PeopleSmart in Business eBook - The Platinum Rule

To identify a person’s behavioral style
Simply use the process of elimination. If the person is more Direct
than Indirect, then you can eliminate the Steady Relater and Cautious
Th inker types (the two Indirect styles). If the person is also more
Open than Guarded, then eliminate the Dominant Director (the more
Guarded type). Now you arrive at the remaining style, in this case, an
Interacting Socializer.
Which type is this?
You have an appointment with a client whose secretary sets the
time for exactly 10:10 a.m., not 10:00 or 10:30. Aft er acknowledging
you in the reception area with a fi xed, polite smile, she gives several
detailed instructions to her secretary. Gathering behavioral clues,
you notice that she dresses impeccably. She again smiles politely
at you and asks you to follow her into the offi ce. She tells you where
to sit, checks her watch, and actually says, “You have exactly 15
minutes. Go.”
During your presentation, the client remains as expressionless as a statue
in a museum. No emotion shows. She asks for highly specifi c facts, assesses
your responses, and then extends the discussion in areas of interest
to her. She invites you to stay longer and literally closes the sale herself
aft er getting specifi c answers to her time, schedule, and cost questions.
Th ere are many clues to help you determine the behavioral style of this
client. First, look at her Direct versus Indirect behaviors. You can be fairly
sure of placing her as Direct: She directs the conversation, confronts the
issues head-on, controls both you and the situation (when to begin, where
to sit, what to discuss), and closes the sale herself. Th at’s Directness!
Next, look at her Open or Guarded tendencies. By nature of her time
discipline, fact and task orientation, formality, and expressionless face,
she is fairly easily to classify as Guarded.
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