Penn State GEW 2014 Tim Kerchinski - PennTAP

Entrepreneurs Manage a LOT of Relationships

Entrepreneurs Are Salespeople Entrepreneurs Are Salespeople! (actually, we ALL sell ourselves and ideas everyday)

Adaptive Selling and Success Adaptive selling emphasizes the importance of satisfying customer needs. Being adaptable increases trust and commitment and results in higher level relationships.

Knowing your Style and How to Adapt It to Others Adaptive behavior means people should alter the content and form of their presentation so others will be able to absorb the information easily and find it relevant to their situation

The Social Style Matrix Popular training program that companies use to help sales people adapt their communication styles Adjust your behavior to mirror or match your customer’s social style

Dimensions of Social Styles Responsiveness Based on how emotional people tend to get in social situations Readily express joy, anger, and sorrow Concerned with others Informal and casual in social situations

Dimensions of Social Styles Less responsive people Devote more effort to control emotions Cautious, intellectual, serious, formal and businesslike

Indicators of Responsiveness Exhibit 5.3

Dimensions of Social Styles Assertiveness The degree to which people have opinions about issues and make their positions clear to others Speak out Make strong statements

Dimensions of Social Styles Unassertive people Rarely dominate a social situation Often keep their opinions to themselves

Indicators of Assertiveness Exhibit 5.2

Indicators of Assertiveness

Social Style Matrix

Social Style Matrix

Interacting with Various Social Styles Drivers swift, efficient decision makers. focus on the present and appear to have little concern with the past or future Expressives focus on the future, directing their time and effort toward achieving their vision. have little concern for practical details in present situations

Interacting with Various Social Styles Amiables achieve their objectives by working with people, developing an atmosphere of mutual respect Analyticals like facts, principles, and logic suspicious of power and personal relationships

Identifying Other’s Social Styles Concentrate on their behavior and disregard how you feel about the behavior Avoid assuming that specific jobs or functions are associated with a social style Test your assessments

Cues for Recognizing Social Styles

Social Styles and Presentations There is no one best social style for a salesperson or presenter. Presenters must recognize the customer’s needs and expectations. The presenter’s personal social style tends to determine the way he or she typically presents ideas and concepts.

Adjusting Social Styles

Customer Expectations Based on Social Styles

Versatility Versatility The effort people make to increase the productivity of a relationship by adjusting to the needs of the other party

Systems for Developing Adaptive Selling Skills It is imperative that people adjust to their audience Training methods such as the social style matrix are simply a first step in developing knowledge for practicing adaptive selling

Google Social Styles for More Info and Practice! Slides of today’s presentation will be on the GEW website www.gewpennstate.org THANK YOU for attending GEW ! Tim Kerchinski – Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP) txk128@psu.edu 814-865-4388