{"id":320,"date":"2022-06-22T16:19:50","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T10:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/?p=320"},"modified":"2022-08-01T13:31:48","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T08:01:48","slug":"how-to-avoid-sales-landmines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/how-to-avoid-sales-landmines\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Pre-Emptively Avoid Sales Landmines with Personality AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Remember the sales call which seemed to be going well, until you said something and things immediately went downhill?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That seemingly inconspicuous thing was a big, glaring, red flag. Something which instantly changed the course of your meeting and sent all your efforts down the drain. Those are what we call Sales Landmines! As salespeople we are supposed to be relentless and we will continue to be, but even we know, there\u2019s no sunshine at the end of the tunnel here &#8211; total devastation!&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>Unlike objections or even disinterest, there\u2019s no recovering from a sales landmine. Once it\u2019s done, it\u2019s done<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hence, it is non-negotiable that we tiptoe our way across such landmines throughout the sales journey.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a long time, we <strong>have <\/strong>tried to avoid these situations. The problem? We relied on our own intuition. We take an approach that <em>we feel <\/em>is right for our buyers instead of actually studying them and making an effort to understand what makes <em>them <\/em>tick. And for a long time, that was alright\u2026 because as salespeople, that\u2019s really all we had. However, today, things are a little different: tools like Humantic AI have made it super-easy to understand a buyer\u2019s personality with the click of a button.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ht-block-toc  is-style-outline htoc htoc--position-wide toc-list-style-plain\" data-htoc-state=\"expanded\"><span class=\"htoc__title\"><span class=\"ht_toc_title\">Table of Contents<\/span><span class=\"htoc__toggle\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\"><g fill=\"#444\"><path d=\"M15 7H1c-.6 0-1 .4-1 1s.4 1 1 1h14c.6 0 1-.4 1-1s-.4-1-1-1z\"><\/path><path d=\"M15 1H1c-.6 0-1 .4-1 1s.4 1 1 1h14c.6 0 1-.4 1-1s-.4-1-1-1zM15 13H1c-.6 0-1 .4-1 1s.4 1 1 1h14c.6 0 1-.4 1-1s-.4-1-1-1z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/span><div class=\"htoc__itemswrap\"><ul class=\"ht_toc_list\"><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#htoc-personality-ai-the-only-way-to-avoid-sales-landmines\">Personality AI: the only way to avoid Sales Landmines<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#htoc-example-david-dulany-drops-his-enthusiasm\">Example 1: David Dulany Drops His Enthusiasm<\/a><ul class=\"ht_toc_child_list\"><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#htoc-you-could-be-going-for-an-aha-moment-and-end-up-with-an-uh-oh-moment\">Aha moments vs. uh-oh moments<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#htoc-one-woman-s-perfect-pitch-is-another-man-s-sales-landmine\">One buyer&#8217;s perfect sales pitch is another&#8217;s devastating landmine<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#htoc-sales-landmines-and-personality-types-a-cheat-sheet\">Sales landmines and personality types: A cheat sheet<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"htoc-personality-ai-the-only-way-to-avoid-sales-landmines\">Personality AI: the only way to avoid Sales Landmines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest, and in fact, only way to avoid sales landmines is to pre-emptively understand what landmines one could expect from that particular buyer. Coincidentally, there\u2019s a strong correlation between personality types and associated sales landmines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing what you should say to get your buyers attention is important, yes, but what\u2019s doubly more important is knowing what you <strong>shouldn\u2019t<\/strong> say to them i.e. the potential sales landmines.With personality AI, you get clear, actionable insights on your prospect\u2019s (i) decision making traits, risk appetite and effective engagement techniques, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luckily, Humantic\u2019s Personality AI Assistant has you covered on that front as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, we\u2019ll break down how to identify potential sales landmines based on your buyer\u2019s personality, and how to avoid them at all costs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the end of this post, you\u2019ll find a nifty little cheat-sheet. But first, let\u2019s walk through an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"htoc-example-david-dulany-drops-his-enthusiasm\">Example 1: David Dulany Drops His Enthusiasm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>David Dulany is a sales development trainer and consultant. He is also the founder and CEO of \u201cTenbound\u201d &#8211; a research and advisory firm dedicated to sales development.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s say that I\u2019m selling an automated payroll management platform to David. So far, I\u2019ve had a moderately successful discovery call with him, and we\u2019ve now set up a follow-up call to explore next steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, things seem to be going well\u2026 I decide to give my platform an ounce of credibility by offering some relevant social proof. I say<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou know, David, I was speaking to someone from my team who manages our LatAm sales, and guess what? Joel, your partner-in-crime from your OpenDNS days, has great things to say about us. He\u2019s been using our platform for 2 years and he\u2019s super happy with it. What do you think &#8211; should I facilitate a reunion before we get on our next call? Maybe it\u2019ll add to your product conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"htoc-you-could-be-going-for-an-aha-moment-and-end-up-with-an-uh-oh-moment\">Went for an &#8216;Aha moment&#8217; and ended up with an &#8216;Uh-oh moment&#8217;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Immediately, I could sense the tides turning against me. I could feel David\u2019s inquisitive nature turning stoic. What could I have possibly done wrong? I was just being friendly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that would have been a good approach to use on a buyer with an I-type personality, but well&#8230; what was David\u2019s personality anyway?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an afterthought, I look him up on <a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/humantic-ai\/iklikkgplppchknjhfkmkjnnopomaifc?hl=en\">Humantic AI<\/a>. And &#8211; surprise, surprise &#8211; this is what it says: reading between the lines comes naturally to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3587\" height=\"12756\" src=\"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/humantic.ai_profile_david-dulany-5dba3565_salesHighRes-Screenshot.png\" alt=\"David Dulany's Personality Profile on Humantic AI\" class=\"wp-image-342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/humantic.ai_profile_david-dulany-5dba3565_salesHighRes-Screenshot.png 3587w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/humantic.ai_profile_david-dulany-5dba3565_salesHighRes-Screenshot-84x300.png 84w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/humantic.ai_profile_david-dulany-5dba3565_salesHighRes-Screenshot-288x1024.png 288w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/humantic.ai_profile_david-dulany-5dba3565_salesHighRes-Screenshot-768x2731.png 768w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/humantic.ai_profile_david-dulany-5dba3565_salesHighRes-Screenshot-432x1536.png 432w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/humantic.ai_profile_david-dulany-5dba3565_salesHighRes-Screenshot-576x2048.png 576w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3587px) 100vw, 3587px\" \/><figcaption>David Dulany&#8217;s Personality Profile on Humantic AI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s how I could have lost a potential $50k deal. And that\u2019s why personality insights can\u2019t be an afterthought \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>David is an objective, goal-oriented leader. In my approach, I would have come off as \u201cway too friendly,\u201d which DS personality types typically don\u2019t respond to well. He would have assumed that the product I\u2019m selling doesn\u2019t have much inherent value to it, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m instead relying on relationships to sell it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"htoc-one-woman-s-perfect-pitch-is-another-man-s-sales-landmine\">One buyer&#8217;s perfect sales pitch is another&#8217;s devastating landmine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, let\u2019s take another example, with 2 potential buyers:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Catherine, who has a C-type personality i.e., she\u2019s a calculative buyer.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Douglas, who has a D-type personality i.e., a buyer with a dominant personality.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s say I make a sales pitch by taking an <strong>extremely detailed approach, getting into the nitty gritties, going as far as looping in a technical specialist to walk them through the algorithms behind the product\u2019s functionality<\/strong>. Catherine, after doing a fair bit of her own research, would probably come back and say \u201cthis sounds useful, we\u2019re ready to explore the next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, with Douglas, the very same approach would turn out to be a sales landmine. As a pure D-type buyer, he wouldn\u2019t want to analyze why a product works. He\u2019d just want to know<strong> if <\/strong>it works. D-type buyers are averse to extremely analytical and calculative approaches, and they usually find \u2018invented answers\u2019 to be a waste of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you give them an essay in response to a yes-or-no question, it&#8217;s going to make them squint. D-type buyers have the innate ability to figure things out, so it seems unnecessary and even a little suspicious when you walk them through how to figure things out &#8211; in extreme detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"htoc-sales-landmines-and-personality-types-a-cheat-sheet\">Sales landmines and personality types: A cheat sheet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/how-to-avoid-sales-landmines-with-personality-ai\/the-ultimate-cheatsheet-to-avoid-personality-based-landmines\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-ultimate-cheatsheet-to-avoid-personality-based-landmines-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A cheatsheet that explains how to avoid sales landmines based on a buyer's personality type\" class=\"wp-image-336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-ultimate-cheatsheet-to-avoid-personality-based-landmines-scaled.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-ultimate-cheatsheet-to-avoid-personality-based-landmines-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-ultimate-cheatsheet-to-avoid-personality-based-landmines-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-ultimate-cheatsheet-to-avoid-personality-based-landmines-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-ultimate-cheatsheet-to-avoid-personality-based-landmines-864x1536.jpg 864w, https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/The-ultimate-cheatsheet-to-avoid-personality-based-landmines-1152x2048.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The ultimate cheatsheet to avoid sales landmines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Remember that sales call where you said something and things quickly went south?\u00a0That&#8217;s a sales landmine. Learn what they are, and how to avoid them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,13,11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-buyer-intelligence","8":"category-sales-intelligence","9":"category-walkthrough"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":364,"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions\/364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humantic.ai\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}