Did your organization meet its 2014 growth goals? The year is rapidly coming to a close and if you did not meet your 2014 growth goals what makes you confident that 2015 will be any different? We all know what Einstein said about doing the same things over and over again hoping for different outcomes…Insanity!!

NOW is the time to complete an assessment of your sales talent, strategies and actions in preparation for growth in 2015. I would suggest that you take a look at the “Seven Pillars of Growth” shown in this Blog and complete a review to determine how developed each one of these 7 pillars are in your organization!

I would also specifically ask you to determine how your sales people are selling?? You may have the best skill-trained sales staff in your community. We all know, however, that our referral sources refer based on the relationships and trust they have with sales folks. Let’s assume that your sales team is competent in sales techniques and strategies. The question then becomes is your sales team aware of the four behavioral styles and how best to sell to them to generate more referrals?

Most of us learned somewhere in our education about the four Behavioral styles of DISC: (D) Driver, (C) Analytical, (S) Team Builder and (I) Expressive. Did you know the global population is divided almost equally in the four behavioral styles? Did you also know that Analytical people make Driver style people crazy? Analytical Style people want lots of data to make a decision and Drivers just want the KPI information. The Analytical Style people want all the time necessary to make a decision while Driver style people just want to make a decision and move on. Each Behavioral Style has their own behaviors and communication styles that could be misconstrued by other social styles. Have you ever said “I don’t know what it is but that person really annoys me”. You should hear the “judgments” sales reps and managers make when they don’t understand Behavioral styles.
If you and your sales team are not familiar with the 4 Behavioral styles I suggest you learn more about them and do some sales training around this important sale principle. This could be your answer to creating relationships that lead to trust and more referrals.

The challenge is how to identify these 4 different styles? This is especially difficult in a stressful environment that can make clearly identifying the 4 styles a challenge.

The best way to assist your sales team understand how to identify these 4 style is through listening and observation. An art in and of itself!! Your sales team can learn the art of “Observe with Patience” to better identify which one of the 4 Behavioral styles his/her referral source is? There are many excellent programs that can assist you and your sales team in this area.

My hope for you and your sales team in 2015 is that you knock the socks off your growth goals!!

The Best!!