Selling to different customer ‘types’
By Ian Hirst, Greenbank CEO
I think it’s well established that today’s customers expect salespeople to completely personalise every sales conversation, email and document so that it resonates with them. As a result, boiler-plate pitches and generic statements about your product and service are rightly viewed negatively or even completely disregarded
But what actually do top salespeople do to fully personalise their sales approach? A good starting point is, of course, showing an in-depth understanding of a customer’s business needs and pressures, but it should also mean tailoring your message or even your whole sales approach to fit better with your prospect’s ‘personality style’.
This was brought home to me recently when I was on a buying panel myself and was really impressed with the enthusiasm and vision of one the salespeople pitching – only to be faced with very different views from some other people on the panel who saw this eloquent and humorous salesperson as lacking attention to detail and being potentially untrustworthy, citing a couple of minor (in my personal view) grammar mistakes on the slides…
Many of you reading this will have been through an Insights Discovery workshop with us, and will already have a common language for understanding personality differences, so we thought we’d summarise some top tips to help your sales teams use this knowledge to be more successful and really ‘resonate’ with their prospects…
Here we look at the 4 main Insights Discovery ‘energies’ – you should easily be able to translate these to other Jungian models (eg DiSC, MBTI or Social Styles)
Buyers with high Fiery Red energy
People with high fiery red energy tend to be goal-oriented, decisive, and competitive. They care more about results than personal relationships. They want information — fast — so they can make a decision and then move on.
As a buyer they tend to care deeply about the bottom line and are also relatively impatient and like to be in control. They pride themselves on being results-focused and confident and will judge you using the same criteria!
How to sell to them:
- DO – make sure you’re prepared and punctual for a meeting.
- DO – Emphasise how your product/service will solve their business’ problems. Cutting-edge features won’t impress unless you can demonstrate why they will be useful to their organisation.
- DO – Take advantage of their competitive streak and show them how your product/service will help stretch their company and allow them to compete with others in their industry.
- DO – speak clearly, succinctly and confidently
- DON’T – give a halfway correct answer – if you don’t know the answer to a question, instead let them know that you’ll follow up with them – and make sure you do!
- DON’T – waste their time repeating facts or building up to your point – cut to the chase.
- DON’T – Include personal opinions and testimonials. If you’re citing a successful customer, talk about the ROI they saw rather than how much they loved you or your product.
Buyers with high Earth Green energy
People with high Earth Green energy tend to be quiet, warm and value personal relationships. They are concerned with others’ well-being and expect you to be as well!
As a buyer, people with high Earth Green energy don’t typically make decisions quickly as they want to establish rapport with the people they do business with first and will also seek out the help or approval of multiple team members. Expect a longer sales process than usual!
How to sell to them:
- DO – Take time to build rapport. They will pride themselves on being a thoughtful, sincere listener – and will judge you the same way! They will need to feel safe in their relationship with you and your company before they’ll be comfortable doing business with you.
- DO – Emphasise an ongoing relationships and customer care. If your company offers exceptional customer service or maintains long-term partnerships with its clients, now is the time to shout it (quietly of course…) from the rooftops.
- DO – Present case studies – they want to be reassured that you’re looking out for them and their people, and what better way to prove your track record than to show stories of how your business made an impact on other people’s lives?
- DO – Take the role of an expert and walk them through the decision-making process. Instead of overwhelming them with information, calmly help them through the process and act as a trusted advisor.
- DO – Give them personal assurances. Since they may be risk-averse, think about how you can calm their anxieties…
- DON’T rush them or show impatience
Buyers with high Sunshine Yellow energy
People with high Sunshine Yellow energy are creative, outgoing, spontaneous, and rely on their intuition. They value mutual respect, humour and friendship. They also like the excitement of new challenges and will enthusiastically dive into finding creative or unexpected solutions.
As a buyer they tend to be very enthusiastic and overtly friendly, they’ll want to quickly bond with you and feel connected on a personal level, but like buyers with Fiery Red energy, they are often very sure of their beliefs and will speak more in statements rather than asking questions. They probably won’t have done a ton of research before meeting with you – so you might need to make sure any information you need them to read is clearly summarised! They will pride themselves on being energetic and optimistic – and will, of course, expect you to be the same!
How to sell to them:
- DO – Be enthusiastic, sincerely friendly and SMILE – before talking about your service, ask them several open questions about them and their business – and be show you are actively listening. So, build on what they have said and summarise.
- DO – Pitch a vision. Help them visualise the outcomes their business could achieve with the help of your product or service – but make it about them – show how you have listened.
- DO – Bring up examples of similar customers who have successfully used your product/service. Flesh out the story – why did client X come to you? What tipped them toward your product? Which features were most important? Details like these are convincing.
- DO – Involve them throughout the buying process. You want to continually get their buy-in and keep them involved…
- DON’T – focus too much on facts and figures. Data is important, but if they trust you, they will assume you are on top of the data. Instead get a tick in this box early on in the sale by demonstrating competence and they will then happily leave the detail to you.
- DON’T – make offhand commitments – not delivering on an offer could spell the end of your relationship.
Buyers with high Cool Blue energy
People with high Cool Blue energy type appreciate the importance of in-depth data, facts, and figures. They are less expressive than other personality types. They are concerned with facts rather than emotion, and likely won’t need (or want) to spend time getting to know you on a personal level. In conversation, they pride themselves on being serious and direct – and will judge you the same way!
As buyers they’ll look past a flowery pitch and get straight to the facts. Be prepared to field a lot of detailed questions and don’t be surprised if it seems like they already know you and your company – they will probably research you and your business before meeting. They care about thoroughly vetting and understanding the options available to them and won’t jump the gun on a decision. They are more logical and cautious than any other personality type — but once they make a decision, they won’t reverse it unless some new data becomes available.
How to sell to them:
- DO – Assume they are prepared and have done their research. This doesn’t mean you should skip over introductory information, but you can expect to spend less time on introduction and context and more time discussing customised solutions for their business.
- DO – Provide as much detailed information as possible. Instead of saying “Our product drives growth for many companies,” say, “Our product increased sales in 5 similar tech firms by 25% or more year – on – year.” You can offer more information than they ask for without risking them becoming overwhelmed – in fact, they’ll probably welcome it.
- DON’T – make high-level claims. Always provide data when you make an assertion, or risk losing credibility. Overhyping your product might make them suspicious that you’re trying to mask flaws.
- DON’T – Rush them! They will take as much time as they need to gather all the facts they feel are necessary to make a decision.
- DON’T – try to force a relationship that’s not there. They might become annoyed by those they feel are overly flattering or obsequious.
And finally…
- DO – Provide as much detailed information as possible. Instead of saying “Our product drives growth for many companies,” say, “Our product increased sales in 5 similar tech firms by 25% or more year – on – year.” You can offer more information than they ask for without risking them becoming overwhelmed – in fact, they’ll probably welcome it.
- DON’T – make high-level claims. Always provide data when you make an assertion, or risk losing credibility. Overhyping your product might make them suspicious that you’re trying to mask flaws.
- DON’T – Rush them! They will take as much time as they need to gather all the facts they feel are necessary to make a decision.
- DON’T – try to force a relationship that’s not there. They might become annoyed by those they feel are overly flattering or obsequious.
Greenbank and Selling on Value
… keep in mind that most customers will be a mix of these personality types and won’t fit neatly into one of the four categories above. However, once you’re familiar with these core personalities, you should be able to tailor your selling strategy to fit any situation you come across!
If you would like to know more about how Greenbank or Insights Discovery can help your business, we would be delighted to help. Greenbank are proud to have been an Insights Strategic Partner for over 22 years and during that time, we have helped thousands of individuals to both understand themselves better and supported them in building more fruitful relationships with their colleagues and customers.
About Greenbank
Greenbank are an innovative, ‘boutique’ consultancy delivering completely tailored leadership, negotiation and sales development programmes to clients ranging from top 5 global firms to tech start-ups.
We are now delighted to be running truly blended programmes, which make the most of both virtual platforms and interactive face-to-face workshops, to deliver motivational, cost-effective development.
We also have our own industry-leading, multi-lingual, 360° assessment platform, Navigator360 which provides our clients and other training providers with a completely flexible approach to gathering powerful confidential feedback.
If you would like to discuss how we can help your own sales or leadership teams, then we would be delighted to have a relaxed conversation – please contact Ian Hirst or (+44) 7812 074359.