How to negotiate with the four personality types

People negotiate differently and behave differently during the negotiation process.

We can observe different styles of negotiation and how different types of behavior can influence the outcome of negotiations.

In trade negotiations, some people negotiate quickly and take risks, others take their time and try to avoid the risk. Some buyers are very loyal, others will automatically look around. Some negotiators can be very intimidating to the point of being rude, others are rather passive and easily manipulated.

This makes selling and negotiating a real challenge. To negotiate 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 look at two aspects of buyer behavior, assertiveness and responsiveness.

People who are assertive are confident and know what they want. They are not afraid to present opinions and are willing to listen to opinions of others. They are not afraid of conflict and will be more than happy to argue their case.

People who are highly assertive can be seen as aggressive, while people who lack assertiveness and are exploited are often passive. There are times when you should be more or less assertive, and we need to recognize when these times.

Reactivity means the extent to which people are willing to respond to us and to our questions. Some people are very sensitive and give you lots of information about themselves, their problems and needs. Others are willing or able to respond in this way and we see these people often have negative or difficult.

We are all different and some of us are naturally assertive and some of us are not. Vendors tend to be very responsive, but sometimes we lack assertion. An example of this is during the negotiations.

When customers put us under pressure to reduce prices or give discounts we find it difficult and uncomfortable, and the worry of 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 ensure that you approach people properly?

"Understanding social styles", developed by Merrill and Reid, is a theory I have discussed many of my articles and is very useful to have a thorough knowledge of it during negotiations. The Social Styles Model there are four "styles" of basic or preferred ways of interacting with others.

Merrill and Reid believe that a person's Social Style is a way of coping with others. People become more comfortable with that style, in themselves and others.

Style name of a person is measured in relation to the three behavioral dimensions:

or assertiveness

or response

or versatility.

Assertiveness Scale:

It measures the degree to which a person is seen as an attempt to influence the thoughts, decisions or actions of others, directly by tell behavior or questioning, ie ask behavior.

Tell Behavior: It 'risk-taking, fast, challenging.

Ask Behavior: It 'co-operative, deliberate actions, minimizing the risks.

The scale of response:

It measures the degree to which a person or openly expressing their feelings or controls their feelings. The ends of the scale are "control" and "emote".

Behavior control: it is disciplined, serious, and fresh.

Emote Behaviour: is the relationship-oriented, open and warm.

The two scales combine to give a two-dimensional model of behavior that will help you understand how others perceive you. The dimensions of behavior will also help you plan how you can deal more effectively with people of different social styles.

The four social styles and how they should negotiate with them:

Driver. The Director.

Or offensive, but does not respond

or task rather than people oriented.

or decisive and determined

emotions or controlled

o Set of efficiency and effectiveness.

Love or control, often in a hurry.

or study, stable relationships

O stubborn, hard.

O Eager.

O poor listener unmoved.

To negotiate with the drivers:

Plan or to ask questions and discuss specific actions and results.

o Use facts and logic.

o When necessary, in disagreement with the facts rather than opinions. Be assertive.

O Keep it business-like, efficient and on point.

Personal testimonials or guarantees and are less effective, better to provide options and facts.

o Do not invade personal space.

Expressive. The Socialiser.

Or assertive and responsive.

or reactive, impulsive, spontaneous decisions, intuitive

Ø Put more emphasis on activity reports

or emotionally expressive, sometimes dramatically.

or flexible agenda, short attention span, easily loved.

Or Enthusiast.

strong or persuasive, talkative and sociable.

Optimistic or takes risks.

or Creative.

To negotiate with the expression:

O Seek opinions in an area that you want to develop to reach mutual understanding.

Discussion or should be done as people oriented.

o Keep synthesis. elaborate on specific points of agreement.

o Try to short stories, fast moving experience.

o Make sure to lock down in a friendly way.

Remember to discuss the future or as the present.

Ø Look for the impulse purchase.

Amabile The Supporter.

o It is not assertive but responsive.

or dependent on others.

Or respectful, helpful and pleasant.

Or emotionally expressive.

friend to all and is, supportive, kind-hearted.

Low risk-taker or, like security

manufacturer or group.

Or too sensitive.

or not goal oriented.

To negotiate with friendly:

Work, or both, seek common ground.

Or discover personal interests and family.

O Be patient and avoid going for what seems like a easy pushover.

Use or guarantees and specific guarantees and avoid options and probabilities.

o Take time to be pleasant.

Or to focus discussion on. -how.

Prove or low-risk solutions.

o Do not take advantage of their good nature.

The clinical analysis.

Ø It is not assertive, not reactive.

Ø clean, orderly and business-like.

or rational and co-operative.

or self-controlled and serious.

Motivated by the facts or logic.

Ø It is not easy to make decisions.

or distrusts people persuasive.

o How things in writing and detail.

or safety.

or critical, detached, skeptical.

Excellent problem solver, OR.

Pleasing or rigid schedules.

To negotiate with Analyticals:

o Take action rather than words to demonstrate the availability and willingness.

Stick or specifications. Analyticals sellers expect to overestimate.

Ø Their decisions are based on facts and logic and avoid risk.

or can often be very cooperative, but the strong relationships take time.

Ø Consider telling them what the product will do. I respect you for it, and have found weaknesses in each case.

Discuss and ask why or why not? questions.

Or becomes less sensitive and less assertive yourself.

If you are serious about developing not only your trading skills, but also all-round communication skills, I advise you to familiarize yourself with the "Social Styles" model.

Jonathan Farrington.