READING PEOPLE, PROSPECTS, AND CLIENTS
Why is the skill of reading people important to you?

Let me share with you the reasons why the skill became so important to me.  First, I learned what my real strengths were.  My personal profile helped me to build my strengths into my business plan.  So I was doing more of those things that I was naturally good at.  It also helped me to avoid or improve the things that I was weak at.  For instance, the profile said I was a “situational” listener.  As soon as I realized this and started taking steps to correct this weakness my business improved dramatically.  

Second, when I was an FA about a third of my book was always inactive.  I would do anything and everything, whatever it took to get the account open.  Then they would take their rightful place in my book from A to Z.  When the next good idea for them came along, I would give them a call or arrange a meeting.  Then I would proceed to talk with them the same way I talked to all the rest of my clients.  And presto, about a third of them would be demoted to the “inactive” book.  

Then I learned how to “read” people, prospects, and clients.  The first thing I did was contact all of those “inactive” clients to explain to them that I had been through a new training program.  And this program had helped me to see my clients in a “different” kind of way.  As a result, I don’t believe that I have been very effective in working for you.  Then I would ask if they could meet me for lunch so we could see if we couldn’t do a better job for them.  Almost all of them would go on to become good clients.

The third reason was even more apparent.  Studies show that people do business with people they like.  It’s no more complicated than that.  And if I could spend an afternoon talking to you about your clients we would find that probably 80% or more are very similar behaviorally to you.  

I happen to be a very high-D with a supporting I.  Therefore my natural market was D’s and I’s, approximately 46% of the population.  And to make matters even worse, these types of people are not real loyal to you.  They are loyal primarily to the results you produce for them. So I would have to replace 10% to 20% of my book each year just to stay even.  

As soon as I learned how to make a couple minor modifications in my own behavioral style, the size of my prospect list doubled.  With just a little bit of effort on my part, I was able to satisfy the “behavioral needs” of every person I talked to.  Engineers and government employees became a core prospecting pool for me.  The stress and frustration of dealing with process oriented and analytical type people became more of a game for me, a game I could win.

I only had to modify my behavioral style when I was working with people who were on the other side of the “wheel” from me.  So about half the time I just did what I was comfortable with.  For other D’s and I’s I could just hit the high points and ask for the order.  That worked fine for them.  But for S’s and C’s I would simply slow things down, talk about the process and the facts and data and let them make their decision at their speed.  

Next month we will talk about some simple modifications you can make so that everyone out there will want to have a business relationship with you.  People do business with people they like.  If you communicate with them the way they like to be communicated with, if you offer the products and services that they naturally prefer, if you ask for the order in a way that they are comfortable with, you will get the relationship and their business.  

HAVE YOURSELF A GREAT DAY!

Ron Keese