How Does My Customer Want Me to Behave?
When you are selling, do you ever ask yourself this question? A number of sales people have told me how they are attentive and respond to what their customers say, or how they deal with customers having different personalities, but they never tell me they try to be what their customers want. Wouldn’t that make your customer feel comfortable with you sooner, build trust, build rapport, increase your chance of clinching the sale? How would you do that – impossible, right?
Read on, I will show you how!
The Art of Selling
There’s no one way of selling and it isn’t a unitary task. Rather it consists of a series of operations starting with marketing. Marketing is the mix of strategies you employ to entice your prospects over the threshold of your business. Once there, you can sell or pitch to your prospects and, hopefully, convert them into customers. This blog is about selling or pitching.
Question based selling methodologies such as Rackham’s SPIN® Selling (1988) were pioneered by Xerox and IBM from the sixties but this millennium has seen growth of value-added sales techniques such as Dixon & Adamson’s Challenger Sale® (2008). I read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (1936) at the start of my career and I realise now that he was essentially proposing a behavioural approach to selling and communication. Carnegie was on the right track; he would have benefitted from knowing DiSC® (see below).
DiSC Behavioural Model
DiSC is a behavioural model and psychometric tool based on 4 styles, Dominance, influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. 1 or more of these styles will be more prominent than any of the others in any one person. What makes DiSC different to other tools is that it is based only on observable behaviours. This means anyone conversant with DiSC can deduce the behavioural (buying) style of any person they meet just by observing them!
In the rest of this blog, I’ll go through the 4 buying styles you will face and how, as a sales person, to recognise the different styles, understand what makes them tick and how you could adapt your approach and sales pitch to boost rapport with them to maximise your chances of clinching the sale.
D(ominance) Buying Style
People of this style are both fast-paced & outspoken and questioning & sceptical. You’ll likely notice they’re assertive, straightforward, blunt, avoid small talk, quick, decisive, sceptical, and like to control discussions.
D style customers prioritise results, taking action and competency. So you must demonstrate that your products or services will deliver quick or uncomplicated returns on investment. They will not be impressed by emotional appeals; they know their goals and will be evaluating how you can help achieve them. They want action, not details, so they’ll be happy with knowing key points and avoiding product options and detailed discussions. They expect you to be competent, know your product and do your homework to offer them the best service.
i(nfluence) Buying Style
People of this style are both fast-paced & outspoken and accepting & warm. You’ll likely notice they’re positive, quick, enthusiastic, friendly, people-oriented, empathetic, like small talk, love innovative ideas and are action oriented.
I style customers are enthusiastic and fun loving and therefore it really helps if they see that you yourself are enthused by your own product or service. They tend to avoid details and rely more on intuition to decide whether an offer is what they need; they’re also drawn to anything that is fun, exciting and innovative. Like the D style, I style like taking action and are not interested in details and analysis but their intuition is looking for the energising impact of innovation rather than practicality. They are motivated by the promising possibilities of your product or service. Personal chemistry is also very important, trust will often be a big factor in clinching a sale.
S(teadiness) Buying Style
People of this style are both accepting & warm and cautious & reflective. You’ll likely find they’re agreeable, attentive, modest, patient, calm, of moderate or methodical pace, speak more softly, are hesitant decision makers and avoid change.
S style customers need to know that you are sincere before they can trust you and feel comfortable enough to make a commitment to you. They need to know you care about them as individuals as opposed to a customer but they are slow to open up to you. They expect dependability from you and your offer, they need you to be around after the sale to support them, and they need specifics (details) re guarantees in the sales contract, not vague promises.
C(onscientiousness) Buying Style
People of this style are both cautious & reflective and questioning & sceptical. You’ll likely find they’re slow & methodical, driven by logic & reason, perfectionists, unfeeling, private, sceptical, cautious decision makers with great attention to detail.
C style customers value quality. They will analyse your offer in detail, ask probing questions and will be dissatisfied with answers that are less detailed or lack sufficient evidence. They expect dependability in you and your products & services and accountability; so they’ll expect you to be around after sale. They value competency and expertise so they will expect you to back up performance figures for your product or service or any other proposed project you discuss.
Further Reading
This is one of a series of blogs posted on https://discprofiles.uk and LinkedIn. Next blog next week.
Conclusion
Being able to discern a customer’s behavioural buying style isn’t a universal panacea to converting prospects to customers but it is another feather in the quiver of a sales person. Anecdotally, I reckon it increases sales performance by up to 30%. And it is only possible using DiSC because DiSC is based only on observable behaviour.
Get your own detailed report on your DiSC style and how leverage that for better sales.
