form the centerpiece of this book. This research project, often a long and difficult process, is itself part of the story of how the 80 men continue to be commemorated at their old school.

Skylar Speer has the perfect plan, to get away with the perfect murder. With the help of her best friend, she brings this plan to life but the consequences of her decision are catastrophic.

From the authors of the internationally-bestselling business classic The Challenger Sale'A handbook of practices that will help you get into your customers' heads, deliver good value, and win the sale' Daniel H. Pink, author of To Sell is Human and Drive---------------------------------------------------------------In The Challenger Sale, Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson overturned decades of conventional wisdom with a bold new approach to sales. Now they reveal something even more surprising: the highest-performing sales teams don't focus on friendly, attentive customers. Instead, they target challenger customers.Challenger customers are sceptical, less interested in meeting and ultimately indifferent as to who wins the deal. But they also have the credibility, persuasive skill and will to challenge the status quo that will get a deal to the finish line far more often than customers who are easier to connect with.Based on new research from thousands of B2B marketers, sellers and buyers around the world, The Challenger Customer shows you how to find these 'mobilizers' and equip them with the tools to effectively challenge their own organizations on your behalf. This ground-breaking book is the blueprint you need to make the sale again and again.The Challenger Sale, Amazon bestseller, Sales & Selling, January 2024

Four years ago, the bestselling authors of The Challenger Sale overturned decades of conventional wisdom with a bold new approach to sales. Now their latest research reveals something even more surprising: Being a Challenger seller isn't enough. Your success or failure also depends on who you challenge. Picture your ideal customer: friendly, eager to meet, ready to coach you through the sale and champion your products and services across the organization. It turns out that's the last person you need. Most marketing and sales teams go after low-hanging fruit: buyers who are eager and have clearly articulated needs. That's simply human nature; it's much easier to build a relationship with someone who always makes time for you, engages with your content, and listens attentively. But according to brand-new CEB research--based on data from thousands of B2B marketers, sellers, and buyers around the world--the highest-performing teams focus their time on potential customers who are far more skeptical, far less interested in meeting, and ultimately agnostic as to who wins the deal. How could this be? The authors of The Challenger Customer reveal that high-performing B2B teams grasp something that their average-performing peers don't: Now that big, complex deals increasingly require consensus among a wide range of players across the organization, the limiting factor is rarely the salesperson's inability to get an individual stakeholder to agree to a solution. More often it's that the stakeholders inside the company can't even agree with one another about what the problem is. It turns out only a very specific type of customer stakeholder has the credibility, persuasive skill, and will to effectively challenge his or her colleagues to pursue anything more ambitious than the status quo. These customers get deals to the finish line far more often than friendlier stakeholders who seem so receptive at first. In other words, Challenger sellers do best when they target Challenger customers. The Challenger Customer unveils research-based tools that will help you distinguish the "Talkers" from the "Mobilizers" in any organization. It also provides a blueprint for finding them, engaging them with disruptive insight, and equipping them to effectively challenge their own organization.

A new breakthrough idea about how to win customer loyalty from Matthew Dixon, the bestselling author of The Challenger SaleEveryone knows that the best way to create customer loyalty is with service so good, so over the top, that it surprises and delights. But what if everyone is wrong?In their acclaimed bestseller The Challenger Sale, Matthew Dixon and his colleagues at CEB busted longstanding myths about sales. Now they've turned to a new vital business subject - customer loyalty - with a book that turns conventional wisdom on its head.Companies devote untold time and resources trying to dazzle customers. Yet CEB's careful research proves that is wildly overrated: loyalty has a lot more to do with how well companies deliver on their basic promises than on how dazzling the service experience might be. Forget bells and whistles and just solve your customer's problems. The Effortless Experience lays out the four pillars of a low-effort customer experience, with robust data, in­sights and profiles. Here are tools and templates you can start applying right away to improve service, reduce costs, and ultimately generate the elusive loyalty that the 'dazzle factor' fails to deliver.The rewards are there for the taking, and the pathway to achieving them is now clearly marked.'A business detective story, in which cherished truths are systematically investigated-and frequently debunked' -Dan Heath, coauthor of Decisive, Switch, and Made to StickMatt Dixon is Executive Director of the Sales & Service Practice at CEB. He is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and his previous book, The Challenger Sale, was a Wall Street Journal bestseller Nick Toman is Senior Director of Research for CEB's Sales & Services Practice and is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review.Rick DeLisi is Senior Director of Advisory Services for CEB's Sales & Service Practice and a noted public speaker and facilitator.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER: OVER HALF A MILLION COPIES SOLDMatthew Dixon and Brent Adamson share the secret to sales success: don't just build relationships with customers. Challenge them!What's the secret to sales success?If you're like most business leaders, you'd say it's fundamentally about relationships - and you'd be wrong. Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, and their colleagues at CEB have studied the performance of thousands of sales reps worldwide.Their conclusion? The best salespeople don't just build relationships with customers. They challenge them.Any sales rep, once equipped with the tools in this book, can drive higher levels of customer loyalty and, ultimately, greater growth. And this book will help them get there.______________'If you wish to become a better sales person, buy and read this book and when you have finished buy The Challenger Customer and read that!' Amazon Reader Review'Read it, think about it, implement it. You, and your organization, will be glad you did' Professor Neil Rackham, author of SPIN Selling

One-liner: When is it more cost efficient to replace an aircraft rather than continue to maintain it? 450-character abstract: The report presents a model of the repair-replace decision for aging aircraft and data describing the C-5A cargo aircraft. The authors examine the decision whether to modify or retire the C-5A fleet. They also extend the modeling approach to evaluate prospective investment in additional depot-level capacity. The study's preliminary conclusion is that the C-5A's planned reliability enhancement and re-engining program modification is worthwhile if it occurs soon.