Brief personality summaries
Dominant: This personality group can be summarized as the ‘Conductor.' People who possess the dominant personalities are regarded as driven, goal-oriented, direct, risk-takers, impatient, desire to take control, fast-paced, aggressive, confrontational competitive and readily embrace change.
Influencer: This category is often referred to as the ‘Promoter’. Individuals who are regarded as influencers have traits such as outgoing, enthusiastic, friendly, verbal communicators, optimistic, fast-paced, want to be liked and spontaneous. They are fond of words such as let’s go party! Hoo! Woo! Etc. As such, influencers tend to make impulse, quick-type decisions, usually without necessarily analyzing such decisions through to the finish line.
Steady Relator: They are commonly referred to as ‘supporters’. They are characterized with traits like slow-paced, friendly, wanting everyone to be happy, desire for a smooth running of affairs, rigid to changes, slow at decision making, avoid risks, rarely share their feelings, shy from confrontations, and are great counselors/listeners.
Cautious Thinker: This personality group is summed up as the ‘analyzer’. People within this category as known to be fact finders, problem solvers, desire to be always right, data-driven, conservative paced, accurate, analytical, detailed, maintaining highest standards, non-verbal communicators and cautious in their dealings. These people must only be won over by facts, data, and more proof.
Analysis based on sales process
Depending on the personality possessed by the salesperson, dealing with any of these personalities might be either difficult or easy. A high dominant or influencer, for instance, might have difficulty in relating to steady relators. Great influencers are the exact opposite of the high cautious thinkers, and as such the later group will not trust the former (Deeter-Schmelz & Sojka, 2013).
Dealing with different personalities
Dominant: When dealing with this group, there is the need to let them know and understand the bottom-line, further choices might be necessary, they should then be allowed to proceed on their own. But from the onset, the core ground tasks and rules should be very clear and needs to be presented in logical manners enabling the possibility of direct up-front agreements. In the event of problems with this group, they should be addressed immediately, and in person without accusations, ultimatums or equivocation (Cherniss, 2012). The salesperson should be ready to listen as this category of individuals is always enthusiastic at sharing both their ideas and opinions.
Influencer: Know it that influencer like to interact and talk. They may become intuitive and impulsive, relying majorly on feelings, and not making decisions based on logic. They often combine entrepreneurial experience with pleasure, and do not focus solely on business but get around doing business (Deeter-Schmelz & Sojka, 2013). Salespeople need to ask them questions to get the best out of them.
Steady Relators: These people are patient; amiable individuals who are keen on maintaining the pace while avoiding conflicts. Owing to the fact that they exercise consistency and constancy, they are rigid to changes or surprises (a feature that a salesperson really needs to bear in mind). They are often deliberate and may tend to be slow at making decisions. However, high steady relators are loyal and often exhibit long-term commitments (Deeter-Schmelz & Sojka, 2013). Therefore, to win their loyalty particularly while communicating or selling to them, it is essential to take sincere interests regarding their personal concerns and goals.
Cautious Thinker: Beware that cautious thinkers are perfectionists, detail-oriented and the high standards that they exhibit through to the book. Given that they are usually concerned more about getting that extra fact, in their search for the perfect response, they are likely to be very slow or even completely unwilling to commit to a given course of action (a potential selling challenge). However, they are orderly and analytical in their actions and thoughts and rely wholly on figures and facts. When handling great cautious thinkers, forget about the pleasantries and small talks, and rather get to the main point backing it up with facts, additional facts, organized and presented in a logical fashion (Cherniss, 2012).
References
Deeter-Schmelz, D. R., & Sojka, J. Z. (2013). Developing Effective Salespeople: Exploring the link between Emotional Intelligence and Sales Performance. The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 11(3), 211-220.
Cherniss, C. (2012). The Business Case for Emotional Intelligence. Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations.
