Selling to 4 Personality Types: A Lesson in Sales Psychology

Selling to 4 Personality Types: A Lesson in Sales Psychology
by Michael O'Grady

I once read a great book by Florence Littauer, titled "Your Personality Tree" (affiliate link) 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.

The four temparement types are...

"Sanguine" - Cheerful, optimistic, the “Life of the Party” who is comfortable

to be around and gets along with everyone (extroverted).

"Choleric" - “I’m in charge”, “It’s my way or the highway” type, characterized by a
quick, hot temper and aggressive nature (extroverted).

"Melancholy"- A thinker, everything is well-planned and thought-out, no decision is made hastily. This type of person tends to take a pessimistic view of the world
and can be sad or depresssed (introverted).

"Phelgmatic" - A “worry wart”, can be lazy or slow to make a any decision, even something as simple as “will that be cream or milk in your coffee?” (introverted).

The humor of Blood, associated with the liver and with Air, which is the hot and moist element. A person in whom blood predominates is said to be "sanguine," from the Latin "sanguis" (blood).
The humor of Yellow Bile, associated with the spleen and with Fire, which is the hot and dry element. A person in whom yellow bile predominates is said to be "choleric," from the Greek "khole" (bile).
The humor of Black Bile, associated with the gall bladder and with Earth, which is the cold and dry element. A person in whom black bile predominates is said to be "melancholic," from the Greek "melas" (black) and "khole" (bile).
The humor of Phlegm, associated with the lungs and brain and with Water, which is the cold and moist element. A person in whom phlegm predominates is said to be "phlegmatic," from the Greek "phlegmatikos" (abounding in phlegm) .

An effective sales approach using these theories would be to first assess your customer's temperament type. Is he or she dominant? Introverted? Cautious? Optimistic? Your next approach should be to adjust your sales presentation to accommodate your customer's assessed personality type. Here are a few tips that do just that:

When Selling to a "Choleric" Customer: Let them know they're in charge and compliment them on good decisions.
When Selling to a "Sanguine" Customer: You don't need to do much except get along with them and work on closing the sale quickly (assuming there isn't another decision maker behind the scenes, like a spouse or business partner with a different personality type).
When Selling to a "Melancholy" Customer: Be prepared to answer a list of questions he or she will have for you. These types are true researchers and detail oriented. Be prepared to settle in and entertain questions about your product or service that will test your expertise. You probably won't close this sale in the first sitting, but that's okay. If you follow up properly and are prepared for more questions after you leave, you will put yourself in the best position possible to close this sale. Just stay patient!
When Selling to a "Phlegmatic" Customer: You are typically going dealing with a person who has difficulty with making decisions, especially a perceived "large" financial decision. After reassuring this person that everything will be handled professionally and with great care, be prepared with some third party proof. Referral letters stating how professional and careful your company is, certificate of insurance, any awards you've received and/or articles written about your company. In the end you have to take charge of the sale and just close it. If you are not strong in your close you may allow this customer to slip away with all their uncertainty and worry. Help make the decision for the customer and then compliment them on making such a great decision in your post close.

These personality or temperament theories have a very practical application in sales and business. Sales professionals, managers, business owners and any professional who works with people can use this basic knowledge of personality to enhance their dealings with people. By understanding the underlying reasons why people behave and relate the way they do helps us as professionals to work through challenging business dealings and help our customers make better decisions.

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