Leveraging MBTI to build successful B2B relationships
Leveraging MBTI to build successful B2B relationships
As part of our comprehensive AMPLIFY sales and account management development programme, we include a module that explores how we use our insights from personality profiling tests such as MBTI, Insights, Strengths Finder or SDI to help build successful B2B relationships – and this session never fails to get great feedback from participants.
In this short article, Alan Thompson explains why we use the Myers Briggs model in our sales training and development programmes. The same principles can be applied using other models and personality profiling tools.
Developing Self Awareness
We challenge sales managers, account managers and all those involved in every aspect of relationship management to explore their own working preferences, based upon MBTI, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. We know that by understanding yourself, you are able to assess the preferences of your customers. During our training programme, and wherever possible, we ask the client to go through an MBTI training exercise with their teams before and to help them understand their own preferences on the MBTI grid, shown below. When this hasn’t been done, we provide a succinct overview that sets the context.
The aim of exploring personal preferences using Myers Briggs (and these other personality profiling tools) is to encourage sales and account managers to consider how to adapt their approach to the different personality types of those that they engage with. This enables them to be more effective at managing their customer relationships including relationship development discussions, negotiations, meeting plans etc.
Applying MBTI to Relationship Management
Setting the scene is important. Reviewing the MBTI grid reminds us of the different MBTI types and preferences and how these preferences manifest in their behaviours. For Sales and Account Managers, looking inwardly is only half the story – what is important is to consider how we can use our understanding of behaviours triggered by preferences to identify some ‘what to look fors’ to help delegates profile their key contacts.
So, to summarise our advice for all relationship managers:
- Understand how different preferences impact our own behaviours and approaches to sales and relationship management
- Use the ‘look fors’ to identify the preferences of our key relationship contacts
- Consider how the combination of our own and our counterpart’s preferences could impact the relationship – some combinations of working styles can make relationships smooth, some can make for challenges!
- Take into account each others’ preferences and plan and adapt our approach to how we engage with them.
MBTI in Sales
Bringing the theory to life is critical. To help with this, we encourage relationship managers to co-create some typical pen portraits of the different types of personalities their teams have to deal with.
As with any sales training and coaching programme, when we run this activity as a part of AMPLIFY, getting the team leaders’ input is key. We love the creativity that flows from the different leaders as they provide personal experience of both the easy, and more demanding, relationships they have managed in their careers!
Using these pen portraits, relationship managers can consider the clues to key preferences, and then work through how they could use these to adapt their approaches. This is both a practical and real fun session to take part in as people are often able to match attributes to particular people who they deal with – both those where they have great relationships and can get a better appreciation of why; but also relationships that are more of a ‘struggle’. The output of this activity includes clear ideas of how to tailor your approach going forward to make these relationships more effective.
Leveraging MBTI to build successful B2B relationships
We recognise that any tool that facilitates self-improvement is worthwhile. By weaving the principles and practices of personality tools and tests into our AMPLIFY programme, we see sales and account managers better understand how their preferences influence their performance. Developing awareness of the different personality types is a valuable step in equipping teams to build more successful B2B relationships.
After all, people buy from people.
If you are looking to provide a comprehensive development programme for your sales and account management teams, or are looking for something specific to inject a timely boost to their overall capability, please get in touch.
Alan is a very engaging classroom tutor, and has enjoyed working with a variety of global clients over the past few years to deliver highly successful people development programmes.
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