How Fast Can You Achieve Results?

Success is about planning and process. Sure, there is more to it but it really boils down to knowing your goals and then planning the steps needed to achieve those goals

Did you know that 50% of a manager’s job is trying to figure out where the company is going in the next five years while the other 50% is supposed to be focused on execution. The latter seems to present a formidable challenge for most execs but the interesting thing is that know-how and technical proficiencies are not the major obstacles here.

Most managers today are burdened with issues such as a lack of time, insufficient planning, unclear communication, lack of accountability, no mentor or senior leadership to guide them, low commitment to getting a job done well, lack of determination, lack of passion for what they do, lack of focus and discipline etc. There you have it – the no holds barred – anything is possible – year 2000ish – next generation manager’s issues in one simple paragraph.

What to do… alas, what to do…

Here’s some food for thought:
1) Get organized and set some clearly defined goals for both yourself and your company.

2) Break those goals down into smaller and easier to achieve stages.

3) Create a vision of your best outcome scenario.

4) Be able to clearly communicate your outcome to others.

5) Write down a plan to accomplish the tasks involved with achieving success in each stage. Be sure to include milestones and metrics.

6) Be determined to focus the majority of your time and efforts on your goals.

7)  Remember to take a few days off each week to do other things and recharge your batteries.

8) Celebrate your success each time you achieve a milestone.

Want to take a shortcut to success?  Just drop us a line and let us know why we should help you. Five lucky winners will be chosen next month.

Features, Advantages and Benefits

Hey there,

Why is it that most people in business think that they are going to sell what they have by delivering a list of features along with a few reasons why someone should buy their product?

The truth is that there is a much deeper psychological process behind making a decision to buy something than most business people realize.

When selling to Consumers, the pitch must appeal to a buyer’s emotions or the sale is simply not going to take place. When selling B2B, keep in mind that the buyer is still a human being with needs and a strong desire to succeed – a benefits oriented approach has been proven to be more successful than any other technique we tested during the past 20 years.

If you’re ready to sell something, we are ready to help you create a winning pitch.

The first step is a bit of homework so grab a pencil and some paper and get ready to answer a few questions:

• Write down a list of your competitors and their websites
• Write down what they’re doing, what they’re offering etc.
• List their product’s benefits

Ahh, now we come to the core purpose of this article…

Do you know the difference between features, advantages and benefits?

A feature is what a product has. In essence, the core components of your product or service; sometimes referred to as the bells and whistles or buttons, knobs, levers, switches, format, platform etc.

An advantage is what the product does or how it performs against a competitive product. A vacuum for example, is a product that might have the advantage that it doesn’t need bags. Another advantage would be that it can clean the floor in a room without you being present. In a services business one advantage would be the number of years of experience you bring to the table or your level of certification. Some common advantages include words like fast, easy, simple, cheap and good.

A benefit is what a given feature means to your prospect in terms of emotions and passion. A true benefit goes really deep and says something about how it makes you feel – a really great benefit gets a consumer excited because it means something special to the buyer.

Here’s a good example. One of my Clients sells a facial cream online and she called it something like, microderm abrasion emulsion – essentially it is a cream that helps reduce wrinkles.

On her website she listed several features such as ‘it reduces wrinkles’, ‘it comes in an easy to use home care kit’, ‘it is pH balanced’ etc etc etc.

When she came to me to help increase sales, conversions and traffic… I asked her to:
Take a piece of paper and create three columns.
List as many features as you can in the first column.
In the second column, list what you believe are the top benefits.
She wrote down ‘because it reduces wrinkles, it makes you look younger’ and ‘because it comes in a home care kit, it is easy to use at home’ and the third one was ‘because it is pH balanced, it’s gentle on your skin’.

As politely as possible I let her know that those are really advantages not benefits so we continued the exercise and I asked her to list in the third column what she felt the ultimate end result for her Customer was going to be – in other words, ‘the ultimate benefit’.

Here is what she wrote:
‘If it makes you look younger: then it means you’ll be more attractive, you’ll get that promotion at work, you’ll feel more confident, nobody will know your true age, you’ll fall in love all over again and you’ll be able to attract that person you’ve had your eye on.’

‘Since it’s easy to use at home: you won’t suffer embarrassment by going to a doctor’s office, you don’t have to waste time, it’s like a face lift in a jar in the comfort and privacy of your own home.’

‘Since it’s gentle on your skin: there are no risks, no pain, no healing periods like surgery or those harsh chemical peels people usually buy.’

We had arrived…
These were descriptions of how Customers would feel before, during and after they used the product.

In a very short time she was able to list several of the true benefits her product offers to her Customers. She took this piece of paper and changed her website to reflect the benefits. She also adapted every piece of marketing material including all advertising (online and offline), all landing pages, sales letters and Customer communications and within 2 months her sales doubled. One month later sales doubled again. Then she adapted the packaging to reflect the new text and sales doubled again. Sure we did some work on conversions and 6 months later, she was not able to buy as much traffic as she wanted – not even from Google ,Yahoo and MSN combined… Folks, this stuff really works! I’ll let you guess if I am referring to the creme or the marketing process here.

Remember, real benefits go deep. They live within the emotional and passionate sweet spot of the person wanting or using your product. In order to increase your sales you will need to tap into that sweet spot and then use the real benefits in everything you produce to help sell the product.

Do Performance Reviews?

Most of us go through the process of performance reviews each year and this year I thought I’d try to share a few tips on making them more effective for all.

To start with, think about the following:
1. Journal your thoughts
Dedicate 4 pages for every member of your staff. Throughout the year note specific points on achievements, failures, Client feedback, project involvement and results, behavior within the team etc. I love to use a mind map for this sort of thing. So, if Autumn is the season for performance reviews, all you will need to do is whip out your mind map and create a summary for the discussion.

2. SWOT Analysis
This has always been a favorite tool for me. It is really nothing new but it sure is efficient. I typically use page 2 of the employee’s section in my journal to jot down the person’s strengths and weaknesses as they unfold during the year. Then I add to that the opportunities both inside and outside the firm in addition to the threats that I perceive relevant to this team member. I do the same SWOT for the firm as it applies to this employee such as the threat of losing this person to the competition or the opportunity to promote this person to run a new project should we land the big deal next quarter. It is very helpful in keeping my thoughts clear when decision time is upon us managers.

3. Review the Mantra and if you don’t have one… the mission statement will do. This element of the review relates performance to our company’s goals and with our company culture. One thing that I do is compare an employee’s performance with our mantra… Have they helped us to live up to our goals? How can they improve or do the goals need some adjusting? This is what I reserve page 3 of the journal for.

4. Management principles
I am asked once in a while to review a company’s management principles and rate management’s performance against these principles. This is such a ridiculous task since most managers have not memorized the principles and are expected to follow them. The real joke is that the principles are usually very honorable and inspiring but rarely if ever adhered to in the real workplace. These docs are handed to me with pride, but few managers are able to provide concrete examples of how they live up to such ideals in their daily business. How sad is that? My 2 cents… drop the ideals and get a grip on reality. Either write something that your people will use as helpful guidelines or simply stick to the mantra. End of story.

5. Client feedback
Each employee should have a folder or binder containing feedback from Clients. It serves as a reminder of good performance, gratitude and it inspires your people to keep over-delivering. I too keep a list on page 4 in my journal of every instance (that I am aware of) where Clients have provided me with feedback on my employee’s performance and whether it was positive, negative or neutral in each case. I can highly recommend this as it is usually a very real reminder of things that went right during the past year.

Since I have suffered through several ridiculous performance reviews in the past using standardized forms and the happy face vs sad face methodology which inevitably lead to more smiley faces than you can shake a stick at, I decided to ban such nonsense and get on with pissing people off when they need to hear the truth and delighting others when they over deliver and make my Clients happy – I don’t wait until the annual review, I offer my feedback on a job well done immediately.. OK, I am the first to admit… I offer my 2 cents when something goes wrong as well. After all, my goal is to over deliver and thus delight my Clients so that I can live by our mantra and help you to succeed.

The Psychology of Sales

Sure, there are boatloads of books on this topic so I’ll do my best to keep this article brief, helpful and to the point. First, this page is dedicated to the many kind folks I meet each day who really need help selling their products and services.

Products and services are wonderful things from both the perspective of the consumer or Customer and the person or company that is offering or selling the products and services. For starters, the consumer gets some form of benefit from the products or services otherwise there would be little reason to purchase them. The seller, likewise receives a benefit in the form of compensation, usually monetary. The difference is that the consumer gets value whether perceived or real from the transaction or the receipt of the product / service.

How the consumer perceives this value is the topic of this article today.

From here on out when I mention the word ‘products’, please understand that I mean both products and services.

Here are my suggestions when you want to sell a product to a given target market.

1) Know your target market well.

That means that you need to understand who they are, how they tick, what they like and dislike etc. If you have hundreds or thousands of Customers this goes for you too – that is what databases are for!

Let’s start with something basic like Motivation Strategies.
Are your Customers motivated TOWARD something or Motivated AWAY FROM something?
If you were to ask them why they purchased your product, what would they say?
More importantly, what would you learn from their response?

If you were to ask your Customers something neutral such as “What did they do this past weekend?” and then follow up the question with “Why did you do X this past weekend?” Chances are good that you will learn something about their motivation strategy.

If they were to answer that they “went to the mountains to ski” this would indicate that the person is likely to be motivated TOWARD something and thus, they tend to know what they want and they will move toward their goal of getting what they want.

If the response to question 2 were “to get out of the city” then you might guess that this person is motivated AWAY FROM something and this sort of individual knows exactly what they don’t want.

In order to sell to these two very different types of people, you need to be able to identify their motivation strategy quickly and then apply a marketing tactic even quicker. Your first step is to create two sets of marketing tools from business cards and form letters to signs, messages and selling phrases that you will learn by heart. Your purpose is to communicate with your prospect effectively using their choice of motivation strategy so that your message is accepted with gratitude and your offer is given priority consideration.

If you wanted to sell a massage to a person that is motivated AWAY FROM something, your marketing message may be something like:

– Want to relieve stress?
Come visit our Spa on the 3rd floor right now.
(special offer limited to the first 5 people, today only)

– Need to get away from it all?
Experience our 100 minute vacation
(Hurry, we only have 4 slots left)

If you wanted to sell the very same massage to a person that is motivated TOWARD something, your marketing message may be something like:

– Are you ready to relax?
Our experienced massage therapists are waiting for you on the 3rd floor.
(special offer for first time Clients – today only)

– Would you like a treatment that is usually only offered to top athletes?
Sign up for a medical massage on the 3rd floor today – there are only a few slots left.

In addition to knowing your Client’s motivation strategy, learn all you can about them and take notes so that you can communicate in a very personal and meaningful way in the future. For example, if you do not see a Client after several weeks, why not send them a thank you note for their last visit and mention a few personal things in the note that would perhaps encourage them to get back in touch with you. When they contact you, present them an offer that they would find hard to resist.

2) Always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS include a benefit in your marketing message. Just to be clear, I am referring to a benefit that your Customer experiences when they do business with you.

3) Incorporate some form of scarcity in your offer – there may be thousands of X available but to many people, the perception of scarcity is a very powerful magnet.

4) Upsell and Cross Sell at the appropriate moment but do it as often as possible. This is a lesson learned from McDonalds and it pays off royally. Have you ever been to a restaurant where they asked you if you wanted fries with your order? That would be an example of a cross sell. If you heard someone ask a Customer if they wanted a large order of fries for only 20 cents more, that would be an example of an upsell. Do not miss out on this essential element of profit building unless you really want to leave money on the table.

5) Practice each of the above suggestions with Clients, Customers, Prospects, Friends – you have nothing to lose

6) Test variations of the above to improve your results and keep track of what works and what does not work.

7) Reserve time in your schedule for building relationships. Many of our Clients are so busy delivering products that they forget to keep relationships warm. The result is that they have to work extra hard to acquire more new business. It is much easier to keep a Client than it is to find a new one so, spend a few hours each week, keeping tabs on your Customers and going out of your way for the ones you really want to keep. The idea is to grow the business you do with your best Customers in such a way that you build a lifetime of value into the relationship. Build those relationships and they will pay off big time.

Naturally, we offer our Clients courses in the above areas with the implied benefit that knowledge will increase their sales but we do things a bit differently over here. We select our Clients very carefully, only a few applicants are accepted each time we open the doors but those that make it through have a compelling business case and a determined desire to succeed. These are the kind of folks we enjoy helping. We could guarantee that our methods will double your sales or you get your money back but instead, we often opt for a success based fee thus, we only get paid if our efforts deliver results. Have you ever worked with a company like that before? Come on, give it a try and apply for a chance to be one of our top performing, revenue generating Clients today.

The Right Clients

Someone recently asked me why I chose to capitalize the words ‘Client’ and ‘Customer’ in my texts. Well, the simple explanation is that I appreciate their business. As a sign of respect and acknowledgement of their importance to my company, I want to show my appreciation in every article that I write containing these words.

It’s wonderful to have successful, paying Clients but even better to do business with the right Clients. To start with, we are either big fans of our Clients or we become big fans as we get to know them better. I hear our employees and freelancers raving every week about some of the great things our Clients are doing to grow their businesses. I want to maintain this positive culture and have therefore decided that our sales teams will only target companies that we really want to do business with. I want to be selective with the people that we do business with so that the result is and continues to be a positive experience for all involved.

Today we have four business relationship guidelines that steer our Client acquisition decisions:
1. Essential elements of our Client’s business culture MUST match ours or at the very least, are similar to those that we value and respect on both an ethical and moral basis. We take pride in our reputation and credibility and wish to work with those with similar ideals.

2. The potential for success is reasonable to fantastic. We want to ensure that we have the necessary competencies and availability to deliver the project successfully and exceed our Client’s expectations. Should a prospect have what we determine to be unrealistic goals, we will gladly recommend a competitor. We will never try to convince a Client that an apple is an orange or that we can deliver something that we know we are not capable of delivering because we want to help each of our Clients solve their problem(s) and, as a consequence, recommend our services to others.

3. Profit = Fun. It is a simple equation and there is a ton of truth behind it. A project must be profitable and have the potential to be carried through to successful completion with high levels of motivation and contributions to our bottom line. In essence, we ask for a win-win deal. If our Client wins, we win as well and if our Client is not able to achieve their objectives, we reconsider our role and our efforts to provide the necessary ingredients for success. Competing on price has little merit in this equation since the team requires rewards for a job well done.

4. Bandwidth is an annoying topic for us because our product is based on people with specific skills and limited availability. We want to give our Client’s the best possible service and that means that we need to have a well rested, physically and mentally fit team ready to jump into action. Success brings with it some level of frustration as you learn that you simply can not please everyone all the time. Our people tend to be booked solid for 60 to 90 days out and that means that there is little available bandwidth to acquire new business unless we add additional people to the team. On some occasions this is exactly what we did because we were interviewing superb people at the same time as we acquired a new Client that required the type of services that these new people were capable of delivering. That was a lucky situation and in 10 years has only occurred twice. Most of the time, we are approached by prospects that were referred to us by Clients or read about a Client success story that we created. These prospects usually have some urgent needs and therein lies our challenge. We want to help such companies but only if we can put the right team together to increase the probability of success.

Naturally, there are exceptions to the above guidelines but truth be told, we learned our lessons in the past and such exceptions are rarely worth the time and effort when a win-win is simply not possible.

We count on people like you to understand our thought process and although it may seem in some ways to be rather exclusive given the way that we filter our opportunities, please know that we really appreciate new business opportunities, they are the lifeblood of our business model. BoxONline is currently undergoing some growing pains and thus further expansion is necessary to achieve our objectives so, if you know of people who may fit into and support this Client oriented model of exceeding expectations, please do get in touch with me directly using this form.

Protect Your Plan

In most businesses there is a plan to follow. In many businesses however, a plan needs to be created, agreed upon by the decision makers and then applied to the business.

When you establish a plan of action chances are that you want your plan to succeed. We help our Clients with a process known as PPA to protect their plan and ensure that it has an above average chance for success. If this is what you want then it is essential to identify, evaluate and understand the risks that could possibly undermine your plan and prepare (in advance) to face each obstacle with preventative and contingent actions.

Think of it this way, “protecting the plan” has to do with a set of processes that help you to prepare for risks and avoid surprises that could sabotage your project. Here is how to get started:

a) Identify Potential Problems that could sabotage your project
b) Identify the Triggers that will inform you when such a problem has occurred
c) List Likely Causes for each potential problem
d) Create Preventative & Contingent Actions

You can plan and take preventative actions to reduce the likely causes for each potential problem and plan contingent actions to minimize the likely effects of each potential problem if and when they occur.

If you have an important plan that needs to succeed and you’d like some help protecting your plan – don’t hesitate, contact us today.

Is Math Cool?

My father used to tell me that hard work and knowledge were the keys to success and furthermore, one needed to deliver 100% if you wished to succeed in anything. I asked him if math was an important factor in the equation and he confirmed that without math we would not have progressed very far on the evolutionary scale. So, I did a little research and discovered that from a strictly mathematical viewpoint one can not only avoid hard work but also achieve more than 100% and my mathematical proof goes like this:

What is 100% comprised of? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We’ve all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%.
How about achieving 103%?

Here’s a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z were represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K = 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
and
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E = 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But,

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E = 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
and,
B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T = 2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

Astonishing to me but obviously not to those ‘in the know’:

A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G = 1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can then conclude with mathematical certainty that: while Hard Work and Knowledge will
get you close, Attitude delivers the goods and both Bullshit and Ass Kissing will put you over the top!

Needless to say my father was not impressed and I got grounded for a week. If I remember correctly, my theorem put a smile on a few faces before the chalkboard got erased.

Test Test & Track Track

If you are trying to start an online business but there isn’t really much money around to invest – read this article because I have gone through this cycle several times since launching my first online business in 1996. There’s so much you can learn about eBusiness before you have to spend money. And that should be great news for anyone trying to start up their e-business.

Hey, there are plenty of resources available to you when money is more important than your time. Oh, don’t worry – there will come a time in your eBiz career where your time will become more important than your money, but until it does, take advantage of the free-lunch education that’s available.

These are the salad days.. there’s plenty of free info out there.. sifting through it to find the diamonds among the other rocks is the time based challenge on your 18hr workday clock.

OK, so you want to make money online.

You know, I’m pretty fortunate. Over the past 12+ years that I’ve been running my online business, I’ve built a component to my business that allows me to get fast feedback. When I open a store, start a web site, create a new product or even write a newsletter, I can start to evaluate its effectiveness, sometimes in just a few minutes.

Having talked to thousands of other eCommerce store owners, webmasters, and Internet marketers, I can tell you that lack of feedback is why most folks fail.

Here’s the owner’s mindset of 90% of Internet business failures:

1) They are irrationally afraid of making a single mistake.

This might be the single biggest factor in a new Internet business false-start. Even though a new eBusiness owner has great information, a great eEducation, and desire to succeed, they are usually so afraid of committing an un-recoverable mistake that they don’t do anything.

Here’s a tip – there is no such thing as an un-recoverable mistake.

2) They execute their business plan backwards.

They spend time looking at technological solutions instead of market opportunities. I get more emails from people asking me what the best shopping cart solution, merchant account service, CMS or automatic search engine optimization tool is than any other correspondence.

Here’s my one and only answer for the new eBusiness owner:

Use services that require the LEAST amount of maintenance. Use the service that allows you to concentrate on selling your products. In other words, use the service that allows you to set up quickly, easily, and then forget about it.

These kinds of services are only a means to an end!

What counts is marketing your product.

3) If they can’t find the perfect product to sell, they don’t sell anything.

To that mindset, I have a few questions… If you’re new to eCommerce, how would you know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, what the perfect product is? More importantly, what sort of evidence do you have that a product isn’t going to sell?

Sure, there are 4 ways that you can research a product’s potential in the marketplace, but the only way to move out of the research phase and into the proof-of-concept phase is to actually try to sell the product online.

Bottom Line? You’ve got to try it before you know if it works.

4) If they don’t have instant success, they throw in the towel and declare their venture a failure.

Let’s put an end to this mindset, shall we?

Most of the time, your first effort at an eBusiness is going to be mediocre. That’s just a fact and it applies to everyone!

I mean, the first time you swung a golf club, tennis racquet or even the first time you rode a bike, did you do it like a pro?

Not likely.

How about your first day on the job? Did they train you first, or did they just put you in charge of a major project and say, “Do this perfectly or you’re fired”?

Probably not.

So, why would anyone think that they can “get a hole in one” their first time out?

A very few do, but most don’t. The ones that haul off and create a successful eBusiness their first time out do it because they bring with them all kinds of other business testing and feedback experience.

A friend of mine runs the marketing department of a very cool technology company. They’ve had a marketing campaign going for the last few months that costs their company about $100,000. That campaign has not broken even yet, but they’re declaring it a smashing success. In fact, they knew that it was going to lose money during its first 5 months. But because they’ve been actively seeking and tracking feedback, they know that it’ll pay off in the medium-term.

Here’s my point to all of this.

You need feedback and constant input from your business and your industry in order to determine how successful your business can be.

Here’s a few examples in practical terms:

1) Lack of sales does not indicate failure! – What if you don’t have any traffic? How can you tell if your site is converting visitors to sales or not?

2) Lack of conversion does not indicate a poor product choice! If you’re getting traffic and no sales, it’s a sales copy issue, a lack of credibility issue (does your web site look professional?) or a price issue.

3) Lack of traffic does not indicate a failure! Do you know how to get it? Have you educated yourself? Have you tested different traffic-generating methods?

And lastly, do you test?

You must test. You must track your test results. You need to test everything!

Different pictures

Different sales copy

Different on-page search engine optimization

Different off-page search engine optimization

Different price points

Different guarantees

Different web designs

Different headlines

And track it all.

If you get 100 visitors and one sale, and you do that consistently, change one thing about your web site and track the results of that change for a week.

Are your results better or worse? If they’re better, make a note of the change, and then change another! If the results are worse, change it back, make a note and then change another!

Feedback. You see – it’s all about what the marketplace tells you.

You can track visitors to sales, to page views, to abandoned shopping carts, to an email newsletter open rate, to everything!

And guess what? That’s the only way to know for sure what you’re doing is going to work.

Proof of concept is only valid when matched with empirical data.

Feedback – it tells you what’s working, and why.

So, test, test test and keep a log of what worked and what did not.

You also need to keep informed about the changing marketplace. And in most cases, you can do this without spending any money.

If you need some help along the way, drop us an email and we’ll do our best to set you back on track to making a living online.

Personalities

There are four basic personality types. In order for a company to succeed in today’s global business environment, each of these personality types needs to be integrated into as many teams as possible to provide balance and, in many cases an important competitive edge. The key is having the right tools and mindset in order to accurately identify each trait and then know how to position the various types in the organization so they have the best chance of achieving success and interacting well with their managers and co-workers.

THE LEADER – THE “A” TYPE PERSONALITY

“A” type personalities are the ones that are always “looking for a better way” or building a “better mouse trap”. They have an entrepreneurial streak and don’t mind taking risk in order to receive the rewards that can go along with it.

The “A” personality is usually very independent, direct and to the point. They will probably tell you to “get to the bottom line” or give them the “executive summary” to read. They don’t like routine and often delegate routine chores to someone else.

The “A” Personality enjoys change, and one of their biggest fears is falling into a routine. They are very focused on what they are doing and are almost always relatively insensitive to others that might be around them. If they tell somebody something, or explain it, they’ll say it ONCE and expect that everybody listening understood because they’re ready to move on.

“A” type personalities are often found as business owners, managers, sales people (especially straight commission), or any position requiring a very “direct” person that typically “takes charge” and forges ahead. They are very decisive and persistent in getting what they want and need.

THE SOCIALIZER – “B” TYPE PERSONALITY

The “B” type loves to party, travel and be part of groups, and is often the center of attention. They love excitement and are often impatient and demanding as a result of being a “high energy” type. They love the limelight and the “hype” and often do very well in sales, advertising, marketing, public speaking, party planning, travel and other positions where they can have a “good time” while working.

The “B” personality is as Supportive of others as they are direct in their approach. Most people enjoy being around them or watching or listening to them “perform”. Many radio and TV personalities, actors and high-profile speakers are often “B” personalities. It is very important for the “B” personality to be liked by others and can be easily hurt if they think someone doesn’t care for them. They may take it very personally.

A “B” type believes that the world revolves around them… they can be a bit narcissistic and often think things like: “It’s all about me” “Aren’t I great?” This type often does well in sales as they tend to be very talkative and outgoing with people and are normally quite persuasive.

THE INFORMATION HOUND – “C” TYPE PERSONALITY

If you want to picture a typical “C” type personality, think of your accountant, an engineer or a computer programmer or analyst. The “C” thrives on details, accuracy and takes just about everything seriously. They are usually very neat, dress fashionably and are very calculated and precise in just about everything they do.

The “C” doesn’t like “hype”, rather, they want facts… information from which they can verify the details and make a decision. They are very consistent in everything they do because everything has an order or procedure; thus they can be predictable at times and often very dependable, however, don’t expect them to make a decision when YOU want it, as it will only come after THEY have checked all the facts and are satisfied that everything is correct.

They are deep, thoughtful and usually very sensitive. They enjoy know how and why things are the way they are rather than taking anything at face value. They often make good customer service people and sales people, especially if the product to support or sell is something “technical” or involves numbers. They are loyal and patient and can leave customers with a good feeling that they’re somebody that really cares. However, managers may need to make sure they don’t spend TOO much time with details if the objective or expected outcome doesn’t warrant the investment of their time and expertise.
ALWAYS THERE WHEN YOU NEED THEM

THE “D” TYPE PERSONALITY

The typical “D” personality doesn’t like change, preferring instead, to have a set of guidelines from which to follow and they won’t mind doing the same thing over and over. They are usually more motivated by security and benefits and are likely to get the “gold watch” if the company can provide the security they seek.

“D” types are very supportive of others and are often the type that others turn to when they have a problem. Their compassion level is usually quite high and often seem very happy and content with themselves and life in general. They are usually punctual, and consistent. They add “balance” and support in the workplace and may be the champion of the “under dog”.

OPPOSITES

The highest potential for personality clashes is when opposites are working with each other or one working for another in a business environment.
“A” and “D” personalities are opposite of each other. The “A” likes change, is impatient and a risk-taker. The “D” dislikes changes, is very patient and thinks the “A” is crazy for taking so many risks preferring instead to be very steady and seek the security of knowing what you have and what you can count on.

The “B” and “C” personalities are opposites as well. The “B” loves the glamour and the hype, the “C” insists on knowing if there is any “substance” behind it all. Where the “B” can be messy, the “C” is neat and orderly and doesn’t thing “by the book”. The “B” is Extroverted, the “C” is Introverted.

Opposite personalities can also compliment one another if each tries to understand the other’s perspective. Perhaps this is why opposites often marry and lead a very full life, since each makes up for the other’s weaknesses and each brings important characteristics into the relationship.

However, opposites can be a bad thing too, especially if undetected, and not properly managed in the work environment. We have seen many examples where a client will call us complaining of turnover in the sales department, for example. They need a better way to “assess” sales people because the ones they hire never seem to last long enough.

After assessing their sales staff, we’re sometimes surprised to find that their personalities should be very good for the job they are doing, but when we look into their manager or supervisor, we find that they are being managed by an Opposite Personality who expects them to do things in a way that is incompatible with the sales people’s personality!

An example you’ll see us use often is Oscar Madison and Felix Unger from the TV show, “The Odd Couple”. It isn’t hard to imagine the friendly, outgoing “B” type Oscar being a top sales person. He makes friends and builds relationships wherever he goes and seems to do the work of 2 or 3 other people.

If the neat, precise “C” type Felix is his manager and is always demanding that every blank on every sales report is filled out, neatly and on-time every time, it isn’t surprising to see that this won’t work out for long. Nothing is “wrong” with either person, they just need to have more insight into each other’s personalities and find reasonable middle ground from which to work. However, if the manager is inflexible and demands perfection in everything they do, it isn’t surprising to see a lot of turnover in the people that would work for him, especially if the ideal candidate for the sales job was a “B” personality.

Almost everyone has been in this position at one time or another. Even though two people may have opposite personalities, we also have a factor called “adaptability” in human nature, and when presented with a better understanding of what is needed, especially in understanding other people, many can adapt and the results are often almost immediately positive. I wonder how many issues could be resolved with just a few minutes of thinking and a few seconds of adaptation.