prospecting
Why prospect based on personality?
When prospecting, it can be difficult to break through the noise. By employing an adaptive selling strategy, sales reps can adjust their approach based on their buyer’s unique personality, communication style, and motivations. Understanding personality differences is key to being more impactful when prospecting.
Understanding a prospect’s personality can help you leave a lasting impression on them.
At Crystal, we’ve developed a tool that analyzes publicly available information to determine an individual’s personality type and enables an adaptive selling approach. Using the DISC Framework, a proven and tested personality methodology, prospects are categorized into 4 main personality types: D (Dominance), I (Influence), S (Steadiness), and C (Conscientiousness).
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When you’re reaching out to a prospect or preparing to meet with them for the first time, you can find their personality type by using Crystal’s Chrome Extension. After identifying where a prospect falls on the DISC wheel, you can better understand how to best communicate with and sell to each individual.
DISC type D personality: Dominant
Prospects with D personality types are motivated by control over the future and personal authority. They tend to prefer instant, concrete results and competitive advantages.
Quick tip: Get to your point quickly.
Your Behavior: Focus on being concise and confident.
Communication: Communicate clearly and succinctly while avoiding small talk.
Always Remember: Appeal to the Dominant person’s preference for big ideas and high-level planning. Skip the fine details unless asked.
D type examples: Kamala Harris, Mark Cuban, Donald Trump
Prospecting Advice:
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I noticed that you recently released a new product, and my company can help you get significantly more exposure in the consulting industry. Is there a time I can call you to discuss? |
DISC type I personality: Influential
Prospects with I personality types are motivated by innovative, unique, creative ideas and excited by the future. They tend to prefer building new relationships and experiences.
Quick tip: Be friendly and engage in small talk.
Your Behavior: Anything that conveys warmth, familiarity, and an open attitude– share interesting stories, while maintaining a positive demeanor.
Communication: Communicate in a casual, expressive way and engage in small talk before jumping into the finer details.
Always Remember: Influential people are usually visual people, so bring along any illustrations you can and follow up any key takeaways and action items in writing.
I type personality examples: Dick Van Dyke, Taylor Swift, Conan O’Brien
Prospecting Advice:
| DO | DON'T | EXAMPLE |
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I noticed that we’re both part of the AAISP, and I’d like to share a little bit about what my company is working on to see if it could help you. I’d love to chat with you and answer any questions you have about the product. Let me know what your next week looks like! |
DISC type S personality: Steady
Prospects with S personality types are motivated by peace, safety, and others’ well-being. They tend to prefer security, reliability and trust.
Quick tip: Ease into the conversation and apply no pressure.
Your Behavior: Help them relax by asking them how their day is going and respecting their schedule. Avoid being overly intense or pushy in your tone.
Communication: Communicate in a friendly and genuine way. Ask them questions and given them time to respond.
Always Remember: You need to create trust with a steady person. Fit into their routine, define an agenda that is sent prior to the meeting and give them time to process and respond to your ideas
S type personality examples: Kate Middleton, Mother Theresa, Marie Kondo
Prospecting Advice:
| DO | DON'T | EXAMPLE |
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My name is Daniel and I work for MetaZine, which is a software platform for online magazine publishers like yourself. In the past, we’ve helped people accomplish XYZ. Are you interested in new partnerships like this? If so, let’s talk next week. |
DISC type C personality: Analytical
Prospects with C personality types are motivated by logic, information, and problem-solving. They tend to prefer accurate information and quality solutions (quality over quantity).
Quick tip: Be punctual (or early) and dedicate time to prepare and research before the meeting.
Your Behavior: Be intentional about showing respect for their time and demonstrating your expertise. Avoid asking irrelevant personal questions.
Communication: Communicate in a business-like, fact-based way. Include all relevant details and data, providing the opportunity to learn more. No detail is too small.
Always Remember: Calculating people are extremely objective. If you walk in and try to appeal to their personal side, you will fail. Know your facts and leave room to learn from the Calculating person. Never make any statements that cannot be backed up with facts.
C type personality examples: Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elizabeth Warren
Prospecting Advice:
| DO | DON'T | EXAMPLE |
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I’d like to introduce myself and find out more about your marketing strategy to see if we can work together. I’ve included some additional information and data for context. What are your biggest marketing challenges right now? |
Final thoughts
When prospecting is a major part of your job, it’s important to know how to do it well. Adaptive selling is the key to efficiently starting and building strong business relationships. With an accurate understanding of personality differences, you can better understand what your customers want, why they want it, and how they want to communicate in the buying process.
Adapting your communication based on your prospect’s personality will help you reach them more effectively so you can create lasting connections and build solid relationships.
Learn more by requesting a demo with one of our reps today!
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