Truth IX: Adapt Your Style

Share our similarities, celebrate our differences.
- M. Scott Peck

It is our natural tendency to sell to people the way we want to be sold. Every prospect is unique and needs to be handled in a distinctive fashion. An outstanding salesperson quickly recognizes the temperament of the person he or she is dealing with and adapts to their style accordingly. The average salesperson has a closing ratio of one to four. I believe the for this is because they come across a prospect that is similar to them in temperament one out of four times and that prospect responds variably to their approach. It is important as we learn to understand and appreciate the differences in other people that we adapt our style accordingly for the most positive results. In other words, don’t get MAD; learn to adapt your style and approach in the best possible manner to achieve maximum success with all types of personalities.

The three most important criteria for learning to adapt your style to other personalities are:

• M irror and Match: People have a hard time walking away from anything in which they have invested a lot of time.
• A dapt Your Style: Learn to adapt your selling style to various prospects.
• D ifferent Personalities: Understand what the buying criterion is for certain people.