6 Types of Buyers and How to Sell to Them

The number one key to achieving Elite Performance in sales is knowing your Buyer.

 Having been in sales for nearly 30 years and having sold in many different industries, AND having worked with hundreds and thousands of sales professionals over this time, I’ve encountered multitudes of different buyers with wildly diverse buying styles. Though there are multiple buying styles and preferences to consider, they can be easily grouped into 6 broad categories.

That’s right….. six.

There are six distinct types of buyer to get to know, learn to identify, and to help buy from YOU.

The 6 Buyer Types

1.  The Decider

2.  The Collaborator

3.  The Relator

4.  The Skeptic

5.  The Analytical

6.  The Innovator

If you understand all six, can identify which ones your actual prospects resemble, and plan your actions to meet their personal buying styles and criteria, you’ll CLOSE MORE SALES.

How to Identify the 6 Buyer Types

1. The Decider

 The Deciders are directive. They solve problems in a decisive, active, and assertive manner. They’re proactive, results driven, and wants to win. If you’re dealing with a Decider, they might seem pushy and overbearing, and may lack tact. They’re probably pretty demanding and want things to happen their way and in their timeframe.

If you’re selling to The Decider, you should be decisive as well, and demonstrate willingness to take some risks on your end that can help them succeed. Don’t worry too much about conflict that may arise with Deciders—it doesn’t bother them (much), and they may even thrive on it. Building consensus is not their natural thing. Not only do they not like the idea of forming a committee, they doesn’t like the word.

 2. The Collaborator

The Collaborator is the yin to The Decider’s yang. The Collaborator likes to solve problems with other people. They’re deliberative, tactful, diplomatic, and adaptable. In a world where people can be pretty blunt, it’s likely you’ll find them to be respectful of you and everyone else.

If you’re selling to a Collaborator, keep in mind how important collaboration will be to them. You’ll have to work with them to understand and include all of the various buying influences. Make sure you facilitate discussions to draw out the Collaborator’s and everyone else’s thoughts, needs, and questions. Don’t get frustrated if things take a while, and if you need to push back, do it tactfully. If they’re going to buy, they will buy when they’re ready and their team is on board. Need to make a big decision? Let's form a committee!

 3. The Relator

The Relators interactive. Social interaction and engagement are important to them. They’re enthusiastic, creative problem solvers, team players, and (naturally) relationship-builders. They like the big picture, and they’re not shy about taking up a lot of air time in discussions. A question or two will really get them going.

If you're selling to a Relator, you might want to keep technical details to a minimum. Make sure you hear their ideas, and share (and stoke) their enthusiasm with your own. Relators probably weave fairly seamlessly between talking about business and personal matters. You might find the talk about their recent vacation or your son's basketball team goes on for a bit. When discussing ideas, don't overdo being the "voice of reason" or reality. What you might see as realism, they’ll see as a downer.

 4. The Skeptic

The Skeptic is the yin to The Relator’s yang. Skeptics are introspective. They’re reserved, critical thinkers. Skeptics won’t embellish and doesn’t want you to do so either. It takes a while for Skeptics to develop trust with people, which can be great for you if you put in the time and effort. (By the way, Skeptics doesn’t mind being called a skeptic. They’re proud of the realism they believe they bring to the table.)

If you’re selling to a Skeptic, don’t be surprised if they’re not super comfortable on the phone, and prefers email to communicate. Don’t be unnerved by lack of gestures or “feedback”; they tends not to be demonstrative one way or the other. Don’t try to be too personal or friendly too fast. And know that Skeptics might not share much at meetings, but you still need to make sure their needs are met or they could quietly block your sale. And you might never even know it.

 5. The Analytical

Past success is an indicator of future success. The way it’s been done, established methods, and data are important to The Analytical. This doesn’t mean he won’t lead the pack and do something new, it just takes a lot of processing for the Analytical to take a leap of faith. They’re cautious. He follows rules, procedures, and established standards. He’s a comprehensive problem solver because he examines from all the different angles.

If you’re selling to an Analytical, provide the backup and data that will help them make a decision. Appropriate detail will be important (and “appropriate” to him is more than most). At some point, because they can sometimes leave the data gate open longer than it needs to be, you might need to push back. But take special care not to criticize as they might take that more personally than most. If you push them too hard to move before he's completed his analysis, you can find yourself and your sale blocked.

 6. The Innovator

The Innovator is the yin to The Analytical’s yang. When it comes to rules, procedures, and how things were done before, Innovators couldn’t care less. While Analyticals might say, “Past success is an indicator of future success," Innovators would say, “What got us here won’t get us there.” Innovators develop ideas and strategies independent of rules. They’re informal and solves problems creatively. Boundaries are for testing, pushing, and crossing…that’s what Innovators say.

If you’re selling to an Innovator, brainstorm with them. Stoke ideas for new ways of doing things. When you help set the agenda, allow it to become their agenda, not yours. Don’t shut down creative talk, but keep it moving forward as Innovators can be on the disorganized side. Don’t give Innovators the sense that they, personally, will have to do much detail work if they buys from you as details put them off. Instead, show how working with you will bring those ideas into reality.

Conclusion

Buyers are a mix of buying types. There’s so much more to learn about each buyer type, from their characteristics to how to identify them to how to work best with them, but these are the highlights.

Now that you’re aware of the different buyer types, keep in mind that, while some types may be better suited to buying what you sell than others, there are no “bad” buyer types, just different styles and preferences which you will need to learn to match to increase your success.

Also note that while there’s usually a dominant buying type that bubbles to the top, often one or two others influence and inform the buyer’s buying style and preferences.