Selling to Your High-D Boss

By Michael Wilkinson, CMF
Managing Director, Leadership Strategies, Inc.

Adapted from Buying Styles: Selling the Way Your Customer Buys

My book, Buying Styles: Selling the Way Your Customer Buys, tells the story of Dave, a salesman who loses a major sale even though the potential client, by her own admission, believes his product has the better capability. Her reason for the loss, “Overall, we felt more comfortable working with the other team.”

Through a series of events in the book, Dave discovers an important truth: Most sales people sell in one style – the style they themselves buy in; however, they could be so much more successful if they sold in the style that the customer buys in.

Though the Buying Styles story focuses on a sales person, nearly all of us sell in some capacity. Whether we are selling a product to a customer, an idea to our boss, a plan to our spouse, or the reason we shouldn’t get a ticket to a police officer, we could be so much more successful if we sold the way the particular “customer” buys.

What are the Buying Styles?

When we apply buying styles to your boss, imagine that you want to approach your boss with a recommendation for improving the way people are hired into the company. How would you sell the idea? While the method you use may be impacted by several factors, we believe a primary factor should be the buying style of your boss. Using the D-I-S-C model as a foundation, we think of people buying in one of four basic styles. Of course some people use a combination of buying styles. However, in general, one of these four styles dominates a person’s buying pattern.

1. The High-D(Drive) buying style is direct and decisive. They want you to cut to the chase, tell them what you want them to do and let them know what’s in it for them. They will tune out if you take too long to get to the point.

2. The High-I(Influence) style enjoys engaging in conversation and discussing the big picture. They want the stage: they want you to get them talking about their needs and experiences and to engage them in how they will use your product. They will lose interest if you go into details or don’t keep the conversation interactive.

3. People with a High-S (Steadiness) style want you to get to know them. For a High-S, it is all about the relationship. They will buy from you because they like you and trust you. They will shut down if you become pushy or demanding.

4. High-Cs(Compliance) want to be sure they are making the right decision. They want you to present information in a logical, linear fashion. They want the details and time to go through them. They will tune out if you make claims you can’t back up or try to force a decision before they are ready.

Unfortunately, most of us sell the way we want to be sold to, instead of changing our style to align with our boss’ buying style. So what happens when a High-D (get to the point) person tries to sell to a High-S (get to know me) boss or when a High-I storyteller tries to sell to a High-C (give me the facts) boss? Usually not much! If we don’t adapt to our boss’ buying style, we can easily have our ideas rejected – not because of the quality of the ideas – but simply because we were selling in the wrong style.

How do you sell to a High-D Boss?

If you have a High-D boss now or have had one or more in the past, you might find their directness quite challenging, and perhaps even down-right rude. You may find that they don’t take the time to let you get through your presentation, or that they multi-task while you are explaining the benefits of your recommendation. However, there are specific strategies that you can use to sell the way the High-Ds buy.

In general…	Let them control the conversation State your points directly and concisely Focus on the benefit to be achieved End by asking for their approval to move forward
Avoid…	Wasting their time with information, details or activities that they may consider unnecessary
To start…	Be direct; put the high-D in control (“How would you like to proceed with this?”)
When conversing	Be clear and concise with your questions and direct with your responses Let the high-D control the flow of the conversation
When presenting…	Give the recommendation first followed by the problem it solves, and the benefits to be achieved Use visual displays and graphs to clarify points
When writing…	Be as brief as possible Use bullet-points Provide one-page summaries
When asking for a decision…	Don’t offer many alternatives; high-Ds want your best recommendation and only need to know you have considered the many options for them Stress the impact of your proposal and how it will bring tangible results
They will tune out if…	You take too long to get to the point
To regain their attention…	“Let me get straight to the point.” “Suppose I skip the details and just hit the highlights?”
In summary…	Be prepared, be brief, be gone!

Like to know more about buying styles? You can learn powerful strategies for applying buying styles through the Buying Styles book.

Michael Wilkinson is the Managing Director of Leadership Strategies – The Facilitation Company and author of Buying Styles, The Secrets of Facilitation andThe Secrets to Masterful Meetings. He is a Certified Master Facilitator and a much sought after leadership trainer and facilitator.

Selling to Your High-D Boss

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