According to a recent Harvard Business Article, retail salespeople who subtly mimic customers’ speech and behavior are more successful at selling (based on an experiment by Céline Jacob of the Université de Bretagne-Sud in France). Among customers who solicited salespeople for information about an MP3 player, 78.8% bought such a product from mimickers, compared with 61.8% from non-mimickers. Additionally, customers who had been mimicked were more positive about the salespeople and the store.
That’s why it is critical to learn DISC (which measures an individual’s observable behavior or “HOW” someone does what they do) and how to identify a person’s behavior style. This is a significant “A” Player ability.
Here are the four behavior styles with links to more detail about improving communications with each of the behavior styles:
- (D) Dominanceis a measure of “How” you respond to problems and challenges.
- A High D: New problems solved quickly, assertively, actively. Gets to the bottom-line quickly.
- A Low D: New problems solved in a controlled, organized way. Thinks before acting.
- (I) Influenceis a measure of “How” you influence others to your point of view.
- A High I: Meets new people in an outgoing, talkative manner. Gregarious and emotional.
- A Low I: Meets new people in a quiet, controlled, reserved manner. Emotionally controlled.
- (S) Steadinessis a measure of “How” you respond to the pace of the environment.
- A High S: Prefers a controlled, deliberate work environment. Values security of situation.
- A Low S: Prefers a flexible, dynamic, changeable environment. Values freedom of expression.
- (C) Conscientiousnessis a measure of “How” you respond to rules and procedures set by others.
- A High C: Likes things done ‘the right way,’ and says, “Rules are made to be followed.”
- A Low C: Works independently of the procedures and says, “Rules are made to be bent or broken.”
Invest the time to learn your behavior style and how to communicate effectively with the other behavior styles. I absolutely agree with the article and believe this investment of time will increase your results by at least 20% and probably much more!
Interested in taking a professional DISC profile and having a debrief with an executive coach? Contact us today and indicate you are interested in learning more about DISC!
According to this Harvard Business Review article, the most successful managers are redundant in their communications to staff utilizing multiple communication methods.
“The finding: To get employees to do something, managers need to ask them at least twice. We know that the effective managers repeated themselves at least once, and we often observed managers who sent three or four redundant communications.”
Here’s another incredibly valuable method of increasing communication success…get better at delegating. Remember, always delegate tasks that someone else can do for you, thus allowing you to focus on the things only you can do. This is a key to leveraging your resource of time. Also, be sure to set your team up for success by making sure the person being delegated to has demonstrated the appropriate level of competence to complete the task as expected. When delegating, first get verbal agreement that both parties agree on the specific task, exact quality, deadline, etc. of the responsibility being delegated. Second, have the person put it in writing to you, once again confirming these points and helping to ensure there are absolutely no misunderstandings. Finally, agree on a progress update schedule. Unless you want to possibly miss your deadline, it is important to inspect what you expect along the way. That is, check up on the project to make sure things are progressing as expected and that your team member has all of the necessary resources to complete the task on time, on specification and on budget!
You’ve identified someone as a “High C” DISC behavior style…what now? You adapt your behavior style to communicate in a manner which is preferred by that person. How?
Here are some tips for making communications with a “High C” DISC behavior style (slow-speaking, analytical, cautious, deliberate, etc.) more effective:
- Be neat, organized and thoroughly prepared.
- Be direct and straightforward.
- Have a logical, systematic approach.
- Provide details, facts and statistics, as well as pros and cons.
- Take your time. Be persistent, but be sincere.
- As with “High S’s”, minimize risk by providing guarantees.
- Be realistic…don’t oversell!
- Follow-up and follow-through as agreed upon.
- Start early and anticipate a longer sales cycle, as they will be deliberate and thorough with any decision.
Remember, this is not about conning and manipulation. It is about adapting your behavior/communication style in an effort to have the most effective communications with another behavior style and achieve a win/win outcome.
Ready to incorporate assessments into your hiring process? Call or email us today!
You’ve identified someone as a “High S” DISC behavior style…what now? You adapt your behavior style to communicate in a manner which is preferred by that person. How?
Here are some tips for making communications with a “High S” DISC behavior style (passive, patient, easy going, deliberate, etc.) more effective:
- Be sincere!
- Break the ice with a personal comment.
- Be non-threatening.
- Slowly draw out their wants and needs.
- Ask open-ended “how?” questions.
- Discuss feelings versus facts.
- Minimize their risk with guarantees.
- Be an active listener.
Remember, this is not about conning and manipulation. It is about adapting your behavior/communication style in an effort to have the most effective communications with another behavior style and achieve a win/win outcome.
Ready to incorporate assessments into your hiring process? Call or email us today!
You’ve identified someone as a “High I” DISC behavior style…what now? You adapt your behavior style to communicate in a manner which is preferred by that person. How?
Here are some tips for making communications with a “High I” DISC behavior style (extrovert, friendly, talkative, people oriented, lots of gestures, etc.) more effective:
- Don’t rush!
- Save plenty of time for personal chit-chat.
- Skip the details when possible, but get them in writing and get commitment to action items.
- Provide ideas for implementing action.
- Support their dreams and ideas.
- Be upbeat and optimistic.
- Ask for their opinions/ideas regarding people.
- Openly share information.
Remember, this is not about conning and manipulation. It is about adapting your behavior/communication style in an effort to have the most effective communications with another behavior style and achieve a win/win outcome.
Do you know your behavior style? Are you ready to incorporate assessments into your hiring process? Call or email us today!
