Most everyone has taken some sort of personality assessment – Myers-Briggs, True Colors or perhaps the Personality Strengths Inventory. Recently, I attended a workshop that discussed how to apply DiSC Profiles in a sales and marketing context and I was motivated to learn more.
DiSC is a widely-used training and development tool designed to improve work productivity, teamwork, and communication. If you are not familiar with the DiSC Profile, you can take a free assessment online at www.institutesuccess.com/Free/Assessment
DiSC measures your tendencies and preferences — your patterns of behavior – and places you into one of four profiles (or combinations of profiles).
- Dominance – You place emphasis on accomplishing results, the bottom line, confidence
- Influence – You place emphasis on influencing or persuading others, openness, relationships
- Steadiness – You place emphasis on cooperation, sincerity, dependability
- Conscientiousness – You place emphasis on quality and accuracy, expertise, competency
Your personality certainly influences how you approach sales and selling. Most salespeople enjoy the sales challenge and the thrill of helping a prospective client find a solution. The best way to accomplish this is to place yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Knowing how they make decisions and process information is invaluable to your sales call preparation.
The key is to figure out the personality type of the person or people that you are selling to and mirror their personality type.
For example:
Decisive/Dominant (D’s) types can be impatient. Many business owners are D’s. They want to get right to the ROI (Return On Investment).
Be very clear regarding how your product or service will solve their problem as well as the cost and timeline. Ds do not want to sit through your company history, small talk, or testimonials. Send information for the decision maker to read before your sales meeting. Keep your appointment brief, send an agenda prior to your meeting, and keep to the timeline. Ds are quick discussion makers so be prepared to close the sale.
Interactive/Influential (I’s) tend to be very social.
Begin your meetings by asking how business is going, notice and comment on pictures of their kids or pets, and compliment them on their surroundings, the staff or product quality. Since I’s are relationship driven, they appreciate an invitation to lunch, an educational program, or a baseball game.
I’s are interested in how your solution will help them meet their goals and make their life easier. Close by asking them, what they like or dislike about your solution. They enjoy sharing their opinion. Communicate with them often.
Steadiness (S’s) are loyal customers. If they have purchased from you before, use your time to find out what they enjoy about your product or service and how you could improve. Ask for a testimonial and a referral. Also, ask how you can improve your service or product. Always thank them for their business and bring in a gift or lunch for their team.
Conscientiousness/Calculating (C’s) tend to be detail oriented. C’s are your CFO’s, engineers, and procurement team members. – numbers and facts drive their decisions.
Research your competition and evaluate the bottom line. Send your company history, case studies and white papers prior and following your meeting. To satisfy the desire for detail, calculate the “true cost of doing business”. Emphasize all the perks or benefits that they will receive when working with your company. Reducing your price is not always the answer – can you add something to the offer instead?
Your Next Step
Your ability to recognize and honor the personality preferences of your prospects can determine if you will make a sale or not. Prior to meeting a prospect for the first time, look up their social media sites and focus on their past job descriptions and interests. Ask them to connect with you on LinkedIn and ask mutual friends to give you some insight.
Boosting your sales skills and adapting your approach takes practice. To help, my team will be offering webinars and role-playing opportunities for both sales teams and their marketing support. If you would like to be placed on our invitation list, please let us know.
We would also like to hear your feedback and your stories. We all learn from each other!
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