Selling Behavior

We’ve all had our share of easy sales and, unfortunately, more than our share of tough ones. Remember those easy sales that you made? It seems that everything went right, especially the ease with which you built trust and rapport with those customers. You could do no wrong. In fact, a few of your “easy” sales were actually tough ones for some of your fellow salespeople.

The tough sales are the one you want to forget. As hard and as long as you worked on them, nothing seemed to come together. You just couldn’t get on the same wave length as your “tough” prospects, the ones you couldn’t sell at all. They seemed to turn you off. It was like there was some hidden barrier between you and those tough prospects that made it very difficult, and even impossible, to sell them.

Many of your tough prospects aren’t really tough at all. They’re only tough for you because your selling style does not match their personality style. That’s why other salespeople with a different selling style than your own find it much easier to sell your tough prospects. Their selling style matches the personality style of your tough prospects.

But just how do you change your selling style so that it is “right” for your difficult prospects? And how can you know as early as possible in the sales presentation which prospects will be the tough ones for you? Finally, how can you actually close many more of your tough prospects than you are closing right now? Read on.

A crucial skill in building trust is the ability to form accurate impressions of your prospects. This requires interpreting a prospect’s individual style, nothing those signals which indicate how the prospect would like to be treated by you. You can begin classifying your customers’ behavior by observing how they manage themselves and how they manage information:

A. How customers manage themselves:

Open Behavior

Is your customer ready and willing to show emotions or feelings?

Open behavior signals describe a person as being relaxed, warm, responsive, informal and personable. Customers displaying open behavior tend to be flexible about time, share their personal feelings and like to tell stories and anecdotes.

Self-Contained Behavior

Is your customer formal and proper, reluctant to show emotions and feelings?

Self-contained behavior signals describe a person as being guarded and aloof. Customers displaying self-contained behavior tend to base their decisions on cold, hard facts. They tend to be disciplined about time and are task oriented.

B. How customers manage information:

Indirect

Does your customer avoid control and involvement? Customers who manage information indirectly come across as quiet, shy and reserved. They tend to move slowly, meditate on their decisions and avoid risks. They tend to be supportive and listen more than they talk. They often reserve their opinions and make tentative statements.

Direct

Does your customer exercise a great deal of control over the information presented? Customers who manage information directly tend to come on strong, take the social initiative and create a powerful first impression. They tend to be fast-paced people, make swift decisions and like to take risks. They often become impatient with others who cannot keep up with their fast pace. They do a lot of talking, express their opinions readily and appear confident.

A typical example

I recall a client with whom I eventually had a highly successful sales relationship. My first appointment was made by her secretary for 10:10 a.m. (not 10:00 a.m. or 10:30 a.m.). As I arrived a few minutes early, the secretary had me sit in the reception area. My future client came out of her office, acknowledged by presence with a polite “canned” smile and gave a list of detailed instructions to the secretary. I noticed she was meticulously dressed.

With another polite smile, she asked me to follow her into the office. She told me where to sit, looked at her watch, phoned her secretary to hold all calls for fifteen minutes, hung up, looked at her watch again, and said, “You have fifteen minutes. Go!”

During my presentation, this client remained as quiet and expressionless as a statue on Mount Rushmore. No emotion showed. She asked for highly specific details, assessed the responses, and extended the discussion. She actually did the confirming, invited me to stay longer, and fully settled the sale after specific responses to her time, schedule, and cost questions had been answered.

Clues to this person’s style lie in how she managed herself and how she managed the information. Let’s analyze her behavioral style. By nature of her time-discipline, meticulous dress, task-orientation, formality, fact-orientation and expressionless face, she was fairly easy to classify on one scale as self-contained. On the other scale, because she directed the conversation, confronted the issues, controlled and confirmed the issues discussed, she came out as a direct manager of the information.

The Four Customer Styles

When both scales are combined, they form four quadrants which identify different and recognizable customer styles. These are the Socializer, the Director, the Thinker and the Relater.

Each quadrant represents unique combinations of self-management and information management and is linked to separate and unique ways of behaving with salespeople. The name given to each style reflects a very general characteristic rather than a full or accurate description. As you better understand why customers behave the way they do, your knowledge can help you communicate effectively and openly in a way which helps them feel more comfortable in their interactions with you. On the next pages you will find guidelines on how to best match your selling style to your customer’s individual style.

No Best Style

Each style has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, and successful people as well as failures populate each style group. There is no “best” behavioral style.

Customers possess traits from all four styles in varying degrees. Depending on circumstances, one style may be more dominant than any of the others. However, most people do have a single dominant behavioral style. In selling, it is very important to always be aware of the style that your prospect or customer is exhibiting on each and every call. In order to increase your sales success, you need to accurately identify their individual styles and respond accordingly. Let’s see how it’s done.

How to sell the Relater

Try to support the relater’s feelings and project that you are interested in him or her as aperson. Move along in an informal, slow manner and constantly show the relater that you are actively listening. Discuss personal opinions and feelings. Try to explore potential areas for future misunderstanding or dissatisfaction. The relater likes guarantees that any new actions will involve a minimum risk. Therefore, offer personal assurances of support. Try not to rush the relater, but do provide guidance. Project genuine sincerity in your relationship.

PLAN to get to know them personally. Be likable and non-threatening, professional but friendly.

MEET them by developing trust, friendship and credibility. Go at a slow pace.

STUDY their feelings and emotional needs as well as their technical and business needs.

PROPOSE by getting them involved. Show the human side of your proposal.

CONFIRM without pushing or rushing them. Provide personal assurances and guarantees wherever you can.

ASSURE by being consistent in your communication. Give them the nurturing and reassurance that you would give someone who was highly concerned about the purchase they had just made.

The Relater Style

The relater manages information in indirect ways and shows open behavior. Relaters tend to be relatively unassertive, warm, supportive and reliable.

They are sometimes seen by others as compliant and soft-hearted. Relaters seek security and belongingness and are slow at taking action and making decisions. Before they take an action or make a decision, they have to know how other people feel about it.

Relaters dislike interpersonal conflicts so much that they sometimes say what they think other people want to hear rather than what is really on their minds.

Relaters have tremendous counseling skills and are extremely supportive of other people. They are also incredibly active listeners. You usually feel good by just being with a relater.

How to sell the Socializer

The socializer likes to interact with other people, so try not to hurry the discussion. Attempt to develop some mutually stimulating ideas together. Focus your conversation on opinions, ides and dreams and then try to support them. Make sure you try to move at a pace that is both entertaining and fast moving. Instead of arguing, try to explore alternative solutions you both can share with enthusiasm.

When you finally reach an agreement, iron out the specific details concerning what, when, who, and how. Summarize in writing what you both agreed upon, even though it may not appear necessary. Finally, make sure you are both in full agreement concerning when actions are to be performed.

PLAN to be stimulating and interested in them. Allow them time to talk.

MEET them boldly, don’t be shy. Introduce yourself first. Bring up new topics openly.

STUDY their dreams and goals as well as their other needs.

PROPOSE your solution with stories or illustrations that relate to them and their goals.

CONFIRM the details in writing. Be clear and direct.

ASSURE that they fully understand what they bought and can demonstrate their ability to use it properly.

The Socializer Style

The socializer manages information directly and shows open behavior. He readily exhibits characteristics such as animation, intuitiveness and liveliness. The socializer is an idea person – a dreamer, a fast-paced person with spontaneous actions and decisions and a lack of concern for facts or details. This disregard for details sometimes prompts him or her to exaggerate and generalize facts and figures.

Socializers are more comfortable with “best guesstimates” than with hard researched facts. They thrive on involvement with others and tend to work quickly and enthusiastically with others.

They often seek approval and pats on the back for their accomplishments and achievements.

Socializers always love an audience. They are very creative and think quickly on their feet.

How to sell the Thinker

Try to be systematic, exact, organized, and prepared with the thinker. Try to support the thinker’s organized, thoughtful approach. Thinkers may require that you send them solid, tangible, factual evidence that what you say is true and accurate. List the advantages and disadvantages of any plan you propose to the thinker and have viable alternatives for dealing effectively with the disadvantages. If you do not bring up the obvious disadvantages in your product or plan, the think will certainly find them out. Try not to rush the decision making process with thinkers because they need time to verify your words and your actions.

PLAN to be well prepared and equipped to answer all their questions.

MEET them cordially but get quickly to the task.

STUDY their situation in a practical, logical manner. Make sure your questions show a clear direction.

PROPOSE logical solutions to their problems. Document the how and the why and show how your proposition is the logical thing to do.

CONFIRM as a matter of course. Don’t push, give them time to think. Offer documentation.

ASSURE them through adequate service and follow through. Be complete.

The Thinker Style

The thinker manages information indirectly and communicates self-contained behavior. Thinkers seem to be very concerned with thought processes and are persistent, systematic problem-solvers. They can also be seen as aloof, picky and critical. Thinkers are very security-conscious and have a high need to be right. This lead them to over-reliance on data collection. In their quest for data, they tend to ask many questions about specific details. Their actions and decisions tend to be extremely cautious.

Thinkers work slowly and precisely by themselves and prefer an intellectual work environment that is organized and structured. They tend to be skeptical and like to see things in writing. (This comes across as a “show me” attitude.) Although they are great problem-solvers, thinkers are poor decision-makers.

How to sell the Director

Directors are easy to deal with so long as you are precise, efficient, time-disciplined and well-organized. Make sure you keep your relationship businesslike. Do not attempt to establish a personal relationship unless that is one of the director’s objectives. Focus your conversation around the director’s goals. If during the conversation you must take issue with the director, argue the facts, not personal feelings. Make sure you can back-up your facts with solid, tangible proof.

You should provide the director with options. Directors like to make their own decisions.

PLAN to be prepared and organized, fast paced and to the point.

MEET them in such a way that you get to the point quickly, keep things professional and businesslike.

STUDY their goals and objectives.

PROPOSE solutions with clearly defined consequences and rewards that relate specifically to the Director’s goals.

CONFIRM provide two to three options and let them make the decision.

ASSURE them that their time will not be wasted. After the sale, confirm that the proposals you suggested did in fact provide the bottom line results expected.

The Director Style

The director manages information directly, and displays at the same time self-contained behavior. Directors exhibit firmness in their relationships with others, are oriented toward productivity and bottomline results. Closely allied to these positive traits are the negative ones of stubbornness, impatience and toughness. Directors tend to take control of other people and situations and are decisive in both their actions and their decisions. They like to move at an extremely fast pace and are very impatient with delays. They seem to want things yesterday.

Directors are high achievers and exhibit very good administrative skills. They certainly get things done and make things happen. Directors like to do many things at the same time. Because of their high achievement-motivation, they show a tendency toward workaholism.