Understanding Buyer Types
Know Your Prospective Buyer!
Understanding and dealing with different personality types
Executive Summary
The best doctor, with the best treatment and the best diagnosis, is ineffective without a good “bedside manner.” By bedside manner, of course, we are referring to how the doctor relates to the patient and each patient is different. A doctor must first assess the patient’s personality and fears and adjust the way he or she approaches and deals with the patient. Similarly, a professional sports team will study the opposing team before the game and a restaurant server will adapt to the customer in a restaurant. In any profession where you work with different people, you must know how to relate to people individually.
In the world of professional sales, the need to understand the person you are working with is crucial. You must develop an effective means to communicate clearly with the prospect. This is not the same as developing a “rapport.” In developing a rapport, you may get the prospect to want to work with you and you may become cordial with each other, but that does not necessarily mean that you can communicate effectively. As a professional sales person, you have to learn to quickly recognise personality traits that may hinder the sales process and learn to adapt or avoid them. This template will help you first recognise different traits of prospective buyers and then to work with them for a positive result
Buyer Traits
While every person is different, you will find that most prospective customers fit into certain categories. We will examine how to recognise each, and then provide tips on how to deal with each. These tips, of course, are not concrete rules that apply to every personality and every situation. However, you will find that they provide a good overall view of commonalities in the different types of buyers. Some of these tips will also suggest that in some cases and at some point, you should terminate the sales process. You may feel that this is giving up or accepting defeat. No. This is about being smart and staying professional. You will not make every sale and you will not change the laws of psychics by sacrificing your time, money or your dignity.
Different Prospective Buyer Types
1. The Assertive
2. The Paranoid
3. The Know-It-All
4. The Price Only
5. The Timid
6. The Jokester
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