The greatest salespeople are multilingual.
Now, before you rush to open the Duolingo app, know that I’m not talking about English, Spanish, and French here. (Though it’s a global world now, so it can’t hurt!)
I’m talking about the language of personality.
Sales is all about connecting with people. So when you shift how you talk to appeal to your prospect and their unique personality type, you become truly masterful at sales.
For example, if you can tell that your prospect thrives on relationships and really want accolades from their coworkers it’s smart to talk about how much their coworkers will love your solution.
They speak the language of relationships, social proof, and social recognition. So don’t speak any other language.
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“Everything DiSC® Sales can help any customer-facing team become more personally engaged with their customers and more effective at their jobs.” – Wiley
When I bring this up with clients, they often ask me about the topic of authenticity.
We all want to be authentic and true to ourselves.
So does shifting the way you speak to someone make you inauthentic or manipulative?
Here’s my take:
Speaking to people in a way that they can understand, in a way that helps you connect with them, isn’t fundamentally changing who you are or making you inauthentic.
It’s just shifting your communication style in a way that serves your prospect.
It’s speaking Spanish to someone who speaks Spanish.
So we’re not manipulating people. We’re serving them, and we’re connecting more deeply with them and understanding who they are.
Because we all want to feel seen and heard, don’t we?
How to Motivate Different Personality Styles
D – Dominance Personality Type (The Lion)
Speak the language of power and authority.
They like competition, winning, results, and being in charge.
They fear losing control or being taken advantage of.
I – Influence Personality Type (The Peacock)
The socially-motivated peacock speaks the language of relationships. They care most about social recognition, relationships, and collaboration.
On the flip side, nothing strikes fear in their hearts like rejection–especially public rejection.
S – Steadiness (The Golden Retriever)
The people-pleasing golden retriever loves supporting others. Their language is collaboration and stability.
They’re very people focused, agreeable, receptive, empathetic, and very calm.
They don’t like loss of stability, rocking the boat, or offending others.
C – Conscientious (The Owl)
Owls speak in terms of accuracy and data.
They’re motivated by the opportunity to use their expertise and gain knowledge. They’re objective and skeptical by nature. So they challenge you to see if you pay attention to details.
Their big fear is making a wrong choice.
The big takeaway is this…
Any time you want to influence another person—whether you’re selling something, leading a team, or even making a case for your favorite restaurant on date night—you’re going to be more effective if you speak to what motivates the other person.
Does this ring true for you?
What motivates you most when you’re making an important decision?
