5 Common Customer Personalities and How To Sell To Them

If only customers were 'one-size-fits-all', how much easier would the salesperson's job be? In the real world, of course, every customer is different although it is fair to say that customers can be loosely categorised by their personalities and purchasing habits. The key to all-round sales success, then, hinges upon the salesperson's ability to 'read' a potential customer and tailor their approach to tick all of the boxes that will persuade a customer to buy.

This is where sales training experts Maguire Training can help. They offer an outstanding range of courses which can help both novice and experienced salespeople and sales managers to master the various skills and techniques which contribute to sales success. One such course, offered as an online training module and delivered via Maguire Training's innovative E-learning platform is 'Selling to Different Personality Types' . This insightful and valuable course will show delegates how to recognise different customer personality types from verbal and visual clues; predict how they will react in a sales situation and learn how to build a rapport with them that will lead to a sale.

To give you a head start in the fascinating topic of dealing effectively with different types of customer, here Maguire Training helpfully lists five common customer personalities and how to sell to them.

• The Penny pincher
  
  Depending upon your own view of them you might also call the penny pincher a 'careful shopper', a 'bargain hunter' or a downright misery. Penny pinchers want the best possible quality for the lowest possible price. How can you sell to the penny pincher without devaluing your product or service by promoting it as 'the cheapest'? The answer is to market your product by demonstrating how much more expensive your competitor's products are by comparison, or if they are similarly priced, emphasising any perceived flaws or weaknesses in the competing product which yours doesn't have.

• The Cynic
  
  The 'cynical' customer isn't taken in by hackneyed product claims such as 'new and improved', 'our best ever' and 'unbeatable value'. Nor are they impressed by flashy brochures or high profile TV ads. They know hype when they see it because they've seen it all before. Nothing less than concrete proof of the exceptional quality and value of your product or service will persuade the cynic to buy, so high-profile endorsements, positive reviews and testimonials from credible and trusted sources, or the results of independent trials and studies which prove your marketing claims will help you to clinch a deal with the cynic.

• The Indecisive
  
  More often than not, the indecisive customer doesn't really know what it is that they need and, presented with a number of choices between products aren't sure which to choose for fear that they make the wrong decision. Rather than attempting a hard sell, the best approach is to reassure them that you're an expert in the field of whatever it is they're wanting to buy, gently tease from them the details of what it is they're looking for in such a product and then to gently persuade them as to why your product is exactly the one that meets their needs as opposed to the products of your competitors.

• The Connoisseur
  
  Quality, ahead of price, motivates the connoisseur. Don't be fooled into thinking that money is no object for this customer, however; they may like to buy the best, but they still appreciate value. The way to the heart (and wallet) of the connoisseur is to demonstrate not only in which ways yours is clearly a superior product to everyone else?s but also give a clear illustration of any return on investment it offers.
  
  
• The Brand Devotee 
  
  Is it possible to persuade the unpersuadable? When it comes to purchasing products or services the brand devotee is the kind of person who knows what they like and sticks to it. If they like Coke and you're selling Pepsi you have a tough - but not impossible - job on your hands. The key is to target the demographic for your product and then push their emotional buttons by creating a buzz which puts their usual brand in the shade 'We're just like (competitor's brand) but we're that little bit cooler/more fashionable/easier to use/more exclusive' etc.

Whatever your business and whichever types of customer you deal with day-to-day, Maguire Training has an entire range of practical and effective sales training courses which can help you to get the best result from every sales opportunity. Covering every topic from Consultative Selling to Winning Telephone Sales, Maguire Training gives delegates the choice of either attending conventional classroom-based training or learning at their own convenience via online training.