Throughout your usual routine, away on a business trip or holiday, even during your endless scrolling binges alone in the abys, every day we are being sold to. People across every walk of life make a variety of decisions, each one influenced by their own opinions and how they have bought into different ideas. A buying persona is essentially the characteristics that you, as a person, buy into the most. It’s important to know these are for buying only, a large number of personality tests may cover all things you, but these are specific to your wants, needs and agreements.
What does it mean to “buy”
Buying can manifest in lots of forms. Physically purchasing in a store, a bar or the countless retail traps that can swallow your account balance, is the easiest example to understand. This isn’t the only relevant purchase you make in your life though; you would have to buy into a plan for the weekend if you were invited on a night out. A difficult work task would require you to buy into a solution to complete it. Anytime you want to move on something that requires your input to gain an outcome, you are buying into your move. A simple analogy for this would be: anytime a car needs to move, it requires fuel. But what makes you buy the fuel, relies on what your buying persona is.
The four buying personas
According to Kennedy Ross, the UK’s number one sales training company, there are 4 buying personalities or interaction styles. Most people make a judgement of you in the first 7-10 seconds of a meeting, establishing what interaction style or buying persona they have, means you can mould how you pitch yourself according to how they buy. The personas are:
– Thinker
– Doer
– Actor
– Friend
Thinker
Thinkers tend to be factually orientated in how they buy. They will consider the specifications or features of a product or service and how those specifications compare to what they currently have or what is available on the market. They take a lot longer to make a decision, typically due to all the information they have to gather to make an informed decision. When dealing with someone as a thinker, be sure back up your facts with sources, and make details factual. Don’t expect the decision the same day you have given your offering.
Doer
More typically, in dealing with a hardcore doer, you don’t have much room to waffle or have unclear intentions. They make decisions almost straight away and will make judgement very quickly alongside installing trust if they like what they see. Be clear concise and straight to the point when trying to win a doer over, the minute they lose confidence in the buy the quick they will consider another avenue. In this fast-paced decision-making style interaction, it’s important to be prepared to answer questions about proof of work effectively or keep a list of examples that have achieved similar goals. This helps with any rash decisions or “burns” they have received in the past.
Actor
Perceived to be larger than life and enjoy the theatrics of a concept. More times than not, the popularity and reputation of a buy are enough for this persona to be comfortable in deciding. They are deemed the easiest to sell to once they feel important and to speak freely about how their successes have come to light. A great way to get an actor on board is to show them how many well-known authorities or people are also receiving or buying into the same concept, they’ll likely know a thing or two about them. Having the ability to feel comfortable in talking about all things relevant and regurgitating information that connects with others on personal levels, is the largest attribute that makes them incredibly effective with people-orientated roles. They can usually rustle up a story or two in the darkest hour. Be sure to pull out the stops when giving a presentation to these types and always give them more than enough time to talk.
Friend
Does what it says on the tin really…
We often think of the friend as the most influenced interaction, a friend uses the personal relationship to justify a business or everyday task or ambition. They may easily be persuaded with words and costs, but they will no doubt talk about you to all close connections they cherish. This will raise constant opportunities to make new relationships if the one they have with you isn’t nurtured correctly, the eyes begin to wander. Keeping a friend in your life means keeping the interest in them on a personal level, and allowing the transparency of your intentions to feed through. The issue of bulldozing your way into a buy from a friend is once they find a relationship with more value, they will immediately transfer their trust to them, regardless of a factual comparison. If you win a friend, make sure you treat them like a friend, they will stay with you for life
Compatibility and how to deal with a conflicting persona.
Generally speaking, the following are the most compatible when they are interacting:
– Thinker and Friend
– Thinker and Doer
– Doer and Actor
– Actor and Friend
Generally speaking, the following are the most conflicting when they are interacting:
– Thinker and actor
– Doer and Friend
To counter some of these here are some tips to remember:
DOER: Don’t forget to have some small talk and general chit chat when talking to a friend, they’ll appreciate the personable approach.
FRIEND: In going up against a Doer, have an agenda and keep to a timeframe. Try avoiding talking about family or anything off-topic until they invite it, then keep it brief in response.
ACTOR: Thinkers won’t take kindly to opinions or the reputation of others, make sure you have clear specifications and facts about your approach and give them the statistics to take away and make the decision themselves. Offer to leave them with a lot of information so they can review it alone and come up with concise questions for you to answer in order for them to buy. Work the longer game.
THINKER: When dealing with an actor, ask about what’s important to them and what success looks like. Let them talk into giving you the answers they’re looking for. Asking questions and having extra-curricular information about them, favourite film or information on their local area is your best bet.
Lastly, people can be a mix, trying to fit everyone into one would be difficult. We can also shift into others with significant occurrences in our lives. Knowing these personas may help you chalk your cue for your next pitch.