Tailoring Your Approach to Client Needs

Unlock the secret to mastering client communication, ensuring your business meetings don't end with a puzzling silence. Have you ever left a meeting thinking you've nailed a deal, only to never hear from the client again? We explore how understanding the DISC personality profiling model can revolutionize your approach to client interactions. By identifying whether a client leans toward dominance, influence, stability, or compliance, you can tailor your communication strategy to prevent misunderstandings and keep the sales process moving forward. You'll be equipped with the tools to recognize and adapt to these different styles, transforming how you connect and build lasting business relationships.

Join us in dissecting the fascinating contrasts between high S and high D personalities, especially in the context of everyday decisions like buying a car. This episode is packed with actionable insights into respecting and adapting to each client's unique buying process. By exploring real-world scenarios, we delve into the importance of nurturing relationships and building trust for repeat sales and referrals. Plus, learn how to ask the right questions and offer the necessary reassurances to create a safe and confident purchasing environment for your clients. Whether you're looking to enhance your sales technique or simply understand your clients better, this episode promises valuable lessons for every sales interaction.

Chapters

• 0:13 Understanding Client Communication Styles
• 5:03 Sales Approach Based on Communication Styles
• 9:43 Successful Sales Through Understanding Clients

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

So you have just had a meeting with a client, a prospective client, and it's gone very well. They have agreed to everything you've said. You've been getting very positive messages from them in both verbal and non-verbal, coming back to you and you basically leave the meeting thinking that that deal is in the bag. And if you are doing a forecast for someone, you basically leave the meeting thinking that that deal is in the bag and if you are doing a forecast for someone, you might push the probability up to a 90%. I'm using my old gauge there. Anything that 100% was the order. I actually physically had the order. Anything less than that. If I didn't have the order it'd be less.

Speaker 1: 0:52

But you're pretty confident that you've got the business and then you can't get hold of that prospect again. They don't respond to emails, they won't take your telephone calls, they just disappear and you're left in limbo and wondering what went wrong and possibly even wondering why your client lied to you. If they're giving you yeses to everything, then suddenly they're not there. What's going on? So this can happen for a number of reasons. The most likely in my experience is that the person you're dealing with is someone who is very averse to any kind of conflict, and what's happened in that meeting the one where everything seemed to be going so well is that they decided that whatever it was you were proposing wasn't for them for whatever reason, or it didn't meet a certain requirement, or for some reason they didn't want to go forward with you. But in their mind, they imagined that being direct with you and being upfront with you and this might not be the way they operate. Anyway, they might not be the sort of person who is direct and upfront. They found it easier to give you the answers that they thought that you were looking for and then, once you were gone, they would close the door and that was it. You're not coming back in again. So this is not to make anybody wrong in this situation. It's simply to understand that there are certain ways that we're wired and we're not all wired the same, that we're wired and we're not all wired the same.

Speaker 1: 2:37

Now, if you've listened to my podcast before, you may know that I use the DISC personality profiling model to profile people and I find it a very useful tool when I'm dealing with sales situations, and the reason for that is and if you don't know DISC, I would certainly recommend that you find out about it. I go through it on the course that I offer online, but essentially it takes four basic personality traits. One is called dominant, there's influencer, they're stabilized and they're compliant Don't read too much into all of those labels, at least and that's DISC. So that's where the acronym comes from, where DISC comes from, and we're all made up of a certain mix of those four characteristics and one or two of those will tend to be the characteristics that are most significant in any one person. So I'm very high in D and I, which tends to be typical for salespeople who are more the kind of hunter salespeople, so the people who like a lot of variety, like to go for it, like to hit their target, all that kind of stuff. But other people are not. And if you can recognize very quickly what the most significant of those four characteristics is for your particular client, it gives you a lot of very valuable clues, not only about how they're likely to behave in the sales situation and as you move forward, how they're likely to behave in the sales situation and as you move forward, how they're likely to interact with you, but also how you need to change your approach and this is the key thing to make sure that you are connecting with them on a level that is right for them. So what are you talking about, graham? So, just to explain when we meet people, we tend to assume they are going to be the same as us. So I'm a high D, for example. I naturally get on with other high Ds because we taught the same language. We tend to respond to things the same way. We're kind of predictable to one another to a certain extent.

Speaker 1: 5:03

However, if I'm talking with somebody who is a high S and I appreciate I've not defined what these characteristics are I'm not going to do that in this podcast, but, as I've said, I do recommend you find out about this because it is something I teach on the online training course. On the online training course, somebody who is high S is much more of someone who likes to make or build relationships very slowly. It's all about establishing trust, and that takes time. It takes connection, and if I rock in as a high D person, I'm likely to overwhelm them. They may feel intimidated by me and they're going to shut down from me and it is going to be very difficult for me to build trust with that person. And this is where we get the kind of situation that I spoke about at the beginning of this podcast, where I might be talking to as a high D.

Speaker 1: 5:52

I'm talking to somebody who is an S, a sort of much slower paced person. They like to take their time, they like to examine all the different possible scenarios that can happen in this particular situation, this sales process, and they will want a lot of reassurance, whereas as a high D I'm much more going to go in there. I'll just make decisions on the spot, I'll take a chance, I'll change the decision as I need to down the track if things don't work out the way I envisage them. But it's a much more kind of dynamic approach to making a sale or buying something. So and again, what's really important here is to not make any one of these wrong or right. It's simply to recognize that there are different approaches to the way people sell and the way people buy.

Speaker 1: 6:45

So, for an example so if we were looking at somebody buying a car, somebody who is a high S, one of these sort of slow paced people, they'll do a lot of research. They will probably want that Well, they'll certainly want to do a test drive. They'll want to really talk to the dealer about the support, the guarantee, the warranty, what happens if something goes wrong, the support, the guarantee, the warranty, what happens if something goes wrong? And they may explore that to a level that you as a salesperson might find a bit frustrating, because they start to explore scenarios that are highly unlikely, but that's the way that particular person likes to do their buying.

Speaker 1: 7:29

By contrast, a high D now, I'm not typical of everybody, but the last new car I bought I just jumped on a website. Um, I had a. There was a color, I wanted particular wheels, I wanted a nice panoramic sunroof thing on the on the car, and that was it, and I bought it without even seeing it. In fact, the first time I drove one of those cars was when I picked mine up. So that's a completely different way of buying. Now you can argue one is better than the other. That's just opinion.

Speaker 1: 8:00

When you get down to it, the fact is and the point I'm trying to make in this podcast is that people will approach a purchase in very different ways, and if you are not tuned into the way your prospect likes to purchase, then there's a good chance you'll end up in this scenario where you think it's all gone well and, in fact, they're not interested at all that you've scared them off in some way. So why does that happen? Well, the people who like to take their time, like to think things through, like to explore all the different scenarios, the ways things can go wrong, and then how would you support them down the track? Those people are also likely to be very averse to confrontation and in their minds, they may feel that if they give you an answer that you don't want, you're likely to try and talk them into something or browbeat them or get into something that they feel is more of a conflict kind of situation, to something that they feel is more of a conflict kind of situation, and so they will just give you the answer that they think you want to hear in that particular situation. Now, from your perspective, I'm sure the last thing on your mind is to have a confrontation with this prospect and try and talk them into something they don't particularly want. If you are one of these people who try and convince people to buy things that are not good for them, then you're on the wrong podcast, because I don't go along with that at all.

Speaker 1: 9:43

Sales, fundamentally, is about solving people's problems. That's what you're there for, and if you think it's anything different, please don't listen to any more on my podcast Don't buy my course, because you're not the kind of salesperson that I want to work with. So, that said, you've approached them and you are trying to solve their problem and you think you've got a good solution for them, but you may be coming at them in a way that they find a little bit difficult to handle. As I've said, in my situation, when I recognize I'm with people like that, I have to really wind it back down. I feel like I'm putting the handbrake on. To use a car analogy, I'm dropping down to a low gear, but I'm taking it really, really slowly, because you have to give the client space to feel safe with you in that particular scenario.

Speaker 1: 10:36

And this is where recognizing the kind of person you're dealing with is really valuable, because it means that, with someone who needs a lot of reassurance, what you do is you step back, you have a conversation with them. You do not try and get any kind of close early on, and by early on, this might be in the first, second or even third meeting. These people might need multiple meetings with you in order to feel safe that buying from you is the right move for them, that you'll be there for them when they need you, that you'll offer the support. And also bear in mind that the way a lot of these people work, it's very personal. They're not buying from the company you represent. They're buying from you personally. Not buying from the company you represent. They're buying from you personally. So it's really important to build up a sense of trust, a sense of safety for them, in order for them to buy from you.

Speaker 1: 11:34

Now, this might sound like a lot of work to get one sale, but the upside of this is that if you do get them to buy from you, they are likely to be very, very loyal clients and obviously, the best sales that you can get are repeat sales. This is something I've spoken about before, because the effort required to get a repeat sale is very, very low and the cost is very, very low compared to getting an initial sale with a new client. You normally have to do some sort of advertising, you've got to put your name out there, you've got to build up trust with them all this kind of stuff and it all takes time, and time is money when it comes to selling for business. So having these people who are very cautious about making a decision about going with you, this can feel quite a frustrating way to get a sale. But if you are selling something where they're likely to come back again, so I would say that selling cars is likely to be one of those. Certainly, traditionally, it was one of those sales environments where you're going to get people coming back again and possibly giving referrals, which is the other.

Speaker 1: 12:55

Short of getting a repeat sale, getting a referred prospect is the next best thing to get, because they're already warmed to you even though they haven't met you, someone they know and trust has told them that you're a good person to go with. So they're already halfway towards signing on the the dotted line, taking giving the sale to you before they've even walked in the door. So these again are very valuable people to have on side. So don't be put off by people who you might feel are requiring a lot of time, because they can actually be very valuable to you as clients. Obviously, you have to maintain that trust. If you break the trust, it's like breaking a mirror. You can't put it back again. It's kind of messy. So you've got to take a lot of care and really respect their buying process and make sure that's what you're supporting. And this is really key. Step back support the buying process they want to use, the one that's right for them, and do not default to the selling process that you like to use. And this is, as I've said, with using DISC. It's a great way of recognizing very quickly which kind of person you're dealing with and then you can adopt the appropriate strategy if you like to sell to them.

Speaker 1: 14:19

So, coming back to the starting point of this, why do those meetings go wrong? Well, they're probably saying yes to you in the meeting because they do have an aversion to what they perceive as a possible conflict. They don't want to get into that with you. So, rather than even take the risk with you, they will avoid going down that path altogether. So they're going to be saying yes to you, yes to everything, and then when you've gone, you've lost them. So, as I said, the key things here I guess the takeaways are really first of all, recognize that people are different. Don't assume that because you like to operate in a certain way when you're buying something, others will do the same, because they won't. There will definitely be differences in the way people buy.

Speaker 1: 15:11

The second thing is to give yourself time to recognize how your client is likely to want to go through the buying process. And if you don't have a tool like Disc Available to help you to recognize the kind of person they are, so the most likely buying scenario just ask them. Let it be very much you asking very open and safe questions that won't intimidate them and let them answer so you could ask them how do they like to go through the process of buying whatever it is you're selling? Do they want to try something out? Is it a try before they buy kind of situation. Do they want referrals or see referrals from other people who bought from you? So that's sort of social proof. Some people will feel happier. If you've been in business a long time, so that might be something. And if you haven've been in business a long time, so that might be something. And if you haven't been in business a long time, what sort of guarantees do you offer them if they go with you? So you've really got to feel your way with it and make it very safe and allow them to set the pace that you use during the sales process.

Speaker 1: 16:26

And look, I know, speaking personally, this was something that took a while for me to learn and I certainly had situations where early on I thought I had a great meeting with someone, because they give me all the right answers, and then all of a sudden they've gone and I don't know where they've gone. And then the next thing I know they've gone and bought from somebody else. And it's very frustrating because on the face of it everything has gone well and I was within my rights to expect to get that order. But in fact I had gone in perhaps a little bit too energetic in my approach, a little bit overwhelming for them, and they went with somebody else who, to me, was a lot more plodding in their sales style, and yet that was absolutely right for that type of client. And on this podcast, just a final thing I'll say on the disc side of things. So again, I feel it's really worth your while learning more about disc.

Speaker 1: 17:27

It's something I do teach about, but there is a lot of stuff out there where you can learn more and also find out how you're wired and that will actually tell you quite a lot in my experience about how you get on with other people, not just in a professional environment but also personally your partner. You might annoy them all the time and you've really got no idea what you're doing. And often it comes down to this slight difference in how you're wired and it's that situation where you can't understand why you've just annoyed someone. You're just doing your thing and all of a sudden they're not talking to you, so all these things happen. So it's good to understand and have a tool like this to use for any relationship and it's definitely helpful in a sales situation.

Speaker 1: 18:13

So the DI combination if you do find you one of those, which I am we tend to be good at the kind of hunter sale situation. It's where you are constantly looking for new clients, so your business relies on a stream of new clients all the time and you might be a DS kind of a person and that is someone whose stabilizer is a steadier kind of person. They are more focused on long-term relationships. Di's tend to be fast and loose, s and c's tend to be slow and deep in terms of the connections they form. So a ds person is actually very good for those.

Speaker 1: 18:54

We in the environment I grew up in or I've learned sales and we we'd refer to them as farmers rather than hunters when it comes to selling, but people who deal with major accounts, people who rely on long-term relationships with a particular group of clients, because most of the business comes from repeat sales. So remember, if you do find that you're, or if you do get, frustrated with people who have a much longer or drawn out buying process, it's worth the effort because these people are likely to certainly come back. If you don't mess it up, let's say, if you don't break the trust in any way, as long as you're there supporting them and they feel supported by you, they're likely to come back and they're likely to give you referrals. So both of those are incredibly valued when it comes to having a good, reliable, stable cash flow in the business. So look, I hope you've found that useful.

Speaker 1: 20:00

There's obviously more information. You can learn more about this from the training I offer and obviously online as well. So if you're not familiar with DISC, I do recommend you have a look at it. There are other profiling techniques, so Myers-Briggs is one. There are others out there, but the reason I like DISC is that there are only four types of people you've really got to remember and I can remember four. I'm not very good when it gets beyond that that starts to get into the too hard basket. Okay, so, as I say, I hope you found that useful. I'll speak to you again in the next podcast. Bye for now.