Alex Swire-Clark

People buy from people (they trust)

So many people in the business world are trying to close sales, and an equal amount of people are tweeting and posting about how to do it. After all, that is the ultimate goal in business; close more sales, do more deals, and gain more revenue.
I consider myself to be the Guru of closing more sales. I don’t care if you’ve got a small or big team: I’ll help you close more sales. I have been doing it for more than 20 years, so hear me out.

Build professional relationships from the get-go

Closing sales will not happen if you only focus on answering objections and following up. What I find to be a successful tactic and what I have been teaching CEOs and managers how to do is look at the professional side of building relationships.

There are a lot of techniques that will help you get to 6, 7, or 8 figures sales. However, none of them will work if you don’t build your foundation:

Speaking people’s language.
Meeting them where they are.
Reaching out positively.

The DISC method is the tool that can help you tremendously in that segment. However, it can help only if used for good.

That is a principle I emphasize whenever I speak in any organization and one code I will not give up on. Understanding DISC lets you understand yourself first and then understand others. So, a devil might appear on your shoulder, pushing you to use that knowledge to manipulate others into making a deal with you. However, it is crucial to shut the devil up and use the DISC tool to predict the reactions of others so that you can adapt your behavior and close that sale. This way, you will build a long-term relationship, and this sale will only be the first of many.

Hunters vs. gatherers

Hunters and gatherers are found not only in agriculture but also in the sales industry.
Hunters are salespeople who go out there to make a kill; they want to close the sale fast and are always looking for fresh meat. These salespeople don’t mind doing a lot of cold calling, being in people’s faces, and always looking for the next business to contact. They want to go out, make their presentation, offer a price, and sign a deal. So obviously, there is no business relationship in this scenario.

Gatherers or farmers are on the other side of the spectrum and all about the relationship. When they are trying to close a sale, they maintain a high level of rapport with a person and a high level of enthusiasm and awareness. They make a sale by always being present and providing value to customers. Once customers need something, they will come to a gatherer knowing they have always been there. They have provided an image of an expert.

The most important thing to know is both styles can be successful salespeople. But job benchmarking is crucial, and different styles take different roles.

Typically, suppose you talk about a hunter salesperson. In that case, you want to lean more towards a D or a C personality style. They are based in the world of facts, and that’s what a hunter needs to be successful.

A farmer will be thinking about how an action will affect them and their employees, so you should look for a high I or a high S. They live in a world of relationships where they can be fully people-oriented.
There is a way for anyone to act in these roles. You can learn more about how to adapt to the other style here.

How to pick the right job in Sales?

When you’re looking for a job in sales, and you’re a D or C, you don’t want to be on the other side of the equation, the farmer row.
I know you are not interested in the private life of your potential customers, nor do you really want to know how they feel on a particular day. You want facts, percentages, and data. Dealing with people who want to exchange pleasantries is easier for Is and Ss. By the time they reach a sales deal, they’ve already established a relationship. And they’re sharing information, just like they would with a friend. As opposed to: it’s a potential client. And it makes it easier for them.

How to pick the right person for the job in Sales?

If you are in charge of a sales team, before thinking about a sales process, consider: how quickly do I want to close a sale? Do you prefer your salespeople to get in and get out, or do you choose them to develop a relationship?

Ds and Ss are task-oriented folks, so they will treat a sale as a task. Checking the boxes and doing a lot of work drives them. So if you’ve got a quick turnaround and a shorter sales cycle, Ds and Ss will be perfect for you.

Is and Cs will take their time to develop a relationship with a client and have a good time. The more they get to know the client, the better they feel about their product and prospect and will be able to close the sale, but not as fast as Ds and Ss.

Be careful if you try to put a high I or a high C in a hunter role and cut down their time with a client. What this will bring out in them is a sense of inadequacy. If they just met someone and they need to make a pitch and sell something, Is and Cs will feel fake, and unnatural and will have a lot of difficulties while presenting your product or service.

Do you know who is your target audience?

As in many other aspects of business, the target is essential when making a sale. I’m not talking about an industry here; I’m talking about knowing who is the decision-maker in a company that you want to close a deal with.
Who are they? What are they like? What motivates them, and what makes them make a decision the way they do? If you can tap into that knowledge and understand that human behavior has a pattern, you will close a sale.

People buy from people (they trust)

You must have heard that saying that people buy from people. And the one that people buy from people who they trust.
Trust is established differently on different sides of the circle. Knowing who you are selling to is key to closing a sale. Here are some examples.

Is and Ss have to like you before they trust you.
Is are people-oriented, and they like to have fun. So, they work best with people they feel are relatable, engaging, with a good sense of humor, and with comfortable people. Once you’ve made them feel comfortable and smile, that automatically links them to the following: this person is representing a company, and they must share the same core values. I know they will take care of me because they are concerned about me. As a customer, the rule for Is is: I like this person and want to do business with them.

Ss need time to relate to a person and get the trust going. Quick sales are not for them, as they will feel pressured to make a decision, and they don’t like to do that fast. Ss need time to process, and they might even need a salesperson to come back for a couple of meetings. What they really dislike are changes. So, if you are trying to introduce something new, they will think about its effect on them and their people. So, for selling to Ss, the rule is to give them time to get to know you and your idea, let them know the next steps and what will happen, and the sale is yours.

We find our Ds and Cs on the other side of the spectrum. They have to trust you before they like you, and if they don’t trust you, you will never make a sale.
How do you create that trust? Give them facts and data; they want to see that evidence. Unlike when trying to sell to an I, you are history if you start telling jokes to a D or a C. If you don’t talk business, they will see you as a fake.

When selling to a D, you need to tell them what your product or service will do for them in terms of percentages. What’s it going to do for their organization? Is it going to improve something in their life again if you’re going b2c? Or is it going to prove something in an organization if you’re going b2b? You get the point.

A high C as a customer will want to know why they should buy it, does it makes sense to them? Is it going to have a logical progression if they start where they are right now and add your product? What is it going to look like? You can convince Cs as long as you give them the facts and that logical progression. The glass is always half empty for them, so you need to fill it up with logic.

The story is the key

Regardless of who you are selling to, you need to be able to tell stories, and they are the key. If you can tell a story about your product or service, or experiences you’ve had, you can touch both sides of the graph.

In D and C customer situations, you must address stories about the data, the process, and the logic of something that happens. Whereas for the other side of the circle, the Is and Ss, you got to stir emotions and really tell a story about people and something about your product or service that impacted someone and made a positive change.

Remember: you need to know yourself and others to make a sale. When you know how to recognize a different personality style (and you can learn all about that here), you will be able to communicate without difficulties.

Even if you are in sales right now, reflect on who you like to sell to. And how do you want to do it: are you a hunter or a farmer? Connect the two, and the sale is yours.

By Alex Swire-Clark

Learn to Easily Master Emotions and Prevent Burnout

One of the things that each of us does daily is adapt to different situations—the worst part of adapting lies in the fact that it is so difficult. But some tools can be put into practice to make the process much easier and to help you master your emotions to prevent burnout.

What is adapting, anyway?

Based on adapting your behavior, lie the two styles we all have inside of us:

Natural style
Adapting style.

You can recognize your natural style as the one you use when you are simply relaxing on the couch at the end of the day, or at the moments you are under a lot of stress.
But your other style is what you put on as a mask, primarily when you work. You are putting on the style you believe your work environment requires you to have, an Adapting style.

The key to difficulty in adapting is that every time you use the Adapting style, you might end up going above or below what we call our energy line.

The real reason you are dead tired after a day at work

The energy line is a midway point for each of us, our 50 percent line. When you cross this line by behaving differently from what your Natural style would prefer, you lose energy. The danger lies in repeating this behavior consistently. If you adapt your behavior all day long, you will cross your energy line so much that you will feel dead tired at the end of each day or each week. Each personality style based on the DISC Method will have its energy line.

This graph can show it, and we use it to explain personality traits after a DISC assessment has been done. You can use the lines here to visualize an energy line.

When assessing which personality style is someone, we scale people from zero to 100 in terms of their traits. Anything that’s above 50 is one of your dominant styles. Anything less than 50 is non-dominant and will not necessarily appear on your graph, but it will affect your behavior. In other words: everything below 50 are traits you will need to mostly fake when you are in your adapting style of behavior.

When you are pressured to do that, you will be able to do it, but it will take energy and drain you. And that’s because we’re crossing that midline. Knowing your personality style makes you aware of what will drain you. You can be prepared for the stress response you naturally have and make it easier on yourself and others.

Long term adapting = burnout

Anyone who has to adapt their behavior over a long time will (!) create burnout for themselves. That’s key to keep in mind.

This applies to anyone, as it is impossible to keep up adaptive behavior forever. That’s why anyone who has to adapt every day, all day, has to make some adjustments in life. In other words, it is necessary to find outlets: on the weekend, in nightlife… Anything to prevent burnout.

That is also a reason why nowadays, a lot of major corporations are providing built-in distractions. Some of the outlets used are exercise programs, wellness programs, social activities within the work hour, and board game breaks. Whatever it is, the point is to allow them to have a break from tasks that are unnatural to their personality.

However, the best practice is prevention. Using job benchmarking and hiring people to roles and areas where they don’t need to adapt so much. That way, they can live in that job, love it, and be fulfilled by it. That’s the key if retention.

Practical application

The most significant adaptations come from our diagonals and diagonal opposites. So that’s Ds working as Ss, Is working as Cs, and then, of course, S working as Ds and Cs working as Is.

If you use the DISC assessment and discover you are a High D and need to adapt to an S style behavior, you will need to slow down. S style is all about emphasizing and actively listening. So a D style has to understand that sometimes people just want to be heard and not be given a solution to a problem as a response. So, slow down. Actively listen and use mirroring techniques.

In a parallel universe, an S has to adapt to a High D. In that case, High S must pick up a pace. Ds are all about quick and tough decisions, so as an S, make sure you stay on task and not put it off.

If you are a High I and need to work as a C personality, it will not be easy. As an I, you are outgoing and fun, while a C personality is all about objectiveness, analytics, and things you are not a fan of. So you do have to make sure that you’re getting specific directions, that you’re doing check-ins, and that you are not as friendly as you usually like. A C doesn’t want to get too personal; they just want to follow directions. So make sure you check in that you are on the right track from time to time. You know you get easily distracted. 😊

On the other side of the coin, if you are a High C and need to behave as an I, you want to be more friendly, people-oriented, and simply smile more. You need to show a bit more energy and become more interactive with others than you usually feel comfortable doing. Implementing humor in your performance would also be a great adaptation, so feel free to Google the dad joke and use it. You will be surprised how well that goes over.

We are all humans

In all these examples, it is evident that there is a lot of effort to become who you are actually not. But remember: we are all doing it, and we are all pretending to be something we are not, and the fact that we put in the effort will give us positive results.

All those people you know will appreciate the small things you are doing and how out of your way you are going because we are all human beings. We do appreciate the effort.

Just put yourself in other people’s shoes.

But first, learn who you are as a personality. That’s the only way to know where you need to put in the extra effort. You can take the DISC assessment here.
Learn more about yourself, and try to find a place under the sun where your adaptation will not be constant and difficult. Because if you don’t, burnout is inevitable.

By Alex Swire-Clark

Discover the Secrets of Body Language

It is a well-known fact that almost 93 percent of human communication is non-verbal. That’s why body language is so important, and it can tell you a lot about a person you are with or meeting for the first time. We’ll discover the secrets of body language to use that tool to avoid miscommunication at work, home, or at school.

When you meet someone for the first time, a person will likely have to look at you and shake your hand while being introduced. And those couple of seconds will right away tell you who did you just met.

Look me in the eyes

Body language is many things, but the first key point you need to watch is eye contact. If you get immediate eye contact, you know you are dealing with an outgoing type right away. So, you probably just met a D or an I person.
Secondly, keep your attention on the handshake. Steady eye contact with a firm handshake tells you that this is a D person. Granted, you might have met some D personalities in your life who were looking everywhere but in your direction. If they are not interested in the topic or current activity, Ds will do that. But, if they are engaged, they will be right there penetrating your eyes.
All of this will be accompanied by pointing. Ds do not shy away from delegating, and they will point in the direction of a person they want something out of very often. While doing so, they will move fast as if they are impatient, which is another clear clue of a High D.

When you notice all these body language characteristics, remember that High Ds dislike being casually touched. They are not huggers, not even when a big day is in question. While they will sometimes get up in your face and cross personal space boundaries, they do not handle physical touch very well. Most you can expect from them is a pat on the back.

There is always room for comedy

D’s aren’t the only ones who use big gestures and eye contact. You can expect this from a High I as well, and however, you will notice a much friendlier posture from an I right off the bat.
Unlike Ds, who will point at people, Is will use their hands to communicate and keep open palms. They rarely cross their arms and like to keep their hands on the side of their body.
Their amusing mentality and posture will give them away because the need for people to like them is at their core. You are definitely dealing with a High I if you meet someone for the first time and get a joke or two, funny punchlines, or even a little stand-up comedy performance.

Cool Hand Luke

As mentioned at the beginning of this text, eye contact is the first point that will help you decide whether a person is outgoing or reserved. The second crucial part is gestures. If they are big gestures, motioning with their hands a lot and moving around, that tells you they are expressive. However, if they lack minimal gestures or have none at all, you are working with a reserved style: S or a C.

Ss will be very cool, to the point where they don’t try to stand out. The way they speak and move is general; they are welcoming and friendly, but a lot of that is set to mute. Their gestures are reassuring, gentle, and harmonious. Their face will be a poker face. If you can’t see anything in their expression and struggle to figure out what they are thinking, that’s an excellent clue that they are a High S.

Another tell for an S is if they ask good questions, but they sit there, nod, and listen. They are, at their core, great listeners and will make you feel great after the conversation due to that. No drama, just listening and helping others.

Turn that frown upside down

Another member of we-don’t-gesture-a-lot-team is an S personality style. What will differentiate them from an S is they will stick to the facts and data in their conversation. They won’t make much eye contact, and you can recognize them by a scowl they have. You might think that the person you just met is unhappy with what they are hearing but most likely: they are an S personality. Due to being data-driven, they think a lot while listening and assessing everything all the time. Because of concentration on this, their face automatically frowns. Those frowns are normal. That unemotional side of things is kind of where they live. Don’t worry; you are doing okay (unless you tried any sort of physical contact. Just like Ds, they are not good with that).

Keep in mind that somebody can fake a lot of body language. We are taught that a firm handshake is essential in the corporate world, so that alone doesn’t have to tell you a lot about the person. A High C can learn to smile broadly and give a firm handshake when meeting someone as a sign of respect and authority. So, that’s why it’s essential to look at the whole picture.

Also, as body language says a lot about others, it says a lot about you. And you can learn how to manipulate it to get a message you wish to convey across. What can help you is lessons from Tudor Alexander. He is a professional ballroom dancer and coach who knows the importance of body language more than anyone. You can listen to his advice HERE.

By Alex Swire-Clark

Understand Colleagues by Their Photos in the Office

After two long years, it is slowly time for us to return to the office. That means it is time to take parts of your home that provided comfort to you during the pandemic and strategically put it around your office.
By doing so, you will show your coworkers or employees what kind of personality is yours. This works in another way as well. Maybe you have someone new in the team who joined the company during the pandemic, and you are unsure of their personality in real life. Look at their office or cubicle, and you will get your answers.

Note that office décor can tell you a lot about someone, even if your company doesn’t allow many decorations or changes to the workspace. Seeing a spotless desk or piles of papers will show you the difference between D and S. This will allow you to adapt your communication with that person and avoid conflicts at the workplace and missed deadlines due to miscommunication.

What to look for?

Even though we are talking about mysteries office décor can reveal about a team member, it is crucial not to snoop. These are hints about what you can notice while passing someone’s cubicle or while stopping by for a friendly chat.

What you can notice is:

is the workspace nice and tidy, or you are struggling to see the person behind stacks of paper
are there any pictures of family, friends, or pets
did the person bring any plants to their desk
can you notice any diplomas or certificates standing proudly on the wall

Signs of success and sticking with the classic look

Imagine a traditional corporate lawyer office: big mahogany desk, leather chair, plaques, and awards all around. That is a typical High D office. These people tend to have an ego on the bigger side, and they love to win.
So it is no wonder they like to show their signs of success. Any award they won (especially connected to work) will be framed and will find its place on their office wall. While the walls will be neatly arranged with framed certificates and bookshelves, you will see a completely different image if you look down at the desk.
The desk of a High D is usually filled with different documents and papers, and it might even look a bit messy. However, rest assured that this person knows exactly where is which form. They might have to shuffle through their stacks, but they will find what they’re looking for in a matter of seconds.
Once you see this classic, formal office look in front of you, find the tips on successfully communicating with a D personality here.

Colorful sticky notes and search for…anything

Have you noticed some awards on the walls of someone’s office or cubicle? This person could also be a High I. They will put up some awards, but it will most likely be the Employee of the month kind of thing.
What will separate them from others is personality. They want to make their space their own, so you can easily spot monogrammed Tervis cups, for instance. But an essential part of the workspace of a High I is the one that signals they are not most detail-oriented. That’s why there will be sticky notes on top of sticky notes, with the whole desk being on the messy side. They will often go through everything on their table to find something and keep bumping into things they were looking for just yesterday and couldn’t find it. And it was under their nose all that time.
Putting things in a specific place not to lose it, then lose it anyway, find it by accident and then remember why it was set at that place in the first place is a classic I characteristic.
They are people that are all about fun, so here is how you can communicate with High I in the most effective way.

Warm and cozy space

While we all enjoy having a piece of home with us in the office, High Ss are the ultimate champions of this sport. They are all about making their space warm and cozy, a space that will give them a homey feeling. This is not a surprise as High Ss dislike conflict and enjoy having peace surround them. So they try to achieve exactly that in their office. They might not be excited about coming to the office every day, but they want to create space to make them feel safe about coming in every day.
Look for family pictures from a trip to Disneyland they took, or even notes from their children. It might easily be World’s best mom or dad award if you see any awards around. The space will tell you a lot about their family, while it might not tell you a lot about the person behind the desk.
The desk will tell you about their process of work. One side will have a stack of inbound emails and documents that are yet to be handled, while another pile will have everything that’s outgoing from them. Daily routine: starting from A and finishing with Z is evident on a High S desk. Please make sure not to disturb the peace and routine they cherish so much by following tips on communicating with a High S here.

File folders in alphabetical order

A desk filled with file folders and trays that are color-coded and alphabetized will, without a mistake, be a desk of a High C person.
They are hyper-organized and functional. These people can always find what they are looking for since they have logic behind everything on their desks. They’ve got those 42 tasks they’ve got to get done today. Everything in their destiny needs to be created and set up to be the most efficient way to get those 42 things done.
They actually think about the most efficient way to set documents, pens, and papers around the table. This will go as far as thinking that if they are right-handed, anything incoming document should be placed on their left side. In contrast, right-hand side piles will be divided into done, for now, to be forwarded and done. Think: super organization, and you will see a High C desk.
Another tell they have is that instead of having awards and plaques on their walls, High Cs will most likely have a set of graphs all around.
An important thing to remember is not to mess up the system, while the other tactics for good communication with a High C can be found here.

Check out what Liz Parker, a certified behavioral and strategic growth consultant has to say about office decor:

By Alex Swire-Clark

Five Secrets To Successful Hiring – No.5

Your company has a new position and you need to fill it fast. What do you do?
Should you just go out and grab the first interested person? Maybe you should do what you see happening a lot: companies taking new talent straight out of college?
No. None of those.
In these situations, you must remain calm and if you want to be successful in the long run:

Trust. The. Process.

We have all seen situations in Human Resources where we are willing to skip a step if we find someone who we think is going to be a good fit for the role.
After looking at a resume and having a small chat, we want to pull the trigger before someone else scoops them. This is the situation when we fail each time.

You need to trust the process to have good long-term results.

Guessing can go either way. But, it probably won’t.

When I first started my company, I used to guess just like a lot of people do. But whenever you guess that someone will be a good fit, chances are you will make a mistake. That used to happen to me as I didn’t have processes in place.
Before starting my medical billing company I was mostly in the teaching business. So, I didn’t have any process for comparing. Also, as a High I personality, I am not a process-driven person.

What I used to do is I would hire people who were like me. Fun, making everyone laugh, had a talent for telling stories, charismatic, etc. While this is a great tactic for meeting new friends or having a conversation, it’s a terrible idea when hiring people for different roles.

I wanted to build a business that required people who are detail-oriented, who are going to build claims daily and remotely. High Is are impulsive, have the shiny-object syndrome, and just want to have fun. So having someone like me in a position that requires you to be concentrated and detail-oriented is a recipe for a disaster.

Don’t cheat

It took me a couple of years to set processes in place. It was not an easy job and it took a lot of time and energy both from me and my team. But, I am putting out what I have learned.

There are 5 steps for hiring and retaining people:

Alignment of core values
Job benchmarking
Put people in the role before they get the role
Ask the right questions
Trust the process

This process is similar to building a house: you need a firm foundation on which you will build the rest of the structure.
One of the most important things is to not cheat, not skip steps. Or: trust the process.

Do it all the way through and you will get better candidates. I guarantee that.
You will spend less time re-hiring people, you won’t need to waste that much energy and money on training people or getting certificates for them, your HR will not waste time…

If you don’t put the process in place you can expect to be going through resumes and interviews, guessing which candidate is the best, training them, making arrangements on the team due to the newcomer, getting licenses, and different requirements for them, putting in a lot of energy… And then seeing them walk out the door after a few weeks, leaving you to go through the whole process once again.

Do you want to hire and keep good people?
Trust the process.

Alex Swire-Clark

Build professional relationships from the get-go

Hunters vs. gatherers

How to pick the right job in Sales?

How to pick the right person for the job in Sales?

Do you know who is your target audience?

People buy from people (they trust)

The story is the key

What is adapting, anyway?

The real reason you are dead tired after a day at work

Long term adapting = burnout

Practical application

We are all humans

Look me in the eyes

There is always room for comedy

Cool Hand Luke

Turn that frown upside down

What to look for?

Signs of success and sticking with the classic look

Colorful sticky notes and search for…anything

Warm and cozy space

File folders in alphabetical order

Trust. The. Process.

Guessing can go either way. But, it probably won’t.

Don’t cheat

Concise Adult Version