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UK-based. Working with sales teams across Europe.

Challenger Sales Training

Teach buyers something new, tailor your message and take control of the sale with a confident, insight-led approach.

You own the number, but not every part of the buying decision. Research competes with meetings, discovery can stay on the surface, and a promising demo can still end in silence. We understand the pressure to create pipeline, earn trust and keep a complex opportunity moving without pushing the buyer. The AE Lab gives you space to sharpen the conversations and judgement behind the result.

Two sellers role-playing a customer conversation while a colleague observes
The Sales House
Explore. Practise. Perform.

Duration

1 day · 9:30am–5pm

Group size

8–10 delegates

Format

Online or face to face

Price — Face to face

From £1,950

+ VAT

Price — Online

From £1,550

+ VAT

where understanding becomes useful —

Why this course matters

Insight creates value when it helps a buyer reconsider something important about their business.

What you’ll explore in the Lab

When rapport alone cannot move a deal forward, sellers need to challenge buyers’ thinking and give them a compelling reason to act. This course introduces the Challenger profile and explores how teaching, tailoring and taking control can help account executives and senior sellers move beyond relationship-led conversations.

Delegates learn to build commercial insight, shape a persuasive teaching pitch and adapt their message to different stakeholders, while handling money and next steps constructively. Designed for teams moving towards insight-led selling or losing deals to no decision, it develops practical skills to lead more purposeful buyer conversations and maintain momentum through the sale.

a real challenge. a purposeful response.

The challenges this addresses

  • Relationship strength without a compelling business reason to act
  • Opportunities lost to the status quo or no decision
  • Commercial insights delivered without adapting to different stakeholder priorities
  • Money and next-step discussions avoided to preserve comfortable buyer relationships

What this can change at work

Give buyers something useful to reconsider. Teaching, tailoring and constructive control help AEs turn commercial insight into a conversation about why change deserves attention. Sellers practise a teaching pitch that connects with different stakeholders, while managers can coach the link between insight, money and next steps. For teams facing no decision, that offers a more purposeful way to discuss the status quo without leaning on relationship strength alone.

Insight before product detail

Sellers open teaching conversations with a commercial insight that helps the buyer reconsider a relevant issue before discussing the proposed solution.

Teaching tailored to stakeholders

AEs adapt the emphasis of their teaching pitch to different stakeholders, connecting the same insight to each person’s business priorities.

Commercial discussions led constructively

Sellers address money and next steps directly, using the buyer’s reason to change to guide a constructive conversation about progress.

Explore. Practise. Perform.

Less theory. More application.

What participants will practise

Realistic sales scenarios, role-play and peer feedback around the challenger profile and why it wins and building commercial insight. Where helpful, participants work on their own live (or anonymised) opportunities.

What they’ll take away

Take-away materials with the questions, frameworks and techniques covered, plus a short personal action plan for the next customer conversations where the skill matters.

How we help it stick

Reflection and action planning are built into the session. Reinforcement such as manager guides, follow-up labs or coaching depends on the programme you choose and is agreed with you.

How we make learning stick

Inside the workshop

This interactive one-day course brings together 8–10 delegates, combining focused input on the Challenger approach with breakouts and peer-to-peer learning. Working on their own deals, delegates build commercial insights, practise teaching pitches and rehearse stakeholder messaging, money conversations and next steps. They leave with a developed insight, a practised pitch and tailored messages to apply in live sales conversations.

Make Challenger Sales Training relevant to your business

Tell us where you want to make progress with the challenger profile and why it wins. We can discuss suitable workplace examples, priorities and access needs before agreeing the scope. Choose live online or face-to-face training for your UK or European team, with delivery arrangements agreed before booking.

Discuss a customised version

What the training covers

The scope below sets out the subjects covered. Workplace examples and practice are shaped around your team within the booked format.

  • The Challenger profile and why it wins
  • Building commercial insight
  • The teaching pitch
  • Tailoring to each stakeholder
  • Taking control of money and next steps
  • Peer-to-peer practice on your deals

What’s included in your booking

Your booked time and format
1 day · Live online or face to face, agreed before booking · 8–10 delegates.
Included in every course
  • Interactive, facilitator-led learningLive, hands-on sessions built around practice and participation.
  • Group discussionsShared conversations about real situations, so people learn from each other as well as the facilitator.
  • Breakout exercisesSmall-group practice, role-play and problem-solving, online or in the room.
  • Take-away materialsCourse materials, tools and templates to use back at work.
Facilitated learning and practical application
The subject coverage, exercises and facilitator feedback described above, with space to connect the learning to relevant workplace situations. The workshop description sets out the specific plans, prompts or tools developed in this course.

Follow-up coaching, refresher sessions and additional delivery days are not automatic inclusions; any additions are agreed in your proposal. Travel, venue arrangements and any software licences are confirmed separately where relevant. Prices exclude VAT.

Outcomes

The capabilities delegates work towards through the training and practice:

  • Build a commercial insight for your buyers
  • Deliver a compelling teaching pitch
  • Tailor messages for different stakeholders
  • Take control of the sale constructively

the next conversation is where it counts —

Take it back to work.

Choose a real situation where you want to apply the learning. Use it to turn an outcome into a manageable first step, then reflect on what changes.

Choose

Start with one priority: Build a commercial insight for your buyers.

Apply

Try the approach in a relevant task or conversation. Note what felt useful and what you would adapt.

Review

Reflect on what happened, seek feedback where appropriate and choose your next step. Follow-up support can be discussed separately.

Bring this topic to your next event

We can discuss adapting Challenger Sales Training into a keynote or large-group session, focusing on the themes most relevant to your audience. Depth, activities, timings and any follow-up depend on the format and package you choose; an event session is not a substitute for the full course.

Explore Speaking & Events

More from Account Executives Lab

Flagship programme

AE Online Lab Pt 1:
Win More. Sell Smarter.

Five live online labs that sharpen how account executives plan their week, lead discovery, qualify with MEDDPICC, handle objections and keep deals moving.

5 × 2.5-hour live online sessions (12.5 hours)Maximum 8 participants

Course synopsis

Strong opportunities are built week by week — in the questions you ask, the evidence you gather and the next step you secure. AE Online Lab Part 1 equips account executives with the skills, confidence and commercial discipline to create stronger opportunities, improve deal qualification and win more business. Across five live online sessions, AEs take control of their sales week, move discovery beyond the surface, apply MEDDPICC with confidence, explore objections without becoming defensive and drive clear next steps. Each session is a small-group working lab with breakouts, role-play and personal coaching. Between sessions, AEs apply an agreed action and bring their experience back to the group.

5 live sessions · 2.5 hours each

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Plan a sales week around high-impact activity and routines
  • Lead discovery that uncovers and quantifies business pain
  • Use MEDDPICC to identify qualification gaps, deal risks and missing stakeholders
  • Respond to objections on pricing, timing, competitors and value
  • Secure clear next steps and mutual commitments

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Live online

From £4,450 per group+ VAT

Course details

Flagship programme

AE Online Lab Pt 2:
Advance, Negotiate & Close

Three live online labs to deliver proposals that win, protect your value in negotiation and close with confidence — without high-pressure tactics.

3 × 2.5-hour live online sessions (7.5 hours)Maximum 8 participants

Course synopsis

Late-stage selling is where value is tested — in the proposal, the negotiation and the moment a customer decides. AE Online Lab Part 2 strengthens the commercial skills account executives need to present compelling solutions, negotiate effectively and secure customer commitment. Across three live online sessions, AEs structure customer-focused proposals, plan negotiations around trade-offs rather than discounts, and build closing strategies aligned with how the customer actually decides. Practice uses real-world deal scenarios, role-play and personal coaching, so every participant leaves with a plan for a live opportunity.

3 live sessions · 2.5 hours each

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Structure a customer-focused proposal with a differentiated value proposition
  • Plan a negotiation with clear trade-offs and protected margins
  • Handle discount requests and pricing pressure confidently
  • Recognise buying signals and gain commitment without high-pressure tactics

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Live online

From £3,300 per group+ VAT

Course details

your sales team. your priorities. your programme. —

Build your own sales programme.

Combine courses, focus on your skills gaps and shape the learning around your sales cycle. Standard workshops run with 8–10 delegates; BDR and MEDDPICC sessions have a maximum of eight; Sales Leadership workshops run with 6–8. Smaller bespoke cohorts can be discussed, with pricing agreed for your programme.

Where better selling begins.

Your team doesn’t need more slides. They need skills that stick.

Know you need help? Book a relaxed, no-obligation 30-minute call. We’ll talk through your team and challenge, and you’ll leave with an honest view of the options — no brief or programme needed.