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Successful Professional

Salespeople . . .
 Are psychologists first, being students of ‘people’,
sensitive to feelings and emotions, not anxious to rush
into a presentation until they know the kind of person
they are dealing with.
 Understand people:
 Have one thing in common: they’re different, so what appeals to
one person may not work with another
 Do business with people they like, all other things equal
 Do business with people they like, all other things NOT equal
(Lee Iacocca)
 Must buy you before they will buy your product
 Are excellent communicators
 Psychological and Sociological Theories of
Human Attitudes and Behavior

 Transactional Analysis

 Social Styles
What Does That Mean?

 This morning, John said to Mary, “Why


don’t I take you to dinner tonight?” Explain
what John meant likely depended on how
he asked the question.
Honey, Have You Seen My Car
Keys?
 Harry and Wilma are husband and wife.
One morning, Harry is running late for
work and can’t find his car keys. When he
asks for Wilma’s assistance in finding
them, they eventually get into an
argument. Who’s fault was it?
Don’t Grump At Me
 One summer evening recently, a lady walks into
a restaurant of a well-known national chain. She
places an order after waiting in line for another
lady friend and four kids who are with her. After
receiving her food, she discovers she did not get
everything she ordered. She returns to the
counter and complains, “First, I have to wait and
wait to place my order. Then, you mess it up on
top of that.” Robbie, who had taken her order
makes a mistake in responding to the complaint.
What did Robbie do? What should Robbie have
done?
There’s A ‘Good’ Farmer
 Luke’s father would often take the family
for a drive around the countryside after
supper on Sunday. His father liked to look
at other farms. Luke’s father would
sometimes say, “He’s a good farmer”
when driving by a farm. What was the
basis for his father’s conclusion?
Well It Worked the Last Time
 Charlene had a very successful sales call
when she called on Herman. She had
‘tons’ of information and Herman was
seemingly interested in every detail, every
number, every fact. When she gave the
same presentation on her next stop with
Paul it backfired. What went wrong and
why?
Transactional Analysis
 A model for explaining why and how:
 People think like they do
 People act like they do
 People interact/communicate with others
 Based on published ‘psychological’ work such
as:
 Games People Play (Dr. Eric Berne)
 I’m OK - - You’re OK (Dr. Tom Harris)
 Born to Win (Dr. Dorothy Jongeward)
Our Brain (according to Berne)
 Determines what we think and how we act
 Acts like a tape recorder while recording
1) Events
2) Associated feelings
 Has 3 distinct parts or ego states
1) Parent
2) Adult
3) Child
Parent Ego State
 Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behavioral patterns based
on messages or lessons learned from parents and other
‘parental’ or authoritarian sources
 Shoulds and should nots; oughts and ought nots; always
and never
 Prejudicial views (not based on logic or facts) on things
such as:
religion dress salespeople
traditions work products
money raising children companies
 Nurturing views (sympathetic, caring views)
 Critical views (fault finding, judgmental, condescending
views)
Adult Ego State
 Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behavioral
patterns based on objective analysis of
information (data, facts)

 Make decisions based on logic,


computations, probabilities, etc. (not
emotion)
Child Ego State
 Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behavioral
patterns based on child-like emotions,
impulses, feelings we have experienced
 Child-like examples

Impulsive Happy Curious


Self-centered Pleasure seeking Eager to please
Angry Rebellious
Fearful Happy
Ego Portraits
 People have favorite, preferred ego state,
depicted by larger circle in a diagram
Parent Adult Child
P P
P

A
A
A

C
C C
Human Interaction Analysis
 A transaction = any interaction or
communication between 2 people
 People send and receive messages out of and
into their different ego states
 How people say something (what others hear?)
just as important as what is said
 Types of communication, interactions
1) Complementary
2) Crossed
3) Ulterior
Intonations: It’s the Way You Say It!
Placement of the emphasis What it means

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I was going to take someone else.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of the guy you were going with.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I’m trying to find a reason why I
shouldn’t take you.

Do you have a problem with me?


Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight?
Instead of going on your own.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight?
Instead of lunch tomorrow.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight?
Not tomorrow night.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight?
Complementary ‘Transactions’
 Interactions, responses, actions regarded as appropriate
and expected from another person.
 Parallel communication arrows, communication
continues.
Example 1: #1 What time do you have?
P P #2 I’ve got 11:15.

A A

C C
Complementary ‘Transactions’
cont’d
Example 2:

#1 You’re late again!


P P
#2 I’m sorry. It won’t
A A happen again.

C C
Crossed ‘Transactions’
 Interactions, responses, actions NOT regarded as appropriate or
expected from another person.
 Crossed communication arrows, communication breakdown.

Example 1 #1 What time do you have?


#2 There’s a clock on the wall, why don’t you
figure it out yourself?
P P

A A

C C
Crossed ‘Transactions’ cont’d
Example 2 #1 You’re late again!
#2 Yeah, I know, I had a flat tire.

P P

A A

C C
Ulterior ‘Transactions’
 Interactions, responses, actions which are
different from those explicitly stated
Example #1 How about coming up to my room and
listening to some music?

P P

A A

C C
Some Selling Implications of TA
 Develop an adaptive selling strategy for ‘parent’,
‘adult’, ‘child’ customers
 ‘Best’ communication exchange for selling?
 Remember to respond in ‘complementary’ manner
 Most effective selling involves adult to adult
 Strokes, or positive interactions, important
 Verbal (e.g. hello, compliment)
 Touch (handshake, pat on back)
 A gift
 Listening
Being a ‘Response Able’ Salesperson
 Recognize you cannot control another’s behavior, but you can
affect their behavior by the way you respond to them.
 Remember you control your own behavior and thoughts.
1) Keep things in perspective
 Don’t sweat small stuff
 Give it test of time
 Ask if it’s happened before
 Distinguish what can be changed from what can’t
 Focus on haves vs. have nots
2) Have realistic expectations
 Life is not fair or perfect
 Bad (good) things happen, usually don’t last forever
 Things don’t always go according to plan
 People don’t always act as you’d like (remember ego state
explanations, people have ‘bad’ days, etc.)
Dealing with Difficult Customers
 Keep ‘adult’ ego state in control of yourself.
 Don’t get defensive, argumentative, emotional.
 Don’t take it personally.
 Move cautiously, stay cool, remember
complementary transactions and strokes.
 Do not need to take continued abuse.
 If handled well (e.g. didn’t embarrass customer,
allowed them to take something out on you), can
turn out to be positive later.
Sales Quotes: Transactional
Analysis
 When a relationship is right, details are
negotiable;

When tension is high, details become


obstacles.
Sales Quotes: Transactional
Analysis

 Rule #1:
The customer is never wrong.

 Rule #2:
If the customer is wrong, read rule #1.

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