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Sales Training on PersonalityA
fundamental lesson in any business or sales training
program
is to understand your customer. Human behavior and
personality theories have a direct application to sales and business
industries. Here is an overview
of several well-known personality theories along with specific sales
training
tips on applying your knowledge of people.
The Origins of Personality Theory The
Unconscious Mind -
In
the 1800's and early 1900's, Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, and Carl Jung
- three of the most recognizable and reputable names
in personality theory - studied the conscious and
unconscious
mind. Each proposed individual theories
of personality, however
they all suggested that the unconscious mind influences all of
our
experiences and behaviors.
Carl Jung suggested that people deal with the world in four ways, or "functions" as he called them, each to a different degree, with one being superior.
Katharine Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers agreed with Jung's theory and created a paper-and-pencil personality test, now known as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which places people into one of sixteen personality types. It was established in 1943 and has evolved through many years of continual test research into a standard psychological instrument for assessment of personality. To maintain
ethical
guidelines established by the psychological community, the MBTI
must be administered by a qualified
psychological professional.
Today, the MBTI is used by millions of people. It's
practical applications lie in the areas of leadership, team-building,
sales training, career planning, time management,
problem- solving and more.
Conditioning
- While
many theories on personality type share some commonalities, some
theories
approach personality assessment from a completely different angle.
Rather than seeing people "fall into" certain personality
types,
B.F. Skinner, a researcher and psychology writer in the early-to--mid
1900's, believed that people - as organisms - bounce around their
universe exhibiting behavior based on reinforcement from the
environment. He calls this operant conditioning.
"A
behavior followed by a reinforcing stimulus results in an increased
probability of that behavior occuring in the future".
Therefore,
"The bad do bad because the bad is rewarded. The good do good
because the good is rewarded". Freedom and dignity don't
factor
into Skinne'rs theory, which has resulted in great debate. Self-Actualization - Another unique take on the development of personality is one from Abraham Maslow, a psychologist from Brooklyn, New York. His theory on human motivation is explained through a hierarchy of needs that he suggested are inborn, just like instincts. ![]() He believed that people move up through the hierarchy of needs in the following order: physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and finally, once all these needs are met, they reach what he calls, "self-actualization", which he identifies as a level of growth motivation - "becoming the fullest you" and "being all you can be". Humorism
- I once read a great book by Florence Littauer, titled "Your
Personality Tree",
which taught me a great deal about how to approach many different types
of customers. In this book, I learned about the ancient Greek theory of
medicine, called "Humorism" and the four humors, also known as
"temperamentum" or temperament, which represent a way of thinking,
behaving and reacting.
Hippocrates (b. ca. 460 B.C), "the Father of Medicine", and his son-in-law Polybus, believed that the four bodily fluids (a.k.a "humors") are each associated with one of the four elements (air, fire, earth, water) which make up all things. Too much of one humor or another was believed to bring about illness. The Humorism theory suggests that each person is born of a basic temperament, as determined by which of the four humors is more evident within them. Knowing which type is dominant in a person can help you, as a professional sales person or business owner, adjust your presentations and approaches with people more effectively. Read more about the four temperament types and how to apply this theory to sales and business. Read on. Take
the temperaments quiz to reveal which of the
four temperaments describes you most. Considerations
Behavior in social settings is often not the same in business settings, especially when finances are at stake. The happy-go-lucky sanguine type can present melancholy or even choleric features when business or work comes into play. The easiest way to consider personality types in these situations is to think about your own personality and behavior. What are you like in a social setting versus a situation where business is being conducted or your own personal finances are at stake? Be honest with yourself and think back to specific events in your life where you were a much different person depending on the circumstances. The bottom line is: it’s okay! That’s the way people are. As an effective sales person, you'll have to accept that people change their behavior from setting to setting. Do not take this personally. Remember, take a logical approach to the sales process. Sources: Dr. C. George Boeree, Psychology Department, Shippensburg University Florence Littauer, The Personality Tree Fisheaters.com |
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