Improving Your Interactive Flexibility

Improving Your Interactive Flexibility

The Golden Ticket

By Bob Lanza

Many of you are probably familiar with behavior profiles. Staffing firms are beginning to offer this form of testing for the applicants they offer their clients as well as using them to select employees to work in their branch office. There are multiple applications of these tools.One which I believe seems to get overlooked is using the information for maximum interactive flexibility with the prospects and clients we deal with. Understanding this is truly the golden ticket to increasing your odds of success.

There are numerous profiles on the market and this article is not intending to rate the tools. I have compiled a report “The Truth about Candidate Screening and Assessments”. If you would like a copy of this report please reach out to me at the contacts at the end of this article.

Many of these tools break us down into four primary styles. The tool that I use with my clients for staff selection and training breaks the four styles into Doer, Talker, Pacer, and Controller. To give you an example of each lets say that a primary Doer would be just about any dictator in history or perhaps Bobby Knight, the strong willed basketball coach. A person who is primarily a Talker may seem a lot like the comic Robin Williams. Your Pacer may have a behavior style like, and now I’m dating myself, the character Andy Taylor from The Andy Griffith Show. And finally we would probably find someone like Dr. Spock, the famous psychologist, to be a high Controller style.

All of us possess varying degrees of each behavior style usually having one of the four as our primary style. We will naturally be more comfortable in relationships that are closely aligned with our own style. In business development we need to understand how to interact, communicate and influence

different styles. Failing to become comfortable with this will limit your business development and placement skills to only one style. Below you will find a quick guide for interactive flexibility between different styles. Over the next several weeks see if you can identify the primary style of business relationships and coworkers.

IMPROVING YOUR INTERACTIVE FLEXIBILITY

When interacting with a DOER who has the following characteristics:

  • Fast-paced speech
  • Gives a strong first impression
  • Impatient
  • Direct
  • Tries to control the situation

Factors that will improve a selling relationship with this Customer:

  • Speed up – omit some of the details
  • Speak with confidence
  • Flatter their ego
  • Don’t waste their time
  • Stress Service – be fast and efficient
  • Stress new products and service

Factors that will create tension or dissatisfaction with this Style of Customer:

  • Not reacting quickly
  • Speaking slowly and deliberately

When interacting with a TALKER who has the following characteristics:

  • Friendly and talkative
  • Impulsive
  • Uses many hand gestures when speaking
  • Gets emotional
  • Imprecise about the use of time

Factors that will improve a selling relationship with this Customer:

  • Be more demonstrative with your facial gestures
  • Be flexible with your time schedule…allow time for them to talk
  • Let them know you enjoy their company
  • Be prepared for them to be emotional
  • Let them know you are interested in helping them

Factors that will create tension or dissatisfaction with this Style of Customer:

  • Not sharing information freely
  • Not displaying a sense of urgency

When interacting with a PACER who has the following characteristics:

  • Patient
  • Easygoing
  • Uses an unemotional tone of voice
  • Reserved
  • Deliberate – methodical

Factors that will improve a selling relationship with this Customer:

  • Maintain a friendly environment
  • Show a demonstrated need for urgency
  • Present information in a systematic fashion
  • If change is necessary, give many reasons and benefits
  • Show sincere appreciation
  • Stress security
  • Assure them that many others are using your product/service

Factors that will create tension or dissatisfaction with this Style of Customer:

  • Not demonstrating personal attention
  • Being possessive of information

When interacting with a CONTROLLER who has the following characteristics:

  • Speaks slowly
  • Asks questions about facts and data
  • Deliberate in actions
  • Uses few gestures
  • Skeptical
  • Suspicious

Factors that will improve a selling relationship with this Customer:

  • Be diplomatic and courteous
  • Don’t ask probing, personal questions
  • Avoid criticism of their comments or choices
  • Don’t threaten them

Factors that will create tension or dissatisfaction with this Style of Customer:

  • Sloppy work environment
  • Overselling
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