Ask someone to define their style, and they’ll probably start listing off adjectives that relate to the clothes they wear, the music they like, the activities they enjoy, and the type of car they drive.
For sales professionals, though, style can extend into the way they do business. Knowing what kind of sales style you follow can provide insight into your strengths, improvement areas, and how to grow and adapt by using other styles outside your wheelhouse.
Here are some of the most common selling styles — find out where you fit in?
Hardline seller
You’re an aggressive salesperson whose only concern is the bottom line. Hard and fast is the name of the game, and you aim to close a sale with a single call. These sales representatives are usually more prone to being lone wolves than part of a pack and can become easily discouraged or give up completely if a prospect doesn’t move forward immediately. Often, they have a lot of energy, drive, passion to sell, and confidence which makes them crack a sale quickly.
Areas of growth include recognizing that sales are often a process, not just a phone call!
The “What do you need?” seller
This quick-thinking sales professional focuses his or her efforts on adapting to meet a prospect’s needs. They ask lots of questions, with the goal of figuring out their customer’s core need, and then think fast on their feet to propose a solution. Their sale style is often based on a problem-solving approach rather than forcing a sale.
Areas of growth include recognizing that sometimes, sales is about creating a need instead of just fulfilling an existing one.
The product evangelist
It doesn’t matter if the product is great or not — the product evangelist seller will be able to convince you it is. If you’re a product evangelist, your selling methods will focus most of your efforts on touting the benefits of your product. Lots of demos are on your schedule, and you’ll use any product update as a reason to reach out to a lead. Too often, these sellers possess a lot of convincing skills, which they capitalize along with their groundwork.
Areas of growth? Realize that sometimes, it’s not about the product — it’s about the person.
The competitor
People using these selling techniques know every comparable product on the market and can tell you exactly why their product is better. The competition-focused seller is a professional who always aims to be one step ahead. They’ll never take no for an answer and will work extra hours to ensure the sale gets made. They also have a lot of confidence and convincing skills and have a lot of faith in their product which helps them in winning the deal.
As with any hyper-focused individual, the competition-oriented sales professional sometimes needs to slow down and realize there’s more to life – and to selling – than always being the best.
The matchmaker
This is the most common selling style. Matchmakers are focused on building relationships and are often the most adaptable sales professionals out there. They flex to fit the client they are dealing with and are usually the most outgoing, good-natured person in your team.
They can improve by adding a dash of high-intensity effort where it’s needed and better recognizing when it’s time to wait versus when it’s time to strike while the iron’s hot.
Whether you’re a cool-headed relationship-builder, a fast-moving aggressive seller, or the biggest product ambassador ever, we can all learn from each other’s unique sale styles to grow into better and more adaptable professionals!
