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: theyre 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
dont 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 cant find his car keys. When he
asks for Wilmas assistance in finding
them, they eventually get into an
argument. Whos fault was it?
Dont 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?
Theres A Good Farmer
Lukes father would often take the family for a drive
around the countryside after supper on Sunday.
His father liked to look at other farms. Lukes
father would sometimes say, Hes a good farmer
when driving by a farm. What was the basis for his
fathers 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)
Im OK - - Youre 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
Self-centered
Angry
Fearful
Happy
Pleasure seeking
Rebellious
Happy
Curious
Eager to please
Ego Portraits
People have favorite, preferred ego state,
depicted by larger circle in a diagram
Parent Adult Child
P
A
C
P
A
C
P
A
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: Its the Way You Say It!
Placement of the emphasis

Why dont I take you to dinner tonight?
Why dont I take you to dinner tonight?
Why dont I take you to dinner tonight?


Why dont I take you to dinner tonight?
Why dont I take you to dinner tonight?
Why dont I take you to dinner tonight?
Why dont I take you to dinner tonight?

What it means

I was going to take someone else.
Instead of the guy you were going with.
Im trying to find a reason why I
shouldnt take you.

Do you have a problem with me?
Instead of going on your own.
Instead of lunch tomorrow.
Not tomorrow night.


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?
#2 Ive got 11:15.
P
A
C
P
A
C
Complementary Transactions
contd
Example 2:


P
A
C
P
A
C
#1 Youre late again!
#2 Im sorry. It wont
happen again.
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 Theres a clock on the wall, why dont you
figure it out yourself?
P
A
C
P
A
C
Crossed Transactions contd
Example 2 #1 Youre late again!
#2 Yeah, I know, I had a flat tire.

P
A
C
P
A
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
A
C
P
A
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 anothers 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
Dont sweat small stuff
Give it test of time
Ask if its happened before
Distinguish what can be changed from what cant
Focus on haves vs. have nots
2) Have realistic expectations
Life is not fair or perfect
Bad (good) things happen, usually dont last forever
Things dont always go according to plan
People dont always act as youd like (remember ego state
explanations, people have bad days, etc.)

Dealing with Difficult
Customers
Keep adult ego state in control of yourself.
Dont get defensive, argumentative, emotional.
Dont take it personally.
Move cautiously, stay cool, remember
complementary transactions and strokes.
Do not need to take continued abuse.
If handled well (e.g. didnt 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.