The following are three basic types of customer, with which sales people come into repeated contact. Try and work out if each one of your respective customers could be described in such terms. Picturing their personality will help you to adapt to their particular characteristics.

Be careful not to classify each customer too rigidly. No one can be 100% classified in to one particular group.

The egotistical client

This customer wants only the best; status and prestige have a decisive influence on their decisions. They are fighters in their professional as well as in their private life. They always have to be better than their colleagues; always wanting to win; they have to be the centre of attention.

When meeting this type of customer, prepare for them measuring themselves up against you: who has the better job, who earns more, who has the lower golf handicap? It is important for them to remain the winner, in order to do this they may not always use orthodox means: it’s better to be a deceitful winner than a loser!

A positive attribute of this customer type is that they have a vast amount of self-confidence and feeling of self worth. They do not hesitate when making decisions and are not plagued by doubts. In theory, the narcissistic-egotistical customer will give you a warm reception. They are looking for a fight - wanting to ‘get the better of’ you. They want to know if you are able to assert yourself against them.

Evenly matched negotiating partners have great value placed on them: it has to be the sales manager or another manager in person, who visits them.

The ideal sales person would be comparable in qualities to the customer, whereas the customer will soon feel superior to sales people who are overly affable and good-humoured.

This customer will only buy your product or service if you can convince them that it is the latest, most progressive and greatest there is on the market. You will almost certainly not have to negotiate the price.

Outward appearances have a great deal of emphasis placed on them by narcissistic-egotistical customers: Wear your most expensive suit and arrange to meet the customer in expensive hotels or restaurants. At all times be confident and, above all, competent. Customers of this type will not forgive insecurity, gaps in your knowledge or misjudgments on your part.

The friendly customer

A customer who falls into this category wants to be understood and recognised. He is friendly and team-minded. His wish is to live in harmony with those around him. Generally he will appear to you to be kindly and co-operative, but also unsure of himself. In order that he does not forfeit your respect, he will not want to put a foot wrong.

The friendly customer gets on best with sales people who belong to the same personality type.

Friendly customers are particularly uncomfortable dealing with egotistical or authoritarian salespeople, who they feel treat them like children. If they feel too put down the business relationship will breakdown.

It is easy to gain access this type of customer, as they will never openly oppose you. Keep away from conflicting topics of conversation. It is better to ask about their family or last holiday. Allow plenty of time for your appointment and try to establish an emotional link with the customer.

The friendly client essentially buys from sales people they like. They will never place an order with someone they dislike, even if there are good business reasons for buying.

If you feel that the customer is stalling proceed with caution. Some clients lead you to believe that they have decision making powers that they, in fact, do not. They like talking to you and do not want to turn your offer down.

The business-like authoritarian client

This type of client can deal with facts and figures but not with people, they fight familiarity, closeness and dependency. They will leave nothing to chance wanting to calculate, forecast, monitor and have everything under control.

Business-like Authoritarian clients appear to be shy, rigid and unapproachable seeing emotions as an unpleasant subject. This type of client is easily recognised by their love of order: the office is extremely tidy and everything is in its place.

The business-like, authoritarian client will not consider any discussion where the sales person argues with logic and facts. In such a situation, they will maintain a polite exterior, but keep their distance and assess the salespeople’s grasp of the facts and astuteness.

They think friendly salespeople are not assertive enough for them and narcissistic-egotistical salespeople are badly informed hot-air merchants.

This type of customer will do business entirely with business-like authoritarian salespeople. The client will generally appear mistrustful and cold during the first meeting. They are unable to assess your abilities and unsure of your competency to do business. They want to be in total control of the sales discussion and as a result will not be talked into anything.

Make them feel that they are the one making the decision by providing the customer with extensive information. Use logical arguments do not pressurize them. When it comes to unimportant details give them complete freedom. Allow them time to study your offer carefully. Make sure you have crossed all the “t’s” and dotted all the “i’s”. Support your statements with flawless references and restrain your emotions. And above all, do not make any mistakes!

Implementation of these simple steps, will dramatically improve sales performance, and as in all good sales training courses, these techniques are covered.

Author Richard Stone is a director of Spearhead Training of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. Find out more about Spearhead services at www.spearhead-training.co.uk