Deck 6: Adaptive Selling for Relationship Building

Question 1

Would a person with an analytical social style be better at selling than a person with a driver or an expressive style Why or why not

Answer 1

Selling stand for the process wherein the seller sells the products to the buyer with the intention and purpose of not only selling the product or a service but also to build a selling partnership with the buyer making the buyer to continue and remain loyal with the product and service that is sold by the seller.
It could be that a person with expressive or driver social styles would be the best in making the sales to take place instead of person who is of analytical style. This is because the person who is of analytical social style will be concerned with everything and making things around him highly organized, this will not suit the selling skills because the customers are not always in the same wavelength as this person would be.
Instead, if the social style of a person would be driver or expressive, then he would be the one who enjoys involvement with others, and is action-oriented and result believer which will make him sell the products and services more effectively. The people belonging to these social styles are task and result oriented, self-motivated and wants everybody else to be in the same wavelength as that person is. These people want to be ahead of others and carry high ambition for their careers. They are open and do not hesitate in speaking their mind. And, thus it could be concluded that a person with expressive or driver social styles would be the best in making the sales to take place instead of person who is of analytical style.

Question 2

Some people object to the social style matrix training system because they don't want to "act". Is that a valid objection What would you say to them

Answer 2

Social style matrix stands for the popular training system that is used by the companies in making the salespeople to adapt to their effective communication styles.
It is said that some people object to the training system that makes use of social style matrix stating that they do not want to act. This objection could not be stated as valid because this matrix allows the people to explore their hidden and untapped communication style that is most effective in making the others to get influenced and convinced.
As this training using social style matrix helps people to interact with each other and recognize and adjust while having better relationships with them, how it could be seen as acting or faking in front of others. This training helps an individual to give his best self to the customers in making the sale to take place effectively and with much optimism in it. This way it could be concluded that the kind of objection people raise related to the use of social style matrix stating that they do not want to act is not at all valid.

Question 3

What social styles would you assign to the following people

Answer 3

Social styles stand for a behavioral theory wherein people at workplace are analysed and distinguished on the basis of four social styles- the driver; the analytical, the expressive, and the amiable. The driver stands for the people who are action-oriented and result believers; analytical ones are who are concerned with everything and makes it highly organized; the expressive ones enjoys involvement with others; while the amiable ones are happy, relaxed and content with whatever will be the situation.
The following is the social styles that could be assigned to the people asked in the question -
a. Ms. HC-
The social style of Ms. HC could be expressive because she is the one who enjoys involvement with others and likes to lead political and social reforms. She loves to talk to people, help them solving their issues and problems, and tries to know as much as possible about them.
b. Selling instructor -
The social style of Ms. KD, the selling instructor could be analytical because she is highly motivated, action oriented and wants to get results as early as possible by making hard efforts and not letting any stone unturned in doing hard work.
c. The person sitting next to Mr. Y in the class -
The social style of Mr. SJ could be amiable because this person is highly relaxed and do not show any change in his attitude as per changing situations and is always calmed without any rush to do something.
d. Mr. Y's best friend -
The social style of Ms. TA could be expressive because she is the one who enjoys involvement with others and likes to be in others' company. She loves to talk to people and tries to know as much as possible about them.

Question 4

The salesperson in Building Partnerships 6.1 didn't find a peck on the cheek from the buyer as sexual harassment. Why not How do you know when a buyer's actions are inappropriate

Question 5

Suppose that, during a sales call, a customer says, "I'm not convinced that this new product will sell." How should you respond if this customer is a driver An expressive

Question 6

Market research by a commercial cleaning company identified two types of high schools. Traditional high schools believe that teacher and staff satisfaction is based on the quality of students and that cleaning services are relatively unimportant. Private and charter high schools believe that cleaning services are very important because they affect the students' parents' perceptions of the school. What type of sales presentation would you use to sell janitorial services to each of these high school types Which product features and benefits would you emphasize in each case

Question 7

Based on information provided in this case, identify each of the three buyer's social styles.

Question 8

If you were Mike, what should you do to sell to this group

Question 9

What kinds of knowledge does Pat need to do her job effectively

Question 10

How can she acquire that knowledge

Question 11

As a salesperson, is it ethical to adjust your presentation based on social styles Isn't that just being manipulative Are there any times when it would be unethical to adjust your social style

Question 12

What type of system should she use to store that knowledge and retrieve it as needed

Question 13

A salesperson stated, "I just can't stand to deal with buyers who have trouble making up their minds. I'd much rather deal with someone who shouts at me and tells me in no uncertain terms what they hate about me or my product." Based on this limited amount of information, what social style would you guess the salesperson to be What would be your response to this salesperson

Question 14

I have a buyer who is a real bully. She is in constant battles with all of the salespeople who call on her, as well as for her own staff. Her business is important to me, and I don't want to lose it. But I can't keep on working with her the way she is. How should I adapt to her social style

Question 15

A salesperson who is amiable is preparing a presentation. What suggestions can you make to improve the salesperson's performance

Question 16

A salesperson made the following comment: "I hate it when my sales manager makes calls with me. I do so much better when I'm by myself. After the call, she is always telling me what I did wrong." Based on what you learned in this chapter on knowledge systems, what would be your response to this salesperson

Question 17

"A good salesperson can sell any customer." Do you agree Why or why not