Sales success can be described as a three-legged stool that includes skills, strategy and style. There is no shortage of training programs that target skill and strategy, but style is what makes skills and strategies come to life. When sales training doesn’t take style into account, the salesperson’s approach can be off balance. They may fail to close deals and not understand why.
Training that does focus on personality styles tends to focus on the salesperson’s style, not the customer’s, says Merrick Rosenberg, CEO of Take Flight Learning. In his training, he identifies four personality styles and links them to different birds:
• Eagles are dominant, results-oriented and direct.
• Parrots are social creatures that are bursting with enthusiasm and optimism.
• Doves care about harmony and seek connection and stability.
• Owls meticulously ensure quality and accuracy in everything they do.
Eagles are bottom-line. They get to the point. So, when they sell, they are likely to skip the pleasantries and hone in on results and impact. When owls make buying decisions, they tend to think long and hard before pulling the trigger. So, when they sell, they provide a significant amount of detail to enable prospects to make informed decisions. But what happens when an eagle sells to an owl? Or, when an owl sells to an eagle?
Salespeople tend to sell how they like to buy. “They need to understand that when they are selling to someone and their personality style is different than their prospect’s, one of them will leave that interaction exhausted – and it better be the salesperson,” Rosenberg says.
Sales skills and strategies that don’t consider personality style are like a three-legged stool balancing on only two legs. It takes time and energy to adapt your approach to each prospect, but if you want that prospect to transition into a customer, the time and energy are worth spending.
