Just a quick one today.
Saw a very good post by an old colleague who was talking about personality types in sales (I’m a salesman, remember).
They were bemoaning how firms were trying to be ‘clever’ and save money at the same time with their salesforce. These firms were hiring people to be a blend of ‘hunter’ and ‘farmer’.
Only it doesn’t work. They are distinct personality types. Try to get a hybrid and you just get someone who’s rubbish at both!
However, there’s another interesting angle on personality types, and that is that they do not necessarily present stereotypically.
When I was a young man (back in the 19th century), my boss asked me who I thought the most successful salesperson at a particular client was. In my naivety, I said I thought it would be one of the salespeople who was particularly brash, in-your-face, loud, extroverted.
I was wrong.
In fact, it was a guy who was quiet, unassuming, calm, collected, cool. He was getting 50% more deals over the line than the next closest achiever.
Then, a few years later and now a business owner, I was astonished to observe one highly extroverted client sales head who corralled that energy in such a way as to nurture relationships in the long-term, gradually persuading clients to extend their spend (all to good commercial results for themselves, of course).
The same is true in marketing.
The apparently quieter person can turn out to be brilliant at media relations.
Ebullience can also be twinned with brilliant analytical and segmentation skills.
The seemingly dizzy can often be hyper-organised.
We’re taught nowadays (rightly) not to judge or compartmentalise people by their appearance, their ethnicity, their gender, and many other traits. Yet we are still in the dark ages over assumptions about how personality is presented and how they will offer skills and commercial propensities.
Let’s be more objective.
Let’s be less hemmed in by this particular type of prejudice.
Think outside the box.
It won’t always work.
But when it does, it does like nothing on earth.
Uncover that hidden talent!
