Many of us are already familiar with the “ambivert advantage” discussed in class, but then I began thinking to myself: what do other personality tests reveal about our selling capabilities?
Last week, I took my first enneagram test. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the test, an enneagram represents a scale of numbers (1-9) to represent the
spectrum of possible personality types, with three centers: instinctive, feeling, and thinking. However, unlike a Meyers Brigg test, the enneagram considers our intrinsic values as well as our ability to grow intellectually and emotionally.
The enneagram test can be extraordinary useful in sales in three different ways: to help sales personnel understand the strengths and weaknesses of their natural selling approach; to teach sales managers how to best support and develop their sales staff, and to enable those in sales to focus their efforts on the needs and interpersonal styles of customers and clients for each Enneagram type.
According to “The Enneagram in Business,” these are some strengths of each enneagram type relative to the sales process:
One
Organized, precise, provide product and service details, excellent follow-through
Two
Establish strong customer relationships, warm, service-oriented, committed to meeting customer needs
Three
Confident about product and services, competent, efficient, focused on closing the sale
Four
Interesting, bring creativity to the product and service offerings, listen well to customer needs
Five
Non-intrusive, knowledgeable about all aspects of product and service offerings, deliver what is promised
Six
Convey both the opportunities as well as the risks of products and services, quick-witted and humorous
Seven
Enthusiastic, able to articulate possible opportunities and creative uses related to products and services, engaging and charming
Eight
Honest, candid, credible, able to sell products and services above and beyond initial requests
Nine
Trustworthy, relaxed, develop rapport easily, non-aggressive, friendly, listen well
Understanding your innate strengths and weaknesses will translate into your ability to form connections with others and thus your ability to sell.
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Want to find out your Enneagram? Check out the website below:
The Enneagram Personality Test (truity.com)
testacr22
Hi, Molly! Enneagrams are a really interesting concept; however, I never thought they could relate to sales. Using it to understand our strengths and investing our time into those rather than our weaknesses is a wise suggestion. This is especially important in teams to understand who should do what.