Chapter 4: Communication Styles: A key to adaptive selling

Question 1

1. Discuss how communication style influences the relationship process in sales.

Answer 1

*Platinum rule:”Do unto others as they want done unto them”.
▸Personality: Thoughts patterns, feelings, and actions that characterize someone.
▸Communication Style: Patterns of behaviour that others observe. Voice patterns, eye movement, facial expression, and posture are some of the components of our communication style.
▸Adaptive selling: Altering sales behaviours in order to improve communication with the customer.
▸Communication style bias: State of mind we often experience when we have contact with another person whose communication style is different from our own.
▸Communication Style Principles:
1. Individual differences exist.
2. A communication styles is a way of thinking/behaving.
3. Individual style differences tend to be stable.
4. There are a finite number of styles.
5. To create the most productive relationships, is necessary to get in sync the communication style of the people you work with.
▸Improving relationship selling skills:
*Style Flexing: The deliberate adjustment of one’s communication style to accommodate the needs of other person.

Question 2

2. Identify the 2 major dimensions of the communication-style model.

Answer 2

▸Dominance Continuum:
*Dominance: Reflects the tendency to influence or exert one’s will over others in a relationship. Each of us falls somewhere on this continuum.
▸Sociability Continuum:
*Sociability: Reflects the amount of control one exerts over emotional expressiveness. People who are who are high in sociability tend to express their feelings freely, while people who are low in this continuum tend to control their feelings.

Question 3

3. Explain the 4 communication styles in the communication-style model.

Answer 3

▸4 Styles of Communication:

1. Emotive Style: Appears to be quite active, take the social initiative in most cases, like to encourage informally, and expresses emotions and opinions. High Dominance, High Sociability.
2. Directive Style: Appears to be business like, displays a serious attitude, and voices a strong opinion. High Dominance, Low Sociability.
3. Reflective Style: Controls emotional expression, displays a preference for orderliness, tends to express measured opinions, and seems difficult to get to know. Low Dominance, Low Sociability.
4. Supportive Style: Appears to be quiet and reserved, listens attentively to other people, tends to avoid use of power, and makes decisions in a thoughtful and deliberate manner. Low Dominance, High Sociability.

Question 4

5. Learn how to achieve interpersonal versatility and build strong selling relationships with style flexing.

Answer 4

▸Strength/Weakness Paradox: Greatest strength may becomes greatest weakness.
*Zone 1: Display unique behavioural characteristics with less intensity. Moderate, close to the middle, sometimes difficult to clearly place in one quadrant or another.
*Zone 2: Display unique behavioural characteristics more strongly. People in Zones 1 & 2 have the ability to shift styles temporarily (“Style Flexing”).
*Excess Zone: High degree of intensity and rigidity, very inflexible, threatens interpersonal skills.
▸Versatility: Ability to minimize communication-style bias.
▸Style Flexing: Attempt to adapt one’s communication style to accommodate the needs of the other person.
▸Selling to Emotives: be enthusiastic, establish relationship, back off facts and details, support opinions/ideas/dreams, ask questions, maintain eye contact, listen attentively.
▸Selling to Directives: be businesslike, efficient, time disciplined, organized, use facts, figures, success probabilities, help them meet objectives, ask questions and take notes.
▸Selling to Reflectives: be prompt, well prepared, use no no non-sense business like approach, present slow, use proof and documentation, don’t pressure quick decision.
▸Selling to Supportives: talk about family, hobbies, interests, build a social relationship, listen to opinions and feelings, be professional but have friendly approach, offer personal assurance and support, be patient and avoid conflict if possible.