Sell by Caring

This skill is fundamental to incorporating behavioral styles into your sales process.  At first it will take effort but as you continue to look for key identifiers it will become natural.  Eventually you will find yourself responding in the appropriate manner without realizing you have assessed and adapted.

I’ll use the GRID that was offered in an earlier post with added details to help you determine which quadrant someone is favoring.

First is Direct or Indirect

If someone is direct they will be at the top of the grid.  How do you know if they are direct?  Look for:

• Assertiveness
• Fast paced
• Dynamic
• Shaping people or situations to meet their needs

The lower half of the GRID is indirect.  To identify these behaviors look for:

• Structured
• Cautious
• Moderately paced
• Guarded behavior

Next is Task or Relationship focused.

People on the left side of the GRID are task oriented and those on the right side will favor relationships.

When someone is task focused you will observe:

• A need to control
• Logic based
• Skepticism
• Perceives things to be negative

Relationship focused:

• Accepting
• Agreeable
• Receptive
• Perceives things to be favorable

For example, someone who is slightly task-focused and very indirect would end up in the bottom-left quadrant of the grid (but close to the middle on the horizontal axis).  On the other hand, someone who is very direct and relationship-focused would end up in the top-right quadrant.

Here is the GRID with added details.  Print it off and use it to identify the quadrant of your clients, prospects, team mates and your boss.  Combine this with the lists of traits in previous posts and you are on your way to understanding how others perceive the world around them.

Next we will take this knowledge and use it to improve communications with each style.

What is your favored behavioral style?

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