Personality Types (NV)
Personality Types: Whom Are You Dealing With?
A training program that deals with customer service must also talk about who people are, their standards of behavior, what they value, and their expectations. When I think about customer service, I can’t help but wonder who the person is in front of me. What is it about their character that makes them who they are? They may wonder the same about us. People are often prejudged on looks, hair styles (no pun intended here), attire, and yes culture or racial groups. The prejudgment precedes any conversation initiated from either side. It is important to know yourself and understand what makes you tick. You must be aware of your own thought processes and what triggers negative thoughts and behaviors as well as positive.
We can look at people, or clients, in several ways as we engage them in conversation and observe their communication style, their clothing and overall behavior. Why is this important? It is important to the understanding of the best way to communicate with our clients on an individual basis. This information is also key for communicating with internal customers (co-workers, employees, distributors) and understanding whom we are and what “makes us tick”.
We can look at ‘people’ in four ways through the use of color. Red, for example, is a dominant color and exhibits competitiveness and drive. Blue tends to influence our mood or behavior. Green exhibits diplomacy and dependability. Yellow, a sign of warmth is more connected and reserved, yet consistent. To learn more about you, take “What COLOR Are You? | Color Personality Test” by Alpha Tests. Click or copy and paste the following link (or save for later). You will not be tested on the quiz. This is not an endorsement. Since the test is inside a video you will find it completely non-threatening and non-identifying. You record your answers and score on paper or your electronic notepad, completely detached from the video presentation. Your privacy will not be violated. And it is only 6.16 minutes. Have fun.
Many studies have been made regarding color-matching and personalities, so I will not try to reinvent the wheel, but rather offer you some real solid evidence for understanding yourself and the people in your life, especially your clients. The following is a compilation of work done by speaker author Florence Littauer, “Personality Plus” and Pam Hamilton, Certified Life Coach and Behavioral Consultant.
Red. This is a dominant style is usually recognizable as someone who is fast-paced, decisive, focused on a vision, highly goal oriented, driven to win, competitive and possibly someone who thrives on conflict. Highly dominant styles will tend to focus more on action and less on people. They will be extroverted and outwardly focused. They are results oriented – they make decisions quickly and will not have a high need for detail unless it is directly relevant to the goal. They can be overbooked and if they are late, they expect everything to start happening when they arrive. Reds are looking for the bottom line – “show them the money.”
Recognizing a Red: a red will be extremely well groomed with expensive clothing. They are classy/sharp, comfortable in a suite. Hairstyles tend to be shorter, and they are very confident. Reds are big on name recognition, so say your first and last name, they will tell you theirs. You can expect a firm handshake and eye contact. They appreciate genuine praise.
The Blue. This personality type can influence other people and can be easily influenced. This style is fun loving, the life of the party, gregarious, warm, engaging, and charismatic and will probably have many friends. They will tend to shy away from high levels of detail because details just aren’t fun. They will jump on a new concept – making them easy to sign up, which will also make it easy for someone else to sign them. They will quickly become a leader on your team. Keep them focused and encouraged.
Recognizing a Blue: The blue’s attire will be somewhat casual but trendy and bright or with lots of bling. They have a “hairstyle”. The blue will have fun and will be upbeat. Of course, they prefer to the center of attention, and they know everyone. They will probably be late and not apologize. Their conversation is formal but will be on a first name basis with you. They may offer a hip handshake, talk fast, and perhaps be loud and expressive. The blue may even stand in your personal space. Don’t be surprised if they case the room while talking with you.
Go Green. The compliance style is tactful, systematic, neat, dependable, conventional accurate and diplomatic. They will tend to be more focused on tasks than people and their general pace will be slow and deliberate. Highly compliant styles are very concerned with quality and will go to great lengths to make sure tasks are done properly and accurately. They are comfortable with a high level of detail and tend be analytical by nature. They will question (in detail) and they will do research. They are thinkers and will prefer you give them time to research and then follow up. Be sure to follow up with them when you said you would – that will impress them.
Recognizing the Green: They will be early. Greens can be critical of people who are late or disorganized. They could even be shy or withdrawn. Nothing about their attire will stand out. They are usually conservative, somewhat meticulous. Greens are very comfortable with themselves some to the point of feeling superior. They are usually fairly fit. They feel they are unique, complex and not to be part of a general group. They take life too seriously. Their conversation includes their first and last name during a greeting and expect, as a courtesy, for you to do the same. Opposite from the Blue they may step back if you are too close to them. Expect very little small talk. They are not likely to smile. Greens can be too sensitive, so be gentle, be sincere, and be interested. While you are talking with do not look over their shoulder.
Mellow Yellow. Slow Paced and people oriented. The steadiness style is thoughtful, pragmatic, reserved, loyal, deliberate, consistent and stable. Their style will be more people oriented than task oriented and their general pace will be slow, steady, unemotional and somewhat introverted. They tend to be slow to develop trust but are extremely loyal once they have done so. They will need to like you and feel that you are honest, that they can trust you, and that you will care about them.
Recognizing a Yellow: Their dress will be casual, and their outfits will be comfortable. Nothing flashy, earth tones and jewelry will be personal. Hair will be longer with no particular style. Yellows are not always physically fit. They do have great manners, however. The conversation might not include their name during a greeting; however, eye contact is essential (the trust thing). Their handshake will be soft, so be on the lookout for a hug instead. They speak at a slower pace, personal, soft, kind and rarely sharp or sarcastic. They like relationships to be genuine, honest and show integrity. They are extremely uncomfortable with confrontation so do not challenge them. Being boastful and materialistic with a yellow is a turn off and will not be well received. Finally, they give long answers, so be gentle as you cut them off.
I encourage you to do further study into personality types to help support healthy relationships and a thriving business.