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

The Assertive: – This buyer personality is often difficult to deal with. If you have been in the world of selling for any length of time, you have met this person. This is the prospect that interrupts you, is often rude or disrespectful, tries to antagonise you and seems to be someone who eats sales people for lunch. You need not too many tips on how to recognise this person, as it is usually quite clear. However, let us look at a few traits:

Assertive/Aggressive Buyer Traits:
1. Has overly firm handshake: This person usually puts too much emphasis on a handshake, grasping hard and long.
2. Maintains deep and constant eye contact: The person will stare you directly in the eye with unwavering penetration. It is almost as if he or she is testing you to see who will look away first.
3. Sits forward and upright: Usually will not lean back or take a relaxed posture.
4. Overly confident in self and accomplishments: Very sure of him or herself.
5. Will begin to interrupt your presentation: This person will often interject your presentation with objections long before they should arise.

Assertive/Aggressive Buyer Tips
1. Do not change your personality to match: be yourself. This includes your handshake. Allow this person to have the stronger hand. This person often wants some control and if you begin to change, you are allowing the buyer to control you. Be yourself.
2. Keep your eye contact natural. You should always maintain good eye contact with every person, but do not go overboard and force unnatural eye contact. Do not be intimidated to the point where you are afraid to look away. When asking questions and when closing, get close and maintain steady eye contact.
3. Sit back and relax. This is one place where you want to adapt. If you are sitting with the person across from a desk or table, as this buyer leans forward, do not also lean forward. Such will cause unnecessary challenges and tension.
4. Do not patronise. Be careful not to patronise this person with condescending, phony complements and agreeing with everything he or she says. If anything, try not to be overly impressed.
5. Patience – then continue. Once again, you do not want to patronise this person. Often this prospect will want to throw you off track or see if they can disrupt your normal flow. Address each question IF it is a question and continue with your normal sales process.
6. Do not be overly friendly. This is the worst prospect to try to make friends with and try to get them to “buy you” first. False admiration and condescending comments are a bad idea at all times but will mean death with this person.

Summary:
With the aggressive and overly assertive buyer, you want to be yourself. Maintain your composure and do not be moved. You want to give the person respect, but you want him or her to know that you are a professional and will do your job.

The Paranoid – This person seems to be afraid of everything and trusts nothing and no one.

Paranoid Buyer Traits
A. Usually answers questions and comments with, “But…” As in, “I understand that, but what about this…”
B. Will see a negative possibility in almost everything
C. Wants proof and guarantees
D. Will have examples of bad experiences with competitors or industry

Paranoid Buyer Tips
1. Good question. Answer and move on. Let the prospect know that the question or concern is valid. Answer the question, and then move on. Do not linger or continue to ask if the customer fully understands. Just answer clearly and continue.
2. Do not try to alleviate unwarranted fears or phobias. Address legitimate issues, but do not give too much time to fears that are completely ridiculous. If you fall into the trap of fighting ghost and monsters that do not exist, you will waste a tremendous amount of time and if by some stretch of the imagination, you happen to make the sale, this customer will be your worst nightmare. Such a customer will cost you far more money in unnecessary service calls, unwarranted complaints and imaginary problems than the sale is worth.
3. Address questions but do not justify. With this personality, most sales people have the tendency to try to justify or prove everything they say. Answer questions clearly and completely but do not try to justify your statements. Truth needs no justification and the more information you volunteer, the more this person will turn it against you.
4. Do not bash the competition. This is a critical mistake. If the customer’s bad experience is something that you are aware of in the marketplace, then show how your company has risen above this problem. If the customer’s complaint is something that appears to be an isolated incident then DO NOT JUSTIFY IT BY SLAMMING THE COMPETITION. Let the customer know that it is an isolated incident and that you are shocked to hear of such. Defend the competition and the integrity of your industry.

Summary:
Do not add fuel to the fire.

The Know-It-All
This customer can also be very frustrating to deal with. This buyer believes that he or she knows more about your product and company than you do and there is nothing in your presentation that provides any new information. This patient wants to tell the doctor what are the prognosis and the remedy.

Know-It-All Buyer Traits
A. Will challenge or debate much of your claims
B. Will test your knowledge of details and industry information
C. Will claim to know more about your competition than you, including pricing

Know-It-All Buyer Tips
This buyer and the assertive/aggressive are similar. However, unlike the assertive buyer, this prospect needs the proverbial pat on the back. Let the customer know that someone as educated to the industry as she, always buys your product and are the easiest sale for your company. .

1. Complement buyer on thinking
2. Congratulate buyer on ideas
3. Let buyer know that educated consumer is best
The Price ONLY
It is very easy to describe this customer’s traits because all they want to know is how much your product or service costs. They are not interested in a sales presentation or any explanations of what you have or what you do. They just want to know HOW MUCH!

Price Only Buyer Traits
A. Will tell you that they understand all of the benefits and a sales presentation is
Unnecessary.
B. Will tell you that they are ready to buy now. Just need a price.

Price Only Buyer Tips
1. Don’t fall into this trap—stick to your presentation
2. Inform the buyer of your pricing process. You should have a presentation that is such that you will need feedback and answers from the buyer to construct a proposal or a price. Let the prospect know that you have process to come up with the best price and it is in their best interest that you follow your process.
3. When all else has failed, put your foot down. When you have exhausted all other avenues try this approach: “Listen, Mr. Prospect. I appreciate your enthusiasm and interest for my product and I sincerely appreciate your time. However, I am a professional and all of my customers became customers because they were able to make a well-informed, well-educated decision. So, unless you allow me to give you all of the information you need for you to make a well-informed decision, and then I am afraid that I can not allow you to make any decision at all and I will have to leave.” If the prospect allows you to continue after this point, you will almost always make the sale. If the customer continues in the same way, then keep your word and leave.

Summary:
Giving the buyer the price before they have all of the proper information is a disservice to that them.

The Timid
This can be one of the most confusing prospects and one that can cause you many lost sales. This person is quiet and doesn’t usually ask any questions.

The Timid Buyer Traits
A. Asks very few questions
B. Agrees with everything you say
C. Offers no definitive objections

The Timid Buyer Tips
1. You must pull information out of this person. You have to get them involved
2. Do not assume that the silence and the smile means that they agree or will buy
3. Offer objections. Provide challenges to what you say—then overcome them

Summary:
Silence is not always golden.

The Jokester
This person will also cost you a lot of money if you are not careful. This person is full of distractions that take you off course and out of the sales process. This buyer is usually overly nice, cordial and more like a good friend than a prospect. He or she wants to go to lunch with you, have dinner with you, and play golf with you and everything else except do business with you. Full of jokes and funny stories, this person will turn every serious conversation into a comic routine and avoid making a decision for as long as possible.

The Jokester Buyer Traits
A. Will avoid and put off questions
B. Wants to have a long meeting or lunch to talk about anything but business
C. Is afraid you are going to ask for the order

The Jokester Buyer Tips
1. Keep your cordial attitude, but stay firm on questions until you get an answer
2. Let the prospect know that you want to discuss other things, and will, AFTER you both take care of business.
3. This prospect thrives on the belief that you are too intimidated or afraid to ask for the order, don’t be. Do not make friends before you do business. Make friend AS you do business.

Summary: Stay focused and asks for the order with conviction.

Let’s put it all together.

Understanding and dealing with different personality types

Buyer Types and Tips

Assertive/Aggressive:
• Has overly firm handshake:
• Maintains deep and constant eye contact:
• Sits forward and upright:
• Overly confident in self and accomplishments:
• Will begin to interrupt your presentation

Pardoid Buyer
• Answers questions with, “But…”
• Finds negative in everything
• Wants proof and guarantees
• Has bad experiences with competitors

Know-It-All Buyer
• Challenges and debates
• Tests your knowledge of details
• Knows more than you

Price Only Buyer
• Presentation is unnecessary
• Ready to buy now
• Just need price

The Timid Buyer
• Has very few questions
• Agrees with everything you say
• Offers no definitive objections

The Jokester
• Will avoid questions
• Wants long meetings or lunch
• Is afraid you’ll ask for the order

I hope you found that of use? Please feel free to make a comment below

Sean Mc

Sean McPheat

“The Leading Authority On How To Sell & Market To The Sophisticated And Sales Savvy Buyer Of Today”

Marketing Consultant & Sales Expert