How to Negotiate with the Four Personality Types
People negotiate differently and behave differently during the negotiation process.
We can look at different negotiation styles and how different types of behavior can affect the outcome of negotiations.
In business negotiations, some people trade fast and take risks, others take their time and try to avoid risk. Some buyers are very loyal, others will search automatically. Some negotiators can be quite intimidating to the point of being rude; others are quite passive and easy to manipulate.
This makes selling and negotiating a real challenge. In order to deal with all these different types of buyers, we must be able to adapt our behavior and be flexible in our approach.
To begin this process we can look at two aspects of buyer behavior; assertiveness and responsiveness.
Assertive people are confident and know what they want. They are not afraid to express opinions and are willing to listen to the opinions of others. They are not afraid of conflict and will be more than happy to plead your case.
People who are very assertive can be seen as aggressive, while people who lack assertiveness are often passive and take advantage of them. There are moments in which it is convenient to be more or less assertive and we must recognize when those moments are.
Responsiveness means the degree to which people are willing to respond to us and our questions. Some people are very receptive and will give a lot of information about themselves, their problems and needs. Others are unwilling or unable to respond in this way, and we often see these people as negative or difficult.
We are all different and some of us are naturally assertive and some of us are not. Sellers tend to be quite responsive, but sometimes we lack assertiveness. An example of this is during negotiations.
When customers pressure us to lower prices or give discounts, we find it difficult and uncomfortable, and we worry about damaging the relationship with the buyer.
There are four basic styles of behavior and these are determined by the way people relate to each other.
How can you make sure you approach people the right way?
Know the social styles“, developed by Merrill and Reid, is a theory that I have discussed in several of my articles and it is very useful to have a thorough understanding of it when trading. social styles model There are four basic “styles,” or preferred ways of interacting with others.
Merrill and Reid believe that the person social style it is a way of dealing with others. People feel more comfortable with that style, in themselves and in others.
Of a person social style is measured in relation to three behavioral dimensions:
or assertiveness
or responsiveness
or Versatility.
The assertiveness scale:
Measures the degree to which a person is seen as attempting to influence the thoughts, decisions, or actions of others, either directly through say behavior or through questions, i.e. ask behavior.
say behavior: It’s risky, fast-paced, challenging.
ask behavior: It is cooperative, deliberate actions, minimizing risks.
The responsiveness scale:
It measures the degree to which a person openly expresses their feelings or controls them. The extremes of the scale are “control” and “emote”.
control behavior: He is disciplined, serious and fresh.
Emoticon behavior: You are relationship oriented, open and warm.
The two scales are combined to give a two-dimensional model of behavior, which will help you understand how others perceive you. The behavioral dimensions will also help you plan how you can deal more effectively with people of different social styles.
The four social styles and how to negotiate with them:
Driver .Director.
o Assertive but not receptive
o Oriented to tasks rather than people.
o Decisive and determined
o Controlled emotions
o Focus on efficiency and effectiveness.
o You like control, you are often in a hurry.
o Firm and stable relationships
or Stubborn, tough.
or Impatient.
o Poor inflexible listener.
To negotiate with drivers:
o Plan to ask questions and discuss specific issues, actions, and results.
o Use facts and logic.
o When necessary, disagree with facts rather than opinions. be assertive
o Keep it like a business, efficient and to the point.
o Personal guarantees and testimonials are less effective, better at providing options and facts.
o Do not invade personal space.
Expressive. The Socialize.
o Assertive and receptive.
o Reactive, impulsive, spontaneous decisions, intuitive
o Give more importance to relationships than to tasks
o Emotionally expressive, sometimes dramatic.
o Flexible schedule, short attention span, easy to love.
or Enthusiastic.
o Strong persuasive skills, talkative and sociable.
or Optimistic; take risks
or Creative.
To negotiate with expressive:
o Seek feedback in an area you want to develop to gain mutual understanding.
o The discussion should be both people and fact oriented.
o Keep summarizing. elaborate on the points of agreement.
o Try short, quick experience stories.
o Be sure to point them out in a friendly way.
o Remember to discuss the future as well as the present.
o Beware of impulse buying.
Friendly The Supporter.
o Not assertive but receptive.
or dependent on others.
o Respectful, willing and agreeable.
o Emotionally expressive.
or Friend of all; support; soft heart.
o Low risk taker, likes security
o Group Builder.
o Over sensitive.
o Not goal oriented.
Negotiate With Friendly:
o Work together, look for common ground.
o Find out about personal and family interests.
o Be patient and avoid looking for what seems easy.
o Use personal insurance and specific guarantees and avoid options and probabilities.
o Take time to be nice.
o Focus the discussion on .how.
o Demonstrate low-risk solutions.
o Don’t take advantage of their good nature.
Analytical The Clinician.
o Not assertive, not receptive.
o Accurate, orderly and professional.
o Rational and cooperative.
o Self-controlled and serious.
o Motivated by logic and facts.
o He is not quick to make decisions.
o Distrust persuasive people.
o I like things in writing and in detail.
o Safety conscious.
o Critical, distant, skeptical.
o Excellent problem solver.
o You like rigid schedules.
Trade with Analytics:
o Act instead of words to show help and willingness.
o Stick to details. Analysts expect sellers to overreact.
o Their decisions are based on facts and logic and avoid risk.
o They can often be very cooperative, but established relationships take time.
o Consider telling them what the product will not do. they’ll respect you for it, and they’ll have spotted the shortcomings anyway.
o Discuss the reasons and ask why. affairs.
o Become less receptive and less assertive yourself.
If you really want to develop not only your negotiation skills, but also your comprehensive communication skills, then I advise you to familiarize yourself with the “social styles” model.
Copyright © 2008 Jonathan Farrington. All rights reserved