The Key To Negotiating With
The Four Personality Types
Homayoon Nassimi
2021
2 Introduction
People negotiate differently - and behave differently - during the
negotiation process. We can observe different styles of negotiation and
how different types of behavior can affect the outcome of negotiations.
This makes selling and negotiating a real challenge. To negotiate with all
these different buyer types, we need to be able to adapt our behavior and
be flexible in our approach.
3 Assertiveness Vs. Responsiveness
To begin this process, we can look at two aspects of the parties’ behavior:
Assertiveness: how we prefer to assert ourselves, either we prefer to ask, or we
prefer to tell
Responsiveness: how we prefer to put our emotions on display
4 Assertiveness
Assertive people:
Confident
know what they want
are not afraid to put forward opinions
are willing to listen to the opinions of others
are not afraid of conflict
will be more than happy to argue their case
5 Assertiveness
People who are highly assertive can be seen as being aggressive, while
people who lack assertiveness are often passive and get taken advantage
of.
There are times when it is appropriate to be more or less assertive and we
need to recognize when these times are.
6 Responsiveness
Responsive people:
willing to respond to us and our questions
are highly responsive
will give lots of information about themselves, their problems and needs
Others are unwilling or unable to respond in this way and we see these people
often as being negative or difficult.
7 Social Styles Model
There are four basic styles of behavior and these are determined by the
way in which people relate to one another.
How can you ensure that you approach people in the correct way?
"Knowing About Social Styles" developed by Merrill and Reid, is a theory
that is very useful to have a thorough understanding of it when negotiating.
In the Social Styles Model there are four basic "styles", or preferred ways of
interacting with others.
8 Four Basic Social Styles
• The ‘assertiveness’ axis
indicates the
individuals’ tendency
to impose their ideas
or to go along with the
ideas of the group,”.
• “The ‘responsiveness’
axis indicates the
tendency to display
one’s emotions, as
opposed to emotional
self-control.”
9 Driver (the Director)
Assertive, but not responsive
Task, rather than people oriented
Decisive and determined
Controlled emotions
Set on efficiency and effectiveness
Likes control, often in a hurry
Firm, stable relationships
Stubborn, tough
Impatient
Inflexible, poor listener
10 How To Negotiate With Drivers
Plan to ask questions about and discuss specifics, actions and results
Use facts and logic
When necessary, disagree with facts rather than opinions, be assertive
Keep it business-like, efficient and to the point
Personal guarantees and testimonials are least effective - better to
provide options and facts
Do not invade personal space
11 How To Deal With Drivers
Be clear, specific, brief and to the point
Present the facts logically and concisely
Ask specific questions aimed at getting things done better and faster
Follow up on promises
Show your competence
Let them have some control
If you disagree, point out issues with the facts and not a person
If you agree, support the results and not a person
After finishing business, leave quickly
Don’t leave loopholes or be vague
Don’t ask rhetorical or irrelevant questions
Don’t speculate or offer guarantees you are unsure about
Don’t come with a ready-made decision or try to decide for them
12 How To Deal With Drivers
Driving primarily fears losing control or being taken advantage of. When
under stress, they tend to:
Seek more control, becoming increasingly assertive or even autocratic
Become energized and work even faster
13 Expressive (the Socializer)
Assertive and responsive
Reactive, impulsive, decisions spontaneous, intuitive
Placing more importance on relationships than tasks
Emotionally expressive, sometimes dramatic
Flexible agenda, short attention span, easily loved
Enthusiastic
Strong persuasive skills, talkative and gregarious
Optimistic, takes risks
Creative
14 How to Negotiate With Expressives
Seek opinions in an area you wish to develop to achieve mutual
understanding
Discussion should be people, as well as fact, oriented
Keep summarizing, work out specifics on points of agreement
Try short, fast moving experience stories
Make sure to pin them down in a friendly way
Remember to discuss the future, as well as the present
Look out for the impulse buy
15 How to Deal With Expressives
Laugh with them and find ways to make things fun
Listen to their opinions, dreams and intuitions
Think big picture
Recognise their contributions
Talk about people and their objectives, they enjoy hearing opinions
Get their commitment to a course of action
Leave time for socialising
Don’t be impersonal, curt or cold
Don’t concentrate too much on details or facts
Control how much you theorize with them, or you will lose time
Don’t talk down to them, and don’t patronize
Don’t lay down the law or suppress their opinions
Don’t allow them to leave decisions up in the air
16 How to Deal With Expressives
Expressive primarily fears being rejected or bored. When under stress, they
tend to:
Rise to the challenge at first, then get overwhelmed
Become offensive or sarcastic
17 Amiable (the Supporter)
Not assertive but responsive
Dependent on others
Respectful, willing and agreeable
Emotionally expressive
Everyone's friend, supportive, soft-hearted
Low risk taker, likes security
Group builder
Over-sensitive
Not goal orientated
18 How to Negotiate With Amiables
Work, jointly, seek common ground
Find out about personal interests and family
Be patient and avoid going for what looks like an easy pushover
Use personal assurance and specific guarantees and avoid options and
probabilities
Take time to be agreeable
Focus discussion on how
Demonstrate low risk solutions
Don't take advantage of their good nature
19 How to Deal With Amiables
Start with a personal comment to break the ice
Show interest in them as people, find areas of common interests
Present your case in a non-threatening manner
Draw out their opinions by asking “How?”
Handle issues in private
If you disagree, look for hurt feelings and changes in attitude
Behave casually and informally
20 How to Deal With Amiables
Give personal reassurances
Give clear, specific solutions with maximum guarantees and security
Don’t rush into business or the agenda
Don’t be domineering or demanding, and don’t threaten them from a
position of power
Don’t debate about facts and figures
Don’t manipulate or bully them into agreeing. They will probably not fight
back, but you will damage the relationship
Don’t be vague or offer probabilities
21 How to Deal With Amiables
Amiable primarily fears being alone or losing their sense of security. When
under stress, they tend to:
Worry and fret
Keep their head down, chat to their friends
Seek comfort food
Become more submissive
22 Analytical (the Clinician)
Not assertive, not responsive
Precise, orderly and business-like
Rational and co-operative
Self-controlled and serious
Motivated by logic and facts
Not quick to make decisions
Distrusts persuasive people
Like things in writing and detail
Security conscious
Critical, aloof, skeptical
Excellent problem solver
Likes rigid timetables
23 How to Negotiate With Analyticals
Take action rather than words to demonstrate helpfulness and willingness
Stick to specifics. Analyticals expect salesmen to overstate
Their decisions are based on facts and logic and they avoid risk
They can often be very co-operative, but established relationships take
time
Consider telling them what the product won't do. they will respect you for it
and they will have spotted the deficiencies anyway
Discuss reasons and ask 'why' questions
Become less responsive and less assertive yourself.
24 How to Deal With Analyticals
Take your time
Communicate clearly and concisely
Don’t pressure them for answers
Respect their process
Ask directly for their feedback
Give them space
Provide them with solid, practical evidence
Contribute to their efforts, and follow through on what you say you can do
Don’t be disorganised or messy
Don’t be loud and disruptive when they are trying to concentrate
Don’t be vague about expectations
Don’t use testimonies of others or unreliable sources
Be realistic with deadlines
25 How to Deal With Analyticals
Analytical primarily fears being criticized or forced to make quick decisions.
When under stress, they tend to:
Get over-focused on detail
Withdraw from others
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27 How to Determine the Style of Others
To determining the style of others, Body language
you need to pay attention to the
Communication style
following:
Responsiveness
Talking
Listening pattern
What they talk about
How they talk Working
Tone of voice Style
Pace of speech Area
Pace
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33 Which Social Style do the various residents
of the boardroom typically have?
Managing Directors are typically Drivers, as you might expect.
Finance Directors are usually Analyticals.
Sales Directors are nearly always Expressives
Marketing Directors are also Expressives
Technical Directors are almost always Analyticals
34 Which Social Style do the various
residents of the sales typically have
In Sales
Level 3, Top 5% Achievers, are normally Drivers
Level 2, Sales Professionals, are typically Expressives
Level 1, Emerging salesmen and Women are almost always Amiables
35 Take the test below!
For each question, circle L or R, or either A or B. Circle what first comes to
you and try not to think too much! Add up the number of each letter you
have. You can have no more than 9 of each letter and the combination of
each set (L/R or A/B) can be no more 9. The total of each of the 4 letters
will equal 18.
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After you are done with the test and add up the number of each
letter, pick your top two. You will either be LA, LB, RA, or RB. For
example here are my scores:
• L=8
• R=1
• A=2
• B=7
My top two are L and B, so my Social Style is LB. So what does this
mean? The authors found that there are two main traits we exhibit
when dealing with people: how assertive we are, and how
responsive we are.
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•Column 1 or L = Less Assertive (Less
direct and energy, more easygoing)
•Column 2 or R = More Assertive (More
direct and energy, emphatic)
•Column 3 or A = Less Responsive (More
reserved, logical, task-oriented)
•Column 4 or B = More Responsive
(More expressive, people-oriented)
Here are the corresponding letters with
four different social styles type: LA –
Analytical, LB – Amiable, RA -Driver, RB –
Expressive. Since my Social Style is LB, I
am an Expressive!
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