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A GOOD SALESPERSON always goes in thoroughly prepared, well-rehearsed, and with his or her "A" pitch ready to go, right?
Well, not always. According to a relatively new school of thought in the sales and marketing world, having a set presentation could be the worst thing you could do when it comes to face-to-face meetings.
Instead, say the experts, size up your prospective client, classify their personality at a glance, and then tailor your pitch to match them.
It's a new spin on the time honoured approach and it could just change the way people sell.
Tim Breithaupt is the author of a 1999 book called "Take This Job and Love It: The Joys of Professional Selling" (www.peglimited.com). In it, he devotes an entire chapter to what he calls "behavioural flexibility" as a means of building trust and rapport with a client. "Behavioural flexibility is proving to be one of the most useful tools you can add to your intellectual inventory," he writes. "Understanding style types and how to adjust (not change) your approach fosters rapport and trust with your customer, while helping meet and exceed your customer's communication expectations."
From his office in Calgary, Breithaupt explains that the adjusting-but-not-changing approach is a tough - but necessary - one to learn.
"Observable behaviour is what this is all about," he says. "Nobody want to change themselves - you are who you are. But during the day, it pays to understand the style of the customer, on both the verbal and visual levels, and then to interact with them based on that. If I can go into your office and assess what your predominant style is then I can relate to that."
Breithaupt says the key cues like dress - has the person spent a lot of money on clothes, accessories, gold watches and the like? Is their greeting warm, friendly, and talkative or is it cold and distant? These signs can be telling. In an imaginary scenario where a prospective client appeared to be not overly concerned with appearance and kept a cluttered office, Breithaupt says he'd take a certain approach. "I'd see you as an introvert - that's the first step," he says. "Then I'd continue to probe around to see if you fit into the category of 'thinker' or of 'director'. The messy office is a good clue - thinkers then to be dressed worse and keep their offices messier - they're more interested in abstract thought than they are in external appearances."
But in these face-to-face situations, a salesperson doesn't usually have a lot of time to make these assessments, and Breithaupt says that time is indeed of the essence. "The sooner you can ascertain the style, the sooner you can adjust," he explains. "And the sooner you adjust, the sooner they are going to like you."
Personality Types
SELLING COACH Tim Breithaupt, author of Take This Job and Love It!, borrowed Dr. Carl Jung's personality model and used it to help sales people quickly identify and relate to customer personalities.
- SOCIALIZER: These are extroverted, gregarious and fun-loving people. You can spot a socializer by his or her fashionable clothes, fancy vehicles or expensive watch. Appeal to their sense of fun. Chitchat with them before getting down to business.
- DIRECTOR: These are introverted, task-oriented, get-down-to-business-types. They're interested in the bottom line, not a relationship. You can spot a director by his or her conservative clothes. When you're in front of a director, get to the point quickly and avoid socializing.
- THINKER: Details, details, details. Thinkers love facts, data and feature dumps. They gather all of the information they can before they even begin to make a decision. Thinkers ask a lot of tough questions, but if you meet their expectations count on repeat business.
- RELATER: Supportive, emotional, and interactive. Relaters are intuitive, and are big readers of non-verbal communication. They encourage harmony and if they weren't buying from you, they'd probably be working for the diplomatic corps. "Who else is using this product?" That's the question that marks a relater. Your proposal must stress harmony, security and benefits.
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