Chapter 6
Selling to Each Style
You Can Expand Your Market Share by Adjusting to Your Consumer's Interactive Style
I prefer to take a collaborative and consultative approach to sales. This is consistent with our corporate mission “to positively affect the life of each person with whom we come in contact.” It is also aligned with my Romantic/Warrior (Crusader) interactive style. I had always approached selling by first understanding my clients' needs and then developing an approach to address those challenges. However, it wasn't until I was hired by a luxury consumer appliance manufacturer that I developed a detailed model for consultative selling. The impetus for that design was the result of a visit I made to the client's manufacturing facility and learning center. Management had heard of my work with another organization and asked if I could meet them at their central location.
When I arrived at their facility, I was immediately impressed by the quality of the experience. The executive vice president (EVP) met me and offered to begin our meeting with a tour of their education center. The EVP was a tall, lean, and proper man. He exuded an air of grace and intelligence. He also reflected a certain stoicism that told me he was a man of no nonsense. I immediately had him pegged as the Sage (Warrior/Expert). We began the tour after brief pleasantries. From that moment on, in keeping with the style of the Sage, he shared information of a strictly factual nature.
Their learning center ...
