I once read a great book by Florence Littauer called “Your Personality Tree”, which taught me a lot about how to approach many different types of clients. In this book I learned about the theory of Humorism and the four humors, also known as “temperamentum” or temperament, which represents a way of thinking, behaving and reacting.
Humorism theory suggests that each person is born from a basic temperament, determined by which of the four humors is most evident within them. The four types of temperament are: sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic. They are associated with the following personality characteristics:
“Optimistic” – Cheerful, optimistic, the “life of the party” who is comfortable and gets along with everyone (extrovert).
“Choleric” – “I’m in charge”, “It’s my way or the highway” type, characterized by a quick, hot temper and aggressive nature (extrovert).
“Melancholia”– A thinker, everything is well planned and thought out, no decision is made in haste. This type of person tends to have a pessimistic view of the world and may be sad or depressed (introverted).
“Pelgmatic” – A “worry wart” can be lazy or slow to make any decision, even something as simple as “will it be cream or milk in your coffee?” (introvert).
An effective sales approach using these theories would be: #1 – Assess your customer’s temperament type. Is he or she dominant? Introvert? Cautious? Optimistic? #2 – Adjust your sales presentation to accommodate your customer’s assessed personality type. Here are some tips that do just that:
When selling to a “choleric” customer: Let them know they are in charge and praise them for good decisions.
When selling to a “blood” customer: You don’t need to do much except get along with them and work to close the sale quickly (assuming there isn’t another decision maker behind the scenes, like a spouse or business partner with a different personality type).
When selling to a “melancholy” customer: Be prepared to answer a list of questions that he or she will have for you. These guys are true investigators and detail-oriented. Be prepared to settle in and receive questions about your product or service that will challenge your experience. You probably won’t close this sale in the first session, but that’s okay. By following up properly and being prepared for more questions after you leave, you will put yourself in the best possible position to close this sale. Just be patient!
When selling to a “phlegmatic” customer: Typically, you will be dealing with a person who is having difficulty making decisions, especially a financial decision that is perceived as “big.” After you assure this person that everything will be handled professionally and with great care, prepare yourself with some third-party testing. Reference letters indicating how professional and caring your company is, certificate of insurance, any awards you have received, and/or articles written about your company. In the end you have to take charge of the sale and simply close it. If you are not strong in your closing, you may allow this client to get away with all your uncertainty and worry. Help make the decision for the client, and then congratulate them for making such a good decision at the close of your post.
These personality or temperament theories have very practical application in sales and business. Sales professionals, managers, business owners, and anyone who works with people can use this basic understanding of personality to improve how they deal with people. Understanding the underlying reasons why people behave and relate the way they do helps us as professionals work through challenging business negotiations and help our clients make better decisions.