What D Personalities Actually Want

Rob  00:00

Why are we still talking about the problem? Can we just get it fixed right now? Let’s go. Hey, can you give me the bottom line? What’s what? What are we talking here? If this meeting could have been an email, I would have been much happier with this. This is taking way too long. I don’t need the backstory, I just need to know. What are we doing here? Are you done talking yet? Good, because we’re going to talk about the high D personality. Let’s get started.

Rob  00:20

So, High D personalities are not as difficult and not as mean and bad as it sounds like, but they’re what is called dominant personalities, and a dominant personality pretty much knows what they want, and they just want to go from point A to point B, stay out of my way.

Rob  00:35

Okay, well, it’s not that quite that simple, but that’s kind of the mentality of how you need to deal with a dominant personality when you’re in sales, so let’s first dive into a little bit of what are some of the reasons why and what the things that they enjoy or like most, how they behave, so that you can kind of get a feel for how you should be behaving around them.

Rob  00:53

So, first of all, a high D personality that stems from the fear of the loss of control, so if they feel like I’m not in control here anymore. They’re going to start to behave a little bit gruff and rough, and if they don’t feel like they’re in control, you’ll know it pretty quickly, because they’re going to take over control, whether you like it or not.

Rob  01:12

So, have you ever been in a meeting where somebody is sitting there talking with you, and you’re just kind of going on and on about something, and they cut you off and go, “All right, how much longer is this meeting going to go? Now, sometimes that’s a defense mechanism, but a high D typically will have that attitude, if you will, about meetings with people.

Rob  01:27

They’ll kind of say, “All right, this could be a 15 minute meeting. Why are we doing a half an hour or 45 minute meeting? Or they might say something like, “I, you know, I don’t need to know how the watch is made, I just need to know what time it is, that kind of thing. Okay, so know that these types of individuals have a very strong drive to get things done, and that’s okay. It’s not like the what you would call it, or somebody would call a type A personality, although there may be relations there of some form.

Rob  01:53

High D personalities are task driven. So, in a previous episode, I talked about the S personality. S personalities are typically people, people. Well, D personalities are task people. They would prefer to get things done versus having chit chat. They don’t want to talk to people, they, they do, but only on their terms. Okay, so just know that, yes, they can be nice people.

Rob  02:16

They, they’re, they’re not bad people, don’t take me wrong, but they’re more driven by getting things done, so the things to know about them a little bit more is they’re highly competitive. They will be the ones that will be out front saying this is where we’re going, let’s go this way, let’s go, we’re gonna beat these guys, we’re gonna like they’re very driven by that type of thing.

Rob  02:35

They want to be in control, they want to be number one, they want to get out front. Okay, those individuals that do that tend to be DS. They don’t all be, they’re not always all DS, but that’s one of the indicators. So, when I go through this list, I want you to think about it in terms of all right, this is a check box.

Rob  02:54

If they check box a bunch of these, then it sounds like this person is probably a high D personality. If they don’t check a bunch of these boxes, they have a tendency, or can have a tendency, but that doesn’t mean they are high D personalities. A good example would be when you cold call.

Rob  03:09

Sometimes, when you cold call, you’ll get somebody that has an attitude on the phone that’s like, what do you want, what’s going on, what do you need, why are you talking to me? Why did you call? That’s a defense mechanism… that is not indicating high D personalities.

Rob  03:22

High D personalities usually pick up the phone, answer a couple questions, and go, “No thanks, that’s it. You won’t know that they’re a high D, other than they’ll make a decision pretty quickly, and they’ll move on. So, one of the things that they’re really good at is that they will speak directly, they will tell you exactly in no uncertain terms where their head is at what they’re thinking about you and about the task at hand.

Rob  03:43

Okay, they also will act very quickly. They’re they will have a propensity to act before they don’t act. So, in other words, what I mean is, if if they’re sitting there talking and they’re going through some stuff, they’ll at some point just go, all right, let’s, let’s, that’s a done deal, let’s just do that now. Let’s move on to the next topic.

Rob  04:01

Okay, like I wasn’t ready for that kind of conversation, or wasn’t ready for that decision, but they were okay, and that’s how fast that it kind of can move. They also, because they decide so quickly, they can come across a little bit demanding, like all of a sudden it’s like, oh, okay, this is what we’re doing.

Rob  04:17

I think that the tendency for high D personalities are to be the one that’s kind of pushing things to make things happen, because of that loss of control. By doing that, they’re overcompensating a little bit for this feeling of loss of control. If they feel like they’re losing control, they will start to take actions that will make them be in control.

Rob  04:35

If they say this is the direction we’re going to be going, then that’s the direction we’re going, whether you like it or not, they’re now in control, and so when you’re in sales, you have to recognize that when they do that kind of thing, that you have to kind of go along with some of that, but you need to maintain some form of control.

Rob  04:51

So we’re going to talk about that a little bit, but it’s really important that you have to figure out how to get back in control if they take over control, because that means you. Done something wrong, you’ve made them feel like they are no longer in control.

Rob  05:05

All the things that you have to do is making sure that along the way that you make them feel like they are in control. They’re also very strong personalities, in terms of like very, very bold, very big, very.. they’re just the big personalities. Okay, and they tend to not want help from others, because of that, they tend to do things without the help of others.

Rob  05:26

What you’re going to hear is something like follow me versus where should we go next, or what do you think we should do next. So that s personality is kind of that opposite type of person who’s going to talk with a team, try to help them work with them to make some decisions and decide where they want to go next. D personalities do not to do that.

Rob  05:44

They’re going to say, “Okay, let’s go here, that’s it, and the team’s going to be, “Okay, that’s where we’re going, and that’s okay. Just recognize that when they do that, that’s a check mark that they might have high D personalities tendencies, that because they’re task people, they don’t like to talk about emotions either.

Rob  05:59

So they’re not emotional type people, this is a problem when you’re dealing with sales, because you need to get pain from them. If you’re not getting pain from them, then you’re not going to get the emotional piece, you’re not going to be able to get the sale.

Rob  06:12

So, how do you get pain from high D personalities when they doesn’t want to talk about emotions? When you talk about ROI, you talk about how they’re reinvesting that money, how they’re going to make sure that they get the money back out of this investment. How are you going to measure success?

Rob  06:27

If they tell you, I measure success because when I get this, I get this many calls, or I get this many things happening, or I get this – this action takes place, and it’s measurable, which usually is. Then you know that you’re getting to that point of pain piece, and you might ask some more questions, like, well, why is that important to you, if you don’t already know, because then you start to dig into what those emotional components are that’s going to be driven by those pain points of ROI, and the numbers, and the data, and the things that they need to see is measurable.

Rob  06:58

The other thing to keep in mind is that they’re big picture people, and by big picture I mean they don’t want to get into the details. So, if you’re talking to them, first of all, I would say this right now: high D personalities probably already logged off.

Rob  07:10

They’re not watching the rest of this video because there’s too many details. I can’t keep track of all this, and that’s okay. But they don’t want – they want high level. What they want to know is what’s a high D personalities, and high D personalities is one that speaks quickly, gets the facts, and makes decisions quickly. That’s it.

Rob  07:25

That’s what a high D personality is. So, if you’re a high D and you made it this far, congratulations, that’s that’s a good move for you. But if you’re not, just understand that that’s okay. When they start to make those decisions, it’s because they’re high level and high level thinking. Most high D personalities don’t make it this far.

Rob  07:39

They don’t need to know all the details, because typically they’ll say my team will take care of all those details, and they should surround themselves with a team that knows how to take care of the details. They are results oriented, and that’s why it’s really important.

Rob  07:51

So, how do you speak to them? Number one, stay focused. You have to stay focused with them. If you don’t stay focused with them, they’re going to cut you off. They’re gonna be like, ‘Hey, I’m done, you’re done. I don’t have time for any more. That’s it. They’re going to cut you right off.

Rob  08:06

They’re business focused, they’re ROI focused, they are highly direct. So just know that when somebody’s speaking to you and they’re like literally just digging into your soul by talking to you and asking you very pointed questions, highly likely they’re a high D, I think.

Rob  08:22

One of the other things that’s really important is when you’re dealing with D personalities, you really want to make sure that they feel like they’re they’re going to win or they have a win. So no matter what the situation is, they have to find the win.

Rob  08:34

They have to feel like they have done something right to make it so that they have gotten not one over on you, but they want to make sure that they feel like that they’ve done the right things and can support it with something that they can show they can point at and say, see, we actually did this, give them a win.

Rob  08:51

So, when you’re dealing with high D personalities, as you go through your process, make sure you have things that you can give them as wins and make them feel good about it along the way, because of that, sometimes you have to let them lead, and by let them lead, I mean let them talk through where they want to go next, what they want to see, what they want to do.

Rob  09:09

When I talk about high D personalities, I usually start a meeting with what do you want to see today. If I know that they’re high D, and I say, what do you want to see, they’re going to tell me exactly what they want to see, and if I can show you these things, what happens then? Notice the cadence. the cadence is short, direct, and to the point, right. So, what do you want to see next?

Rob  09:26

What do you want to do next? After, yeah, I show you that. Okay, then you’re going to make a decision, and then my.. if they say I’m going to make a decision after I hear that or see that, blah blah blah. Okay, great. Then the next thing might be coming out of my mouth, might be, but not today, right?

Rob  09:38

And I’m going to push them back because I want them to feel like they’re going to make a decision, and because they’re making that decision, there’s their win. They’ve made a decision. I’m staying out of their way by being a little bit more negative, and when I’m a little bit more negative than they are, they’re going to pull me through to the signing of the document.

Rob  09:58

That’s what’s going to end up happening. If I don’t, and I push them, that’s when I have a problem, because when they, when they get pushed, they push back, they don’t, they don’t want to be pushed, and in fact, one of the things that you want to make sure you’re doing is, when you’re speaking quickly, you obviously.

Rob  10:11

If you’re not a fast thinker while you’re speaking, you’re going to want to have some things in your back pocket to know that you’re going to have to lean on and talk, talk through, so that when you get to that point of having to speak quickly, you can stay with them, because they’re going to be very quick to think and speak and make decisions, and if you can’t keep up with them, that’s a little bit of a problem.

Rob  10:29

One of the other things that they like to do is they like to stay in the logic side of things, right? So that’s not like I said earlier, less emotional, they like to stay in the logic side, so let them work through the logic. In fact, when you’re talking to them and you’re going through things, ask questions that make them logically give the answers that support where you want them to go.

Rob  10:52

So, when you’re talking about an object or a thing that you’re selling, and you ask them the questions that say, “Well, why would you do this? Why wouldn’t you do that? Why would you want to apply this service, make them explain it with logic piece, and when they start to explain it with a logic piece, they start to buy in, and they will guide you to where they want to go next. That’s how you stay in control during these meetings.

Rob  11:13

You’re, you’re thinking a little ahead of them, and you’re getting those questions lined up, so that they’re, they’re guiding you through, but still feel like they’re in control, they’re saying what they need to say and get things in front of you, but they’re doing it in such a way that make you understand where their head’s at and make sure that they get the pain spoken out, so you can understand what’s in their head.

Rob  11:33

A couple of things that are a little bit of a weakness for them is that they don’t typically rely on or include other people in their decisions, so they’ll go through and make a decision and say this is what we’re going to do, and their team may not even know anything about it or make any input on that, and that’s okay, but what they like to do is delegate responsibility, but they also don’t like to delegate authority, so what happens is, is they’ll say, yes, this is where we’re going, and then you have to take care of it.

Rob  12:04

The problem is, if they’re not including their team, then what happens is, is everybody gets into a little bit of a who’s whose job is it, and what you’re now responsible as the sales person, or your business is right. So, if they don’t give you a very good answer on that, and how they’re going to deal with something, because they’ve delegated the responsibility, but not the authority, and you can see that, and you ask what you need to do is basically ask the questions, then so what is your plan on how you’re going to deal with that when that comes up, and you’re pushing it back on them.

Rob  12:33

Well, they’re going to try to push that responsibility back on you. If they do that, that means they don’t know, and that they’re not going to admit that, but that’s something that they may not be sure they may not be sure about, or they don’t know what they’re going to say, or how they’re going to deal with it.

Rob  12:44

So, what you might do at that point is say, would you mind if I share with you a couple of things that other companies have done in this same situation when they try to execute or do these different things? What that does is give them solutions, and when he or she hears those solutions, they will then look at that and say, oh, that’s what we’re going to do.

Rob  13:00

Now’s the time to do that, because if you’re going to get into a little bit of a tiff, if you will, over that, not do it before you sign the contract, because if you do it after the contract sign, you got a lot more problems going on, right?

Rob  13:11

And really, what it comes down to is they love to make decisions, and that’s the key piece, right, because if they like to make decisions, you have to stay out of the way to make sure that they can make the decision that they need to make, so you’re going to have to work them through all these different pieces, and keeping in mind that their fear of loss of control is something that they’re afraid of.

Rob  13:33

You need to make sure that when you’re talking to them, you’re dealing with that and keeping them comfortable that they’re not losing control, but you’re having a very frank conversation. You’re moving the conversation along. You may not be talking about emotions directly, but you’re working through the emotions of not getting something fixed, the numbers that support or don’t support that, working them through that.

Rob  13:58

By doing that, you’re working through the pain pieces that you need to work through to get the sale, then when it comes time to make a decision, they can make the decision easily. In fact, when it comes right down to it, when you have high D personalities in front of you, the easiest thing for you to do is go, what do you want to do now?

Rob  14:14

That they’re the easiest ones to use that line on, because when you use that question, you say to them, well, what do you want to do now, their answer is going to be, well, I need more of this or I need more of that, or we’re going to take care of this, and we’re going to, or it’s a no, they’re going to tell you they have no problem, they’re going to give you a decision very quickly and very directly, or they’ll ask you some very pointed questions, but you’re going to know where you stand right at that moment.

Rob  14:38

One of the other things that I like to do when I’m talking to somebody that I think is a high D. Somewhere in the conversation I might say, listen, I can get into the weeds on this, I can get you some details, or I can kind of stay a little higher level and just give you some bullet points, so you can understand a little bit what we can do. Which do you prefer?

Rob  14:56

And so what that does is it gives me an indicator of big picture or details, if they’re big picture, then I know they’re more likely to be dealing with D personalities when they only want high level, and they consistently want high level, and they don’t start asking for more detail during the conversation.

Rob  15:13

I might ask a few times, do you want more, some more detail on this, and if they go yes, huh, that’s interesting, they may have another disc personality profile in there, a little bit more than just a D, but if they say every time, no, just give me the high level, just give me the high level, just give me the high level.

Rob  15:30

The further you move into the sales process, the more likely that they’re just a D profile, that’s it. So, you’ll know pretty quickly by doing that. So, what I want you to understand is that high D personalities are not a bad people to deal with at all.

Rob  15:44

In fact, I pretty much enjoy working with High D personalities, because I know where I stand, I know what’s going to happen, I know how to make sure that I understand what they need and have the questions ready to go, so that when they need to make some decisions, they can make the decision, it’s asking all the right things.

Rob  16:03

And when you get into the detail questions, if they don’t want to get into the details, it’s easier for me to say, Who on your team would I be able to deal with this, so that I get those details taken care of, right? So you start working through those pieces, likewise, you probably have some other people that are involved in this decision, other than you, because obviously you are the final decision maker.

Rob  16:22

Who else should we involve that might have some input or want some questions answered before we get to that point? And that person might say, as a high D, I make the final decision, but by asking it in a certain way, they may say to you, yeah, you know what, so somebody over in accounting needs to know, or finance needs to know this, they’re gonna have to work that out with you.

Rob  16:41

Why don’t you guys work that out, and then come back, that kind of a thing. So, when that starts to happen, you’ll want to make sure that you know all the players involved that you’re going to need to get in front of and get questions answered, so that you can move to the next level every time, right?

Rob  16:56

So, that’s a little bit about high D personalities on the DiSC profile. If you find this helpful, and you know that this is something that other people could use. Feel free to share this. Remember to also subscribe and like this video, because there’s gonna be more content just like this coming in the future. Until next time, remember, Slow Down and Close More.