By
Bob Phibbs
When I was looking for a lawn spreader, I asked the sales clerk, “Why should I buy this one?”
He quickly answered, “Because it makes sense.”
At that moment, he confirmed my suspicions that he had an Analytical personality style.
I've previously shared my thoughts about the Amiable, Expressive , and Driver personality styles. Today, with their sensible, fact-based approach, I'll dive into some thoughts about the Analytical.
It would be easy to dismiss the Analytical personality style as a bookworm, a techie, or a person with too much information because then we would think their knowledge depth is somehow irrelevant.
But their focus on detail makes their sales ability an asset. No other personality style will delve into as much product knowledge and history as an Analytical.
However, Analytical personalities are not necessarily the best fit for most stores.
Sure, an antique dealer trying to get thousands of dollars for a vintage pair of eyeglasses needs to be able to share all the reasons to justify the price. Or a luxury jeweler, stained-glass craftsman, or even a plastic surgeon.
Analyticals, like Amiables, tend to be introverted; they can share information as a defense mechanism. Consequently, the more nervous or under pressure they are, the more they will try to calm themselves by reciting facts about a product.
The challenge is that only a third of the world's population appreciates all that information. About 63% of the population buys on feelings, not facts.
You can’t feel details – most customers buy based on emotions.
And for that reason, an untrained Analytical can be a liability for your sales floor.
With an ingrained sense of striving for perfection—generally a good thing—they inherently need to share all that information with everyone. This can make them seem severe and judgmental instead of friendly and helpful.
Analyticals, as the name implies, size up the situation, pull open the file in their minds containing all the pertinent information and logically share everything they know with the customer.
But there's only so far you can go with logic.
And the more logic and facts you use, the less emotion enters the conversation.
You can't fact yourself into a sale.
Analyticals see things as they are, but Expressives and Amiables, particularly, want to see things as they want them to be. That means the watch itself is most important; it's what it will do for them. And that type of selling requires engaging a customer’s imagination.
Unfortunately, Analyticals have a linear thought process that leads to a logical conclusion; they expect their customers to follow them down their road. However, customers rarely approach buying with logic alone.
People buy things for multiple reasons: to make themselves look better, feel better, or make someone else do the same. Those reasons are often emotional, not necessarily logical.
Here’s where logic hurts you in a retail store. Let's say an Analytical salesperson works in a fine jewelry store. A man walks in and says he’s looking for an engagement ring for no more than $2,000. The Analytical salesperson answers, “Sure, we have those right over here.” They give all the ring features and close the $2,000 ring sale. They then continue selling the same way, thinking they are great salespeople.
The danger of the Analytical is that they leave money on the table because the customer only said they needed a $2,000 ring. Therefore, the Analytical doesn't need to show an $8,000 ring.
When their manager challenges the wisdom of not showing anything higher priced, the Analytical says, “They never said they wanted a more expensive ring. I could have missed the sale if I didn't show them what they said they wanted. I'd be seen as pushy.” To an Analytical mind, the customer got what they asked for. It's logical.
If you're an Analytical personality, here are some tips to help you:
- Use short and specific sentences.
- Couple the benefit of the feature or fact you are pointing out to the individual customer in front of you.
- Modulate your voice with high and low variations.
- Learn to tell funny stories to crack the inherent coldness basic facts may present.
- Challenge customers’ wrong information by asking questions rather than thinking/saying, “You’re wrong.” They need better information.
- Adapt a selling style that is different each time for each unique person.
- Show a variety of higher-priced items that a customer might be interested in.
Analyticals are frequently found as managers or department directors because they know their stuff. For that reason, they can be assigned the role of “mentor” or “coach” to their employees. That can be dangerous, too, as they may unknowingly kill the spirit of the Driver and Expressive because those personalities won’t conform to a logical, cookie-cutter, fact-based sales approach.
The good news is that once an Analytical is exposed to a better way to sell, they can execute very well because they love to learn.
