I am often amazed at how many salespeople will learn a selling system inside and out, practice dozens of closes, and consistently work on their product knowledge... without ever spending much time thinking about the men and women who buy from them.
I'm not talking about qualifying potential buyers, as important as that is, or asking the right needs and wants questions. What I mean is understanding the motivations behind the motivations - figuring out who your buyers are, why they'll do business with you, and where their hot buttons are.
Knowing the basic personality styles you're going to encounter day and day out during your sales career isn't an academic exercise. Because most of us work most effectively with other people who share our traits, you are most likely selling to the men and women who reflect your own ways of thinking and acting. That's great, until you realize that it means you're probably also missing out on about three quarters of the sales you could be getting - and maybe even more.
By learning a bit about the way buyers think and act, you dramatically increase your odds of completing a successful sale. That's because you aren't just learning how to speak to potential buyers in their own terms, but also how to avoid the words and actions that drive them away.
Personality styles are such a big topic that I make them a major part of my books and seminars. To get you started, though, here are a few things you absolutely have to know about your buyers:
They probably fall into one of four groups.
While I like to think of personality styles as colored "dots" to make them more memorable for myself and my students, it's enough to say that most of your potential clients are going to be dominant personalities, outgoing personalities, careful personalities, or steady personalities.
The first step is learning to spot the major personality types in action; the second is altering your language and presentation depending on which traits your prospect is exhibiting. What is comfortable for a dominant personality, for example, feels entirely too rushed for someone who is careful and analytical. In the same way, steady people like to take their time making decisions, while outgoing types care more about you than your products.
Until you can grasp these ideas, and learn to use them effectively, there's a good chance you're going to miss out on the majority of your potential sales, simply because you don't know how to present effectively to all types - you are only comfortable with your own.
Very few people have one style.
It's not as simple as figuring out the style and leaving it at that, however. Most people are a mixture of a couple of different styles, meaning that the better you get at reading personality types, the more you can refine your approach and the higher your closing percentage will be.
Most sales actually get quicker at the top.
Because key decision-makers tend to be dominant personalities, most large sales end up with the faster presentation than you would give at a lower level - to a middle manager who might be in analyzer or steady personality, for example.
This matters because it means you should have several versions of your presentation ready at any time: one that focuses on the facts and details, one that emphasizes the low risk, one that sheds some personal insight into you as a salesperson, and one that just has the highlights. As you move through different parts of the buying process, and especially different contacts along the way, you'll want to be able to use any of these effectively. Most sales actually end up being quicker and simpler at the top, since that's where the most impulsive personalities are, but you'll have to get through other contacts along the way.
Understanding buyers' personality types is a good first step toward unlocking your sales potential. Try to figure out how people make decisions, and then learn to quickly spot the differences in everyday selling situations. It's not easy at first, but once you are "speaking your prospect's language," everything else becomes a whole lot easier.
