Buyer Styles

Willingham says there are four types of buyers: talkers, doers, plodders. See Integrity Selling; How to Succeed in Selling in the Competitive Years Ahead (New York: Doubleday, 1987), p. 14

"Talkers love people," Willingham says. "They love to visit and socialize. They like block parties, family reunions, bowling leagues. They're easy to gain rapport with--easy to approach. After ten minutes you'll think you've been friends for life." (p. 15)

Doers' "objective is to get things done...[They] are often impatient, type A behavior people. There's never enough time. They're competitive and energetic." (p. 16)

"Plodders are content with routine, redundant jobs. They're usually never very high or very low. They're not pushed for time and are unhurried." (p. 17)

"Controllers are highly organized and show high attention to detail. Their decisions revolve around facts and figures. They don't make emotional decisions." (p. 18)

Whether or not your customers fit into these types or not, it's important to think about the style of the customer and adjust your approach depending on which one they're talking to. People in the over-65 age group think one way; those in the under 35 group think another. People who drive Jaguars behave one way; those who drive Toyotas another. And so on.

But consider these four groups of buyers. Willingham suggests a variety of approach questions tailored to each group. See pp. 13 to 23.

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This is some of the stuff that will go into my entrepreneurship course. The ideas in it supply the life's blood of my professional activities: teaching, writing, and real estate. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot/com.