What a lovely picture this is, taken by Flickr user Thomas Hawk.
It seems bizarre to me that traveling around, giving speeches about and writing books on business has somehow become a career in and of itself. Nevertheless, Tom Sant, professional business-advice-giver, delivers some excellent tips on selling to the customer in his book, “Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients and Contracts.” He relies on personality types to ensure that the proposal in question really is catered to the audience.
The personality types in he makes use of are taken from the well-respected Meyers Briggs personality test, which assesses how people “perceive the world and make decisions.” They are:
Analytical: detail oriented folks, who value accuracy and having access to lots of data and respond to patience and knowledge, but not vague promises.
Pragmatic: these are bottom-line driven people who value brevity and respond to the ideas of action, impact and delivery rather than emotional appeals.
Consensus Seeker: these guys are very much others-focused, value feelings and morals and do not respond to risk or pressure, but rather, support and testimonials.
Visionary: long-term view oriented individuals, who are fueled by big thinking and respond to energy and break-through ideas rather than routine or detail.
Few clients will ever fit perfectly into these categories, which is why it is especially important to take careful note of the customer you are working with. How do they respond to conversation? How do they decorate their office? How do they talk? These all contain clues about their decision making. Always keep in mind that each client is unique. It isn’t enough to have the right information, it also needs to be delivered in the right way.
A true business-person is also a people-person.
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Here is an article you may like on how to write a business proposal.
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