Everything DiSC® Sales Profile

What motivates salespeople?  What drives them?  What are your customers’ buying styles?  What drives your customers’ DiSC® style?  If there were only a way we could use your DiSC® style to provide help with your sales priorities and preferences!  Well, there IS a tool that helps you do that!

Introducing Everything DiSC® Sales Profile.  As you guessed, it uses Everything DiSC® as the engine.  My goal here is to increase your understanding of the Sales Profile using specific results from an actual assessment. 

How does DiSC® connect to sales?  Is it easier to connect with some customers than with others?  Are you surprised by customers who ask many, detailed questions?  The Sales Profile creates the intersection between your style, customers’ styles, and your customers’ buying styles & priorities.  You can improve the quality of your sales experience by using DiSC® to build more effective relationships. 

The research-validated Sales Profile is intended for all salespeople and is designed to:

• Help sales professionals understand their sales style
• Help sales professionals better understand their customer’s buying styles
• Adapt your sales style to your customer’s buying style

Let us begin with a look at those 8 words placed around the model and what they really mean.  The eight words around the Sales Profile map are priorities.  These priorities are unique to the Sales Profile.  In other words, they are the primary areas where people focus their energy depending on their DiSC® style.  They are the instinctive priorities where people – given their DiSC® style – will focus their energy.

Everyone has at least three priorities; some have four to five.  Having more is no better or worse than having three.  Your Sales Profile is unique to you and based on your results.  Priorities simply help us understand how our style might be reflected in real-life work scenarios.  The important thing to remember is that when things get foggy (such as when stress or uncertainty appear) we seek the priorities associated with our style.  We’ll see what the Sales Profile tells the participant, and what action plans can result.

Breaking it down further, we see 3 priorities assigned to each quadrant, respectively.  A first look at the model shows the following priorities identified with each primary style:

D:  Competency, Results, & Action

i:    Action, Enthusiasm, & Relationships

S:  Relationships, Sincerity, & Dependability

C:  Dependability, Quality, & Competency

This approach can at least provide you high-level understanding of which of the 4 basic styles includes which 3 priorities.

Let’s always consider the basic styles before we dive deeper.  Suppose we have a participant whose name is Tim and initial review of his Sales Profile indicates he’s in the “C” style quadrant.  

We know from our  DiSC® Basic Model that Tim has an outward activity level (or PACE) described as:  Cautious & Reflective.  We also see that he has an agreeableness quotient described as:  Questioning, Skeptical.  When we combine these two dimensions, we know that Tim’s traits as a Conscientious style include:  Analytical, Reserved, Precise, Private, & Systematic.  The Sales Profile will show us much more.

For example, as we uncover more information about our participant, we see that he is actually a ”CS “ style and has the following priorities of Quality, Dependability, Competency, & Relationships.  (Note:  The algorithm of Tim’s shading stretches to include Relationships, which isn’t typically a characteristic of the CS style).  These priorities are the lenses through which Tim views various situations and interactions.  AND, they shape his sales experience.  So, now we have not only identified his “CS” style traits from the previous slide, but we also know his Sales priorities.

What we know so far about Tim is now in one picture: 

Behavioral dimensions of:

• Cautious, Reflective, and
• Questioning, Skeptical
• Traits of the Conscientious style, including: Analytical, Reserved, Precise, Private, & Systematic
• And, Sales priorities including: Quality, Dependability, Sincerity, & Relationships.  The Sales Profile pulls all this together into a customized action plan for Tim.

All the profiles begin with a very good summary of the DiSC® and what the 4 quadrants mean in terms of basic styles.  Then the profile provides several paragraphs of helpful information and context unique to Tim’s “CS” style to help him understand the unique nuances in his personal Sales Profile report.  Tim is provided a detailed summary of each of the priorities that shape his sales experience. These are considered “Sales Strengths”.  I’m choosing ONE of those to share as an excerpt for your understanding:

Tim, because you have the CS style, you may use objective evidence to show that you are offering high quality to your customers.  You also tend to make it clear that they can depend on you to follow up with them.  In addition, you likely show people sincerity and respect.  You probably come across as truly interested in their needs, and you seldom rush them or dismiss their concerns.

His report continues with explanation of his sales challenges.

Tim, you’re probably good at pointing out the dependability of what you’re offering, but your detailed explanations may cause more fast-paced customers to grow impatient.  If proving your competence is not a high priority for you, you may not meet the expectations of more skeptical customers

Now we come to the portion of the report that is about “Recognizing the DiSC^® Buying Styles”.  When I train this seminar, I often get the question, “What if I don’t know my Customers’ buying style?”  Very good, natural question and probably nowhere more appropriate than in the Sales process.  The easy answer is to have them purchase a DiSC^® Profile from me at Training Location and then your customer can “tell you” their style.  😊  This can be a real stumbling block to people, so I want to call specific attention to it here in order to keep the Tim’s of the world from hitting an obstacle in their sales interactions.  We call this step, “Customer Mapping”

A person’s DiSC^® style is decided by the intersection of two dimensions:  The first dimension is known as outward activity level (or PACE) described as either Fast-paced & Outspoken OR Cautious & Reflective.  The second dimension is known as your agreeableness quotient.  This means those who are “less agreeable” place a lower PRIORITY (concern) for cooperation and social harmony and we refer to them as “Questioning & Skeptical” on the left end of this dimension.  Those who are “more agreeable” place a higher PRIORITY on cooperation and social harmony and we refer to them as “Accepting & Warm” on the right end of this dimension.

 *It is the interaction between these TWO continua which forms the 4 quadrants (or basic styles) of the DiSC^® model and by which you identify a person’s DiSC^® style.

Let’s see how Tim applies this in a hypothetical setting.  Through interaction and observable behaviors, it is Tim’s opinion – with the use of this simple tool – that his hypothetical customer is more “Fast-paced & Outspoken” combined with “Accepting & Warm” which broadly identifies Tim’s customer in the “i” quadrant, with the traits indicated there.  Now, Tim can read what the report says about different buying styles and different priorities of each customer type or style.

 The report provides a nice overview of each basic style in terms of their buying style.  I’m including an excerpt of Tim’s “i” style customer example.

Customers who tend toward “i” (Influence) are both fast-paced & outspoken AND accepting & warm.  They may see the sales process as an opportunity to socialize, and may appreciate small talk, tangential conversation, and creating a friendly, informal atmosphere.

Having Tim equipped with this insight is a powerful first step.  As a “nice to have”, the report provides an Appendix with a detailed plan using a specific customer style of your choice when you take the assessment.  In a work-like experience, you identify the two dimensions of pace & agreeableness of your prospect.  So, before Tim took his assessment, he chose a prospect whom he identified as cautious & reflective combined with questioning & skeptical.  Therefore, his prospect probably has a C style.  With his education from the Sales Profile, he’s much better to anticipate and adapt to his customer’s buying style.

I hope this overview increased your awareness, knowledge, and familiarity of the Sales Profile.  Whether your needs include Employee Engagement, Conflict Management, Team Building, or simply Communication, DiSC® is the research-based, proven, leading training solution.

Click here for a PDF sample of the Sales Profile.  You can also purchase the Sales Profile on our website.

As ALWAYS, the key to effectiveness through DiSC® is understanding your and others’ styles and then using that knowledge for improved interactions.

If you would like a live, complimentary webinar (online) for your team or organization, please send an email to info@traininglocation.com.  If you’d like to purchase the DiSC®, visit  DiSC® Classic or Everything DiSC® at our website.  And, check out our products from The Ken Blanchard Companies as well.