Dr. Tony Alessandra, The Doctor of DISC

Oct 30, 2017

Wes Schaeffer

The Sales Podcast Marketing Automation Entrepreneur

Read your prospects to sell how they want to buy

Stream below or right-click here to download the episode.

DISC and many other assessments
Four basic patterns of behavior
- Dominant
- Interacting / Influencing
- Steady / Amiable / Relator
- Conscientiousness / Cautious / More of a thinker or analytical type
Personal development, team building, leadership development, sales effectiveness, selection of job hires/new-hire candidates, etc.
DISC Fitness System at Assessments 24x7
- Benchmark:
  - The job
  - The ideal candidate
  - What you're shooting for in a new hire
- Match candidates against the benchmark

There is a simplicity and practicality in DISC
Other tools like MBTI are great for internal assessments, but they can be confusing and often needs an expert to interpret them
DISC gives you two basic scores
- Personal
- Adapted: how I behave when I'm with others and have to change my pattern to reduce conflict
In Carl Yung 1927 wrote "Psychological Types"
"The Emotions of Normal People"
"Professor Marston and the Wonder Women"
Look at characters in the public domain to understand how to identify and anchor the concept of DISC profiles in sales
- "The Odd Couple" was a classic with only two characters who clashed between "I" and "C"
- "Seinfeld"
  - Jerry - "S"
  - Elaine - "D" and some "I"
- Famous people can fall out of favor, so he doesn't use them any longer in his books and training
- So use historical characters who are dead with no baggage
In sales, get the customer talking more than you with open-ended questions
- Make two either-or decisions as they talk
  1. Are they more open or guarded?
  2. Are they more direct or indirect?
- Direct but guarded = D
- Direct but open = I
- Indirect and open = S
- Indirect and guarded = C
- If they're open then start with more chit-chat
- If they're guarded then get to the point
- If they're direct, then move faster
- If they're indirect, then move slower

He sold door-to-door during the summers in New Jersey while in college
- He had a 3-ring binder and flipped through it
- He wouldn't pick up the hint when people wanted to slow down or speed up
How to handle a High D
- It's a bit difficult
- They want to run the show
- If you butt heads, it could be the end
How to handle High S's and C's (indirect and slower-paced)
- Information-driven (C more so)
- The S likes to get others involved, while the C may make the decision on their own
- Go in prepared
- Understand their needs
- Give them options
- Give them data and documentation
- The "Cs" want to sleep on it
- Clarify with them, "Do you have all the information you need to make a decision?"
- Have an agenda and cover it with them upfront
- Don't wing it
- Admit when you don't know
Task-oriented: D & C
- C's are slower and like data more
- D's are risk-takers
- C's want all the options
- D's want a couple of options
Relation-oriented: I & S
S vs C
- Both procrastinate
- S's procrastinate getting started
- C's procrastinate finishing
The three V's
- Verbal
- Vocal
- Visual
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