Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: e5955dc8b32356c565e36ba62163bf97f8edc364ea0a104c6067b2390728999b

# Challenger Selling Model

Participants map tactical sales approaches across three core capabilities and an outer ring of constructive tension, then synthesize a balanced customer pitch statement.

**Time:** 60 minutes. Source recommends 1 hour for 5 to 8 players. Structured to 60 minutes across parallel working tables for up to 24 participants.
**People:** 4 to 24. Teams of 4 to 6 people. For 7 participants, run one group of 7 or split into groups of 3 and 4.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Map specific customer conversational tactics into a four-zone visual diagram to align messaging across sales, marketing, and product teams.
**Use it when:** Use when cross-functional commercial teams need to align on pitch strategy, objection handling, and customer conversation approaches for a specific market offering.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the team has not yet defined a target customer segment or when analyzing transactional retail sales that do not involve consultative conversations.

## Materials and tools

- One large whiteboard or poster paper per subgroup
- Three pads of sticky notes per subgroup (different colors preferred)
- One marker per participant
- Painter tape for hanging posters
- One computer connected to room display (for hybrid setups)

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange seating into small group tables seating 4 to 6 people.
2. Draw the four-part diagram on each team poster before the session.
3. Draw three overlapping circles forming a central Venn intersection.
4. Label the top circle: Teach for Differentiation.
5. Label the bottom-left circle: Tailor for Resonance.
6. Label the bottom-right circle: Take Control of the Sale.
7. Draw one large outer circle enclosing all three and label the perimeter: Constructive Tension.
8. For hybrid setups, designate an in-person tech buddy and verify their laptop can mirror the shared digital board to the room display.

## Say this to open

Welcome. We are mapping our customer conversation approach for our target profile using the Challenger Selling visual model. The model balances three core skills: teaching customers fresh insights, tailoring value to specific roles, and taking control of financial conversations without hesitation. Constructive tension surrounds all three, pushing customer assumptions respectfully. Your task is to write concrete tactics on sticky notes for each zone, place them, and synthesize them into one core approach.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce target profile and canvas (10 minutes)

Seat participants in their working groups immediately. State the target customer scenario. Explain the four diagram areas. Give an example for each: Teach (reframe customer problem with industry data), Tailor (tie metrics to a specific job role), Take Control (address budget pushback directly), and Constructive Tension (politely challenge an outdated process assumption). Address questions.

### 2. Individual ideation (10 minutes)

Participants work in silence. Everyone writes concrete talk tracks, proof points, or tactics on sticky notes. Aim for at least one sticky note in each of the four areas. Individuals may opt to focus their writing on the zone most relevant to their functional role.

### 3. Cluster and place on canvas (15 minutes)

Subgroups post sticky notes onto their diagram. Group members read their notes aloud as they place them. Teammates cluster duplicate or related ideas inside each circle. Anyone may pass their turn to place notes or post without speaking.

### 4. Synthesize the center (15 minutes)

Each subgroup reviews the overlapping center where Teach, Tailor, and Take Control meet. Teams write one unified pitch sentence or conversational tactic that balances all three areas while holding constructive tension. Write this synthesis note in the middle intersection.

### 5. Cross-team debrief (10 minutes)

Invite one representative from two tables to read their center synthesis statement aloud. Facilitate whole-room reflection using the debrief questions.


## Debrief questions

- Which zone had the fewest ideas, and why is that area harder for our teams to implement?
- How does our central pitch statement push customer thinking without creating unproductive conflict?
- What is one concrete insight from your canvas that marketing or product needs to supply immediately?

**Finished output:** A populated four-zone canvas per subgroup containing categorized sales tactics and one central synthesized customer pitch statement.

## Remote

Replicate the four-zone Venn diagram on a collaborative digital whiteboard. Place participants into breakout rooms of 4 to 6 people. Provide digital sticky notes. Use breakout room timers for the steps and broadcast time warnings at halfway marks. Regroup in the main room for the final debrief with screen sharing.

## Hybrid

In-person attendees form co-located small groups using paper posters. Remote attendees form a separate online small group working on a shared digital whiteboard. An in-person tech buddy logs into the remote whiteboard via the room display laptop and shares the remote team's canvas during the final cross-team debrief.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants can contribute by writing sticky notes, sorting items verbally, or reviewing quiet drafts.
- Anyone may pass on speaking during group reporting without explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants confuse constructive tension with aggressive or hostile sales tactics.**

Clarify that constructive tension means challenging client assumptions with objective facts and questions, not pressuring or arguing.

**Notes end up entirely generic, like 'show ROI' or 'listen actively'.**

Pause the group and instruct members to rewrite notes with explicit reference to the target product or customer objection.


## Terms used here

- Constructive Tension: The productive discomfort created when a seller challenges a customer's standard way of thinking to reveal a better alternative.
- Teach for Differentiation: Offering unique commercial insights that reframe how a customer understands their own business problem.
- Tailor for Resonance: Customizing the communication so it aligns directly with the specific economic and operational priorities of the stakeholder.
- Take Control: Maintaining momentum in the dialogue, especially around pricing, decision timing, and next steps.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Gamestorming, which attributes the underlying model to Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson from their book 'The Challenger Sale'.

The original Gamestorming activity provides a four-zone diagram (Teach, Tailor, Take Control, and Constructive Tension) and asks participants to post sticky notes and synthesize a customer message. UWT structured the run sheet into exact step timings totaling 60 minutes, established parallel subgroups of 4 to 6 (with clear rules for groups of 3 or 7), added explicit setup instructions, provided concrete domain examples, defined hybrid tech support, and supplied a structured debrief.

[Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/challenger-selling-model)

[Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/challenger-selling-model/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/challenger-selling-model/