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4 Sales Types for the

Travel Business �����������������

Bob Abrames

Salesologist & Voyageur

2006 3rd Printing

Published by Energy Publishing

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����������������� Introduction

����������������� Few topics yield more opinions than sales and selling. Everyone has a different idea of what a good seller does and how they do it. This book is not about the how. It is about the who. I think you’ll find it interesting, and I know you’ll find it profitable. I’ve spent thousands of hours with thousands of salespeople in the travel industry. I’ve worked with them, I’ve studied them, and I’ve scientifically profiled them. What I’ve discovered is a very distinct pattern. My research convinces me that most people can sell but that not all of them can sell everything!

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Selling is the core of the travel business. If you don’t sell your product, your product is not much good to anybody. The quantity and the quality of your sales are always directly influenced by the quality of the salespeople! The more suited the salespeople are to the sales situation, the more successful the business. Read on to find out what kind of salespeople you need for your specific business. And if you are a salesperson, read on to discover what sales situation best suits you.

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����������������� Definitions

Chapter 1 �����������������

1:1 ~ Salesperson is a commonly but sometimes incorrectly used term for any professional who collects money. Just because a person collects money doesn’t mean that person is selling! However, to ease understanding we will continue with the conventional definition. Everyone who provides services or goods in exchange for money will be addressed as a salesperson or as salespeople. 1:2 ~ Sales and money are one and the same. Conversely, if no money is collected, no sale has been made. We need to be clear on this. If someone spends an hour selling but doesn’t collect money, they haven’t sold anything. They may have

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promoted themselves, but they haven’t sold. It is impossible to have a sale if someone doesn’t pay! The term “selling yourself” is an oxymoron in true selling. The correct term would be “promoting yourself”. 1:3 ~ Selling is the systematic process of converting a shopper into a buyer. If the shopper does not need to be “converted” into a buyer, no selling takes place. 1:4 ~ Service and selling are chalk and cheese. We often confuse selling and service, and this confusion can be devastating to a business. We service people when we give them what we do, we sell to them when we take their money. Service can happen before or after a sale is mad. Service is really the action of giving, not selling. Poor salespeople give their

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services to people regardless of whether the receiver is buying or not. Great salespeople deliver their services to people who buy. Note: When I speak of service I’m not referring to etiquette and compassion. Everyone we talk to deserves that! Treating people properly must never be conditional on whether they are paying or not. 1:5 ~ Servicers are people who like to give service, or help, people. They don’t like closing sales. Many businesses require servicers not sellers. It is crucial to identify your requirement before filling a position. For example, the function of a reservations department is more than 80% service and less than 20% selling. Most of the calls answered by a reservationist have zero potential for a sale, as they involve flight

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times, baggage allowance, tickets, etc. Reservationists, of course, can up sell or cross sell, and definitely should, but the fact remains that 80% of what they do is service. So if they are great closers—people who love to convert—they’ll be bored to death. Great servicers can sell; they just need a system that translates the selling process into a service process. 1:6 ~ Sales situations deal with how and why customers enter the buying process. The sales situation will determine what type of salesperson is best for the job. For example, salespeople who are good at closing new prospects are not necessarily good at servicing repeat buyers and vice versa. Employers must identify their sales situation and hire salespeople with the aptitude to suit. Self-employed people

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must identify their natural aptitudes to capitalize on their strengths and to compensate for their weakness. This book is not about aptitudes specifically. I suggest that you read my book 6 Aptitudes of a Salesperson for a more detailed discussion of aptitude. 1:7 ~ Order taking is when we get a sale because the buyer simply insists on buying. The sale has nothing to do with our ability as salespeople. The buyer approached the salesperson to be sold to, not to be converted. Although this doesn’t require sales skills, it can, and often does, does require excellent service skills. 1:8 ~ Sales aptitude refers to the natural ability of the individual salesperson to sell a particular service or product or to handle a specific sales situation. Selling different

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products and services demands different sales approaches. Different sales approaches require different salespeople. It is therefore logical to assume that different salespeople possess different sales aptitudes. What a salesperson will be best at depends on that individual’s personality and abilities—the salesperson’s sales aptitude. The four major aptitudes are as follows: Assertiveness refers to whether a salesperson takes control of the selling process or simply responds to the prospect’s questions and demands. Sociability is the amount of social interaction a salesperson is comfortable with. It is not a measure of a salesperson’s ability to be social but, rather, of the individual’s desire to be social.

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Structure considers how much variety a salesperson needs in the selling process. They may need variety in product or variety or in customers. Some people love to do many things reasonably well, and others love to do few things exceedingly well. Detail concerns whether a salesperson enjoys the details of a transaction or views the details as a nuisance or a detriment to more sales. It also measures whether a salesperson prefers following systems and procedures or marching to his or her own drummer. 1:9 ~ For a visual on these aptitudes please refer to the Sales Aptitude Scale on the inside cover of this book.

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����������������� Sales Types

Chapter 2 �����������������

2:1 ~ There are four distinct types of salespeople: the processor, the provider, the persuader, and the hunter. 2:2 ~ Each of the four sales types has a distinctive way of communicating and of delivering good selling or service. 2:3 ~ No one type is good or bad. There are only better-or-worse sales situations for different sales personalities. 2:4 ~ All four sales types can learn to handle every sales situation, but they don’t all have the same aptitude, or natural ability, to excel in each situation. 2:5 ~ The processor is a better servicer than seller and is more focused on task than people. The provider is a high servicer

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more focused on people than task. The persuader is a closer with strong people skills. The hunter, too, is a closer but is more focused on tasks than people. 2:6 ~ Each of the four sales types is further divided into four selling styles. The selling styles are amiable, adaptive, authoritative, and autonomous. 2:7 ~ The amiable seller has a friendly, subservient style. Adaptive sellers are likewise friendly but also are manipulative. Authoritative salespeople can be friendly, but less so, and like to control. Autonomous salespeople do what they like when they feel like it. 2:8 ~ Each sales personality is good at a specific kind of selling and generally sucks in other situations.

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2:9 ~ The end result is four sales types times four sales styles, for a total of 16 sales personalities. Refer to another of my books, 16 Sales Personalities in the Travel Business, for individual descriptions of these salespeople. You may also want to refer to the Sales Personality Chart on the inside cover of this book for a “picture” comparison of these personalities.

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����������������� Processors

Chapter 3 �����������������

There are four styles of processor salespeople: autonomous, adaptive, authoritative, and amiable. 3:1 ~ Their Focus All four styles of processor are focused on what they sell and not on who they sell to. They are reactive sellers who focus on product and task, although amiable and adaptive processors demonstrate more people skills than authoritative or autonomous processors. The focus on “task or people” is also true for the provider, persuader, and hunter types of salesperson, but the difference from people to task is the least apparent in the processor type.

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3:2 ~ Their Aptitudes These are the measures of the four ingredients that make up a processor. Assertiveness. Processors score low in assertiveness on the aptitude scale, somewhere between one and three. As a result, they tend to be uncomfortable with closing or asking for the sale in the true sense of selling. This is particularly true when they deal with shoppers they don’t know. Low assertiveness contributes to processors’ inability (or lack of desire) to control the sales process. Sociability. Processors score low in sociability. The amount of social interaction they are comfortable with measures between one and three on the aptitude scale. This low sociability makes

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processors uncomfortable with new callers and with unfamiliar customers. Sellers with low sociability find the process of developing rapport with strangers quite stressful and, as a result, they are generally uncomfortable with people they don’t know. This feeling may come across to others as indifference or even as insecurity. It also makes it somewhat difficult for new callers to open up to them. Because of their low sociability, processors tend to be task oriented; that is, they focus more on the task or process of making a booking than on the customer for whom they are doing the booking. They tend to focus on the system, the product, or the mechanics, if you will, of making the

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sale instead of on the people they are selling to. The combination of low assertiveness and low sociability makes processors more comfortable dealing with known customers because the anxiety of the sale is removed. They see their job as a service process as opposed to a selling process. Structure. Processors are quite structured, scoring four or higher on the aptitude scale. They like to do fewer things and to do them well. They are very methodical about what they do and how they do it. They dislike high-volume scenarios that don’t allow them to complete a given task from start to finish. Detail. As well as being structured, most processors are very good with detail, scoring five or six on the scale. They do

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things efficiently and are usually meticulous with the odds and ends of a booking. The high score in structure and detail does result in high accuracy but can also result in low productivity. 3:3 ~ Risk Adversity Processors are risk adverse with selling and everything else for that matter. Risk stresses them out. They tend to shy away from anything new—new callers, new systems, new products, or new processes or change of any kind. They will always be the last ones to accept changes. They are far more comfortable with the tried and true. Even when it comes to asking questions, processors prefer to respond rather than to ask, which isn’t a problem as long as the caller asking the questions wants to buy.

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3:4 ~ As Corporate Agents Processors do very well as corporate travel consultants. Corporate travel is travel of necessity. And since most corporate travelers are not paying personally, and since many corporate bookings are not even made with the traveler but with the traveler’s assistant, processors find themselves more in a function of servicing rather than of selling. The accounts and product are repetitive, and the processors’ attention to detail helps them deliver exceptional customer service on a technical level. This does not mean that they can’t do leisure sales. It’s not the product that’s their challenge; it’s the process of qualifying unknown callers and of asking for the sale that reduces processors’

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effectiveness in leisure. Give them a steady stream of known buyers, and they’ll do well. But that really isn’t selling, is it? 3:5 ~ Call Center Agents Processors do very well in a call center where the process is more order taking than hard closing. What they do need, though, is the support of a strong supervisor, specific product and a well-defined system. They have to feel supported. Even a comparatively weak seller like a processor can produce excellent results with guidance and direction. Some of my customers have had excellent results with processors in the call center environment.

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3:6 ~ As Specialists Another place where processors do well is with specific products like cruising, a specific country, or ecotourism. They can become surprisingly animated when discussing or presenting their specialty. Luckily for them, many of their customers have the same focused interest, so the end result is a sale. The issue for the processor in specialized sales is of product not selling. Their product knowledge helps them eliminate one of their biggest fears: risk taking. 3:7 ~ As Managers Because of their low sociability and high desire to work on their own, processors don’t naturally enjoy being in charge of others. They like taking responsibility for

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their own actions but not for everyone else’s. Management is not where processors do best. 3:8 ~ They Will be Weak • Asking for money • Interacting with strangers • Face-to-face interactions • Making quick decisions 3:9 ~ Summary In general terms, processors are not your best sellers, but they can sell well if what they’re selling is interesting to them and if the selling process is more one of service and taking the order. Keep them away from “hard” selling and if possible have processors deal with a limited number of more-familiar buyers.

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����������������� Providers Chapter 4

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Providers are reactive sellers and the most-accommodating and the most-consistently friendly of the four seller types. They like people and get their job satisfaction from being of service, to the customer, to the employer, or to both. Providers are excellent with people. There are, again, four provider styles: amiable, adaptive, authoritative, and autonomous. 4:1 ~ Their Focus The four styles of provider share the common trait of wanting to be of service, to be helpful. A provider’s focus is almost evenly split between the task of servicing and the people they’re providing the service to. The service shifts from a more-social

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approach with amiable and adaptive providers to a more-task-oriented focus with the authoritative and autonomous providers. 4:2 ~ Their Aptitudes These are the measures of the four ingredients that make up a provider. Assertiveness. Providers are more assertive than processors. This assertiveness does not cross over to aggression in amiable or adaptive styles of provider as it does with the authoritative and the autonomous providers. Providers mostly display their assertiveness as confidence in familiar situations with familiar people. They are assertive enough to display confidence in themselves but not confident enough to impose that confidence over others.

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Providers enjoy interaction with their customers but because of their low assertiveness are not hard closers. Their goal in selling is to service the customer into buying and not to persuade the customer to buy. Sociability. Providers are friendlier and more social than processors. This applies to all four styles, although friendliness is not as pronounced in autonomous providers. Overall, the slight increases in the assertive and social factors make this seller type easier to approach and to get along with than processors. Structure. Providers are not as extreme as processors in their need for structure in their work environment, but they do like to do things according to expectations and by the book. The stronger the support

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structure around them, the more comfortable they are in their selling. Providers are risk adverse and are more comfortable with familiar customers, routines, and tasks. Adaptive providers, however, score lower in these respects than their amiable and autonomous counterparts. Detail. All four styles of provider are quite detailed, though amiable providers, who are more social and less task oriented, are slightly less so. All four provider styles also are attentive to detail and to thoroughness in the performance of their tasks. 4:3 ~ As Servicers Providers do well in any selling situation where the probability of the prospect buying is high and the need to convert is low. They have the social skills to provide

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good service while taking the order or, in the case of travel, the booking. 4:4 ~ As Corporate Agents Since they possess many of the same factors as processors, providers, too, tend to do well as corporate travel agents. As a bonus, they are better than processors with the people aspect of the selling process. 4:5 ~ As Leisure Agents Providers can do well in selling leisure travel, but usually only with their established clients or with clients established by their agency. Their strength, and their disadvantage, is that they tend to over service and undersell. They do well in where the expectation is to answer questions and to deliver information.

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Remember, they will not hard close, so providers have to position the selling process as one of service. 4:6 ~ As Res Agents Providers shine in the reservations environment because of the low requirement to close buyers. Their strength here is their enjoyment in being helpful to callers. The reservation process satisfies their need for interaction with little real need to sell. Offering options and alternatives is not selling to providers. They prefer to call it helping! 4:7 ~ As Managers Authoritative providers in particular do very well as managers. Their combination of logic, task focus, and social skills seems to promote them to management positions more often than not.

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4:8 ~ They Will be Weak • Asking for the sale in hard close situations

• In situations they perceive as risky or aggressive

• Making decisions on behalf of the customer

• Up selling items that have nothing to do with what the customer requested, as, for example, insurance, where providers are among the least-effective sellers of the four types.

4:9 ~ Need Structure Providers will always do best when provided with a selling structure. Providers see a selling structure as an asset and as a way of supporting the team.

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����������������� Persuaders

Chapter 5 �����������������

Persuaders, as the title implies, are definitely sellers. The persuader is in generic terms your ideal salesperson in most selling situations, not only in the travel business. They are the most natural sellers of the four sales types and, more than any of the other three types, are seen as stereotypical salespeople. There are again four styles of persuader: amiable, adaptive, authoritative, and autonomous. 5:1 ~ Their Focus Persuaders are focused on the possible. They are positive sellers who more often than not see the glass as half full instead of half empty. They are positive, enthusiastic, entertaining, fun to be with,

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and adaptable. Their focus is on the social aspect of any encounter, though less so for autonomous persuaders. 5:2 ~ Their Aptitudes These are the measures of the four ingredients that make up a persuader. Assertiveness. Amiable persuaders have the lowest assertiveness score of the four persuader styles, which is why they are the weakest closers in this type. The next lowest is the adaptive persuader, with a score of three or a four, followed by authoritative and autonomous persuaders, who score consistently in the area of five or six. All four styles of persuader, however, can be very assertive. Sociability. Amiable and adaptive persuaders score high in sociability, indicating strong people skills. The other

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two styles have lower sociability, with the autonomous style scoring lowest, often at three. Structure. All four styles of persuader score on the low side of structure on the aptitude scale. Autonomous persuaders, though, can be the exception, sometimes scoring four. Detail. Persuaders always score low in detail. This, ironically, is what enables them to sell so well. They do not get hung up with the details of the transaction to the point that the details keep them from moving on to the next opportunity. People who sell well in high-volume situations need low-structure, low-detail environments; otherwise, the stress of doing lots will pull them down.

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5:3 ~ As Commission Salespeople Motivated by the possible, persuaders thrive on the idea that they can earn as much as they want and that those earnings will be based on their efforts. This is particularly true with authoritative and autonomous styles of persuader. They are not afraid of trying things, and because of their confidence, and sometimes aggression, they succeed most of the time and all of the time when they put their minds to it. 5:4 ~ As Leisure Agents Among the four types of salespeople, persuaders are your best all-round, frontline, leisure travel agents. Selling leisure travel is a unique process. The challenge is not in finding people to talk to about travel or in finding people to listen

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about travel but, rather, in finding out if the prospect actually has the intention of making a travel purchase. Persuaders do this better than most because they have the assertiveness to ask the questions and the social skills to ask those questions in a selling manner. 5:5 ~ As Receptive Sellers Persuaders do extremely well in any situation where the shopper approaches the salesperson with either a specific or a possible need. They are not as good as the hunter sales type in discovering a sales opportunity, but they are definitely every bit as good in closing the sale when the opportunity arises. 5:6 ~ With High Ticket Sales Because persuaders love to sell they have no hesitation selling high-ticket items. This

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is quite different from providers and processors, whose natural empathy for the buyer forces them to question the affordability of the purchase. Not so with persuaders, who tend to be more hedonistic. They can justify darn near anything they get excited about and not second-guess themselves for a moment. They are now people who communicate urgency very effectively. 5:7 ~ On the Road Not everybody gets a charge out of waking up in different hotel rooms in different cities night after night, week after week. Persuaders do. The variety is important to them. Combine variety of environment with variety of prospect, and there’s no holding the persuader back.

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5:8 ~ They Will be Weak • In situations with little interaction • With extensive follow-up • In situations with a structured process • In situations with lots of detail 5:9 ~ As Managers Authoritative persuaders in particular can be good managers. That comes from their high social, high assertive, and high detail factors. Autonomous persuaders can be good managers if they want to be, but that goes for everything else with this sales type; persuaders will do and be what they want to do and be. Amiable and especially adaptive persuaders tend to lead through enthusiasm and example. Note: Persuader sales type sells more and most often; however, a word of caution for managers—persuaders can sometimes be a

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handful. They require constant directives and refocusing. But I’d say that’s not a bad trade-off!

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����������������� Hunters Chapter 6

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Hunters are hard sellers in the truest sense. The hunter is a hard-hitting closer more focused on selling concepts and possibilities than on selling tangible specifics. They are very often your achievers and leaders in their chosen trades and professions. As with the other sales types, hunters include amiable, adaptive, authoritative, and autonomous styles. 6:1 ~ Their Focus Hunters are focused on finding things, people, and opportunities. They like to chase and to catch. They are big on achievement; on getting things done; and, in the case of authoritative and

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autonomous hunters, on winning. They tend to see most situations as a competition, and competition means that there has to be someone who loses—preferably not them. They are focused on getting and doing what they want to get and do. They are driven by intrinsic motivation and seek their own inspiration. They have a lower need for outside encouragement than the other sales types. 6:2 ~ Their Aptitudes These are the measures of the four ingredients that make up a hunter. Assertiveness. All four hunter styles score high in assertion. Authoritative and autonomous hunters typically score highest, followed by the adaptive and then the amiable styles. Even though amiable hunters score lower than the other three

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sales styles, they still score on the high side compared with styles among the other three sales types. It’s this high assertive factor that drives these people. Sociability. Amiable and adaptive hunters score high in sociability, much like in the other sales types. The other two styles of hunters usually hover in the three to four score range depending on the individual. What you have in all four hunter styles is high assertiveness and a fairly high sociability factor. Structure. All four hunter styles score very low in structure, usually a one or a two. This is what enables them to multitask and to enjoy change. Detail. Again very low for all four styles. Their low attention to detail again enables them to multitask and enjoy change.

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6:3 ~ As Promoters Hunters do very well as promoters of companies and concepts. This is particularly true of the amiable hunter. They love to promote new ideas and developments. They tend to like change very much and, as a result, promote change enthusiastically. Hunters also do well at cold selling. Because of the hunter’s natural people skills, high assertiveness, and need for change in everything, these sellers do well making cold calls to uncover potential buyers. It takes a lot to discourage them. They also have a natural ability to open doors, which comes from their air of confidence.

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6:4 ~ As Spokespeople Hunter sales types have big egos that make them very conscious of how they are perceived by others. They are careful to always present their best side. Because of this conscious effort in everything they do, they tend to represent themselves and who they work for extremely well. They are conscious of what image can or can’t do in making an impact. 6:5 ~ Knocking on Doors Hunters are boldest among the four sales types at asking for the business, especially if some kind of personal gain is tied to doing so. They are great at opening doors to potential business and at getting people to listen to them during that crucial first encounter. In travel, as an example, hunters do very well convincing companies

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to do their travel through them. Soliciting new travel accounts is a tough job for most sellers, but it is easiest for the hunter sales type. 6:6 ~ Competitive Situations Hunters do best when you can set the goal, show them the carrot, and let them loose. They are driven by the concept of more—more money, more benefits, more friends, more contacts, more results. They may sometimes be a little Machiavellian in their approach, but they get where they intend to go. “Cut them loose and let them go” is a good management policy for hunters. 6:7 ~ They Will be Weak In • Situations lacking physical mobility • Situations where they are unable to do things their way

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• Situations with little opportunity to learn

• Situations where they have to report to people they see as less skilled

• In drawn-out selling processes 6:8 ~ As Managers Hunters can make very good managers because of their enthusiasm and their drive to get things done. They are generally high energy, so they tend to infuse energy in their followers. Because of their strong need to win, they often manage to succeed through sheer determination and will power, thereby motivating subordinates to rise to the challenge. They can, however, be dictatorial under pressure and do tend to lash out when under stress.

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6:9 ~ Caution These sellers need their own rope, and on occasion will hang themselves with it. They far prefer to ask forgiveness than to beg permission. They are not afraid to try new things just because they’re new. They tend to challenge everything—management, policies, and tempers. But they do get things done!

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����������������� Conclusion

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It is far easier and much less expensive to hire the right salesperson for a specific sales job than to attempt to change a salesperson to suit the job. If you know your sales situation, you can hire someone who fits that situation exactly. Easier on you, on them, on customers, and on your business! See my book 9 Sales Situations for more details on what situation requires what salesperson. �����������������

The End

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$10 Canadian ~ $9 US

������������������� Bob Abrames

Salesology Systems 5 Radstock Private

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1R 5J8

�������������������

(416) 518~1138 bob@abrames.com www.abrames.com

All rights reserved ~ © 2005 Bob Abrames Reproduction without authorization is strictly

prohibited.