I’ve traveled to enough trade shows to know that, without question, everyone has their own selling style. No, I’m not referring to little “tricks” of the game. You know, the classic (read: antiquated) techniques once taught in the sales books of decades past only to be sadly magnified by some phony salespeople who don’t know any better. Still unsure of what I mean? Alright, Glengarry Glen Ross time...

See how fake that is? Got it now? Good.

Actually, what I’m referring to is a model developed by authors Dr. David Merrill and Roger Reid nearly 50 years ago called the Social Styles Model. Despite its age, the model still merits high relevancy today.

The Social Styles Model describes three aspects of behavior that are especially critical for a salesperson to observe in themselves and their customer if they wish to have any degree of success – assertiveness, responsiveness and versatility. Assertiveness represents the degree to which a person attempts to control situations or the thoughts and actions of others. Responsiveness is the readiness with which a person outwardly displays emotions or feelings and develops relationships. Versatility, of course, measures the degree to which an individual can adjust their own style in order to facilitate interactions with a person of another style (Lill, Selling: The Profession, 128). Because the former two behavioral characteristics can vary greatly, irrespective of one’s level of versatility, the model can therefore be summarized via four styles within people (130):

• Drivers – The tell and control people, high in assertiveness, low in responsiveness. Drivers typically control others by telling them what to do and control themselves by remaining objective. Usually task-oriented with a preference toward combining personal and emotional power and in relationships, drivers are specialists in control.
• Expressives – The tell and emote people, high in both assertiveness and responsiveness. Expressives attempt to tell people what to do, but place more emphasis on their relationships with people than they do on the task itself; expressives are the social specialists.
• Amiables – The ask and emote people, low in assertiveness yet high in responsiveness. Amiables rely on a personal feeling approach to get things done; they are the supportive specialists, combining both personal reserve and emotional expression.
• Analyticals – The ask and control people, low in both assertiveness and responsiveness. As the name suggests, analyticals are highly task-oriented, but soften that style with low firmness. They ask rather than direct people; they are the technical specialists.

When people of varying styles meet, behaving with strict accordance to the characteristics of their personal profile, conflict often and expectedly results. An “amiable” salesperson who wishes to cultivate a relationship may find difficulty when dealing with a “driving” customer who simply wishes to get the job done, for example. What’s more, the preferred pace and priorities of one’s self and their customer must also be considered if the salesperson wishes to move forward in the sales process. Drivers and expressives, for instance, like to move at a faster pace relative to their amiable and analytical counterparts. On the other hand, amiables and expressives place more importance on the relationship rather than the tasks at hand relative to the other two groups.

So how’s a salesperson supposed to “read” another and adjust accordingly, you ask? Assuming you’ve already gone through the exercise of discovering which style best describes you, which is an absolute must, here are some pointers. After all, human behavior is very predictable when you consider that nearly 90% of our actions are controlled by habits and attitudes (127).

• Be aware of your surroundings – If you go into your customer’s office, how is it decorated? How is the seating arranged? Lots of family pictures on the desk (maybe an amiable person) or framed displays of personal and professional accreditation galore (could be an expressive person)?
• Take note of subtle verbal cues – Is your customer taking the time to get to know you (an amiable/expressive sign) or are we “getting right down to business” (an analytical/driver sign). Is he or she speaking to you quickly or slowly? Is he or she asking more questions or making more declarative statements? Any emotion in their voice at all?
• Be mindful of non-verbal signals – How’s the emotional barometer of the room? Is your customer leaning towards you or away? Is he or she looking at you in the eye? Or perhaps he or she is acting more reserved, either in their facial expressions (a “poker face”) and/or a weak handshake?

We’ve all heard it before. In order to be successful, we must meet the needs of our customers. What is often overlooked, however, is that behavioral styles are also a necessary component of your customers’ needs. Avoid distrust and ultimately a breakdown in communication by treating your customer how they wish to be interacted with. Move according to their pace and the priorities they desire. Identifying your own selling style, and that of your customer, accurately, then responding in a positive, appropriate manner is the first step in the process.

And for the record, I’m an expressive who thinks Jack Lemmon was amazing. Happy selling!