Sales PsyOps

Sales is often an exercise in psychology. Buying decisions are usually based on emotion rather than logic. This puts sellers in position where they need to appeal to buyers on an emotional level.

Buyer’s have a wide variety of personalities. Typically, (and hopefully) a seller only has one personality. Sellers need to be able to adapt to match or offset the buyer’s personality.

There are simple tactics to make this process easy and even a little fun. To begin with, we will be breaking buyer’s personalities down into four main categories: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance. Then we will be assigning a bird to represent each personality type.

Why birds? It makes the personality type easier to recognize. Also, it is more fun this way. Easy and fun equals useful knowledge that is more likely to be used in the selling process.

The personality types are taken from the DISC assessment. The assessment is a behavioral profiling tool used to understand individuals' communication styles and personality traits. Understanding these traits helps in navigating a prospect’s personality in the sales process.

In a clinical setting, there would be a test to identify personal personality traits. For the purpose of selling, knowing the characteristics of each personality type allows the seller to adapt inside the selling situation. You will know the bird when you see it and be able to respond accordingly.

Knowing the Birds

Let’s start with the bird types and what they mean.

Eagles represent dominance. They are often assertive, direct and decisive. Eagles typically like to be in control but will take risks if it gives them the advantage in a situation.

Parrots portray influence. Parrots are sociable, energetic and persuasive. Parrots are the life of the party. They love having fun.

Doves represent steadiness. They are reliable, loyal and supportive. Doves care a lot about the people around them and their empathy and understanding make them natural mediators in conflicts.

Owls symbolize compliance. Owls are logical, analytical and systematic. They love data and breaking down and exploring every angle of a situation, ensuring that decisions are well-informed.

Buyers can represent more than one bird type. What is important is that the seller can recognize the trait and then engage with that trait.

It is best not to assume bird types based on positions or roles. Watch for the characteristics and respond accordingly.

Birds of a Feather

In most situations, it is most effective to mirror the bird type you are selling to. As you get comfortable with recognizing personality traits and categorizing them, you will find that there are some traits that counter (rather than mirror) very well. For the purpose of this conversation, I am going to stick to mirroring.

Eagles will be direct and to the point. Give them responses and information that is direct and to the point. Do not get overly chatty. Time is money. Provide them with the information they are looking for so they can make a decision.

Parrots want things to be fun and interesting. The second that things are not fun and interesting, the parrot will be done with the conversation. When selling to a parrot, be enthusiastic. Show energy. Most of all have fun. (Be prepared for a conversation that jumps around to a few topics.)

Doves genuinely care about the people. A dove is going to care less about numbers and more about the human impact of a decision. They are also going to look for as much of a win/win outcome as possible. Sellers should focus on how the product or service benefits the people involved.

Owls love information. The more data the better. Owls will want to dig into every detail of the product, service and sale. Sellers should be ready with lots of information and be ready to dive in depth into questions and possible outcomes to a sale.

The more closely a seller can mirror the buyer’s bird type, the more effective they will be in the sale. Similarities drive trust. Most importantly, like minded communication allows for each party to be understood clearly.

Stronger communication leads to better understanding. Better understanding leads to trust and a higher probability of closing.

Technique

Being effective at matching a buyer’s personality does not require a seller to overhaul their own personality. Adapting to the buyer’s personality is as simple as changing how we are delivering the conversation.

If the buyer is being direct, be direct in return. If the buyer is showing empathy, show empathy in return.

It is really that simple. It just takes practice in looking for how things are being said. What is being said is also important. To truly identify a buyer’s bird type, all aspects of the conversation need to be interpreted.

Once you have the bird type identified, mirror and engage. The seller is still the seller. They are simply responding in a way that resonates with the buyer.

As sellers get comfortable with the process, they may find that portraying a complimentary bird type is more effective then mirroring. An example is the owl. Two owls may get lost in information overload. Taking the position of an eagle maybe helpful in moving the process along.

This is why this technique can be very fun. Once the bird types are understood, there are endless possibilities for how they can be used in a selling process.

Take Aways

People respond best when they feel they are understood and heard. Communicating with buyers in a when that conveys understanding, especially at an emotional level, will help build trust in the selling process. Mirroring or countering a prospect’s personality type is not intended to control the situation. Rather the intent is to develop rapport and understanding.

Using the birds makes this all very easy. Most importantly, it is fun and interesting. As always, practice on those closest to you before unleashing this in the field.