My new book, “The Relationship Selling Secret: The Sales Leader’s Guide to Empowering Your Team to Increase Their Influence and Generate More Profitable Connections” has just been released and is now available on Amazon.

The book is specifically written for sales leaders to help them build powerful and profitable sales organizations. Using the Four People Personality Styles Assessment as the foundation, leaders will learn how to guide each person on their team based on that individual’s Personality Style. Though written for managers, of course sellers aspiring to manage will also want to read it!

Here’s a bit of what you can expect when you read it.

It’s quite common in the world of sales for a successful salesperson to aspire to management. But is that really the right or best thing to do?

Selling is very different from leading or managing, and each requires different strengths and skills. Even though selling is a team sport utilizing all the resources the company has in place, salespeople are responsible just for their own individual success. They have a quota, and their goal is to achieve it.

The strengths needed to be successful in sales are questioning skills, presentation skills, communication skills, problem solving, listening, drive, open to learning and flexible. Some of these same skills are also needed in the leadership role, but in a different way. For instance, questioning skills are important to the leader, but more in a coaching role than in discovering the needs of a prospect.

The key skills for leaders relate to how well they coach and motivate their people to maximize their sales performance. A strong leader is an excellent communicator and listener. They’re confident, optimistic, decisive, have strong emotional intelligence, and show humility as a servant leader.

In this article I’m highlighting the strengths of each type of leader based on their personality style and the areas where they need work so they can become their best version of a sales leader.

A sales leader with a high-Blue Personality is the Relator.

Blues are great at building relationships with their people. They’re good at uniting their team and are always concerned about the well-being and needs of their people. Blues are high on integrity, trust, and transparency. They’re strong communicators who are open and genuine. Blues are also open-minded, listening to everyone’s input. Where they need to be careful is when making tough decisions – it can be harder for them to make them especially in a timely manner. Since Blue leaders are concerned with how others view them, they can have a hard time giving the feedback needed when someone is not performing well. Blues needs to be decisive and confident.

A sales leader with a high-Gold Personality is the Director.

They are confident and well organized; always on top of their numbers and how their salespeople are performing. They’re big on process and procedures and are consistent, reliable, and supportive of the needs of their team. Golds are strong on administration and forecasting but need to work at being more flexible and less dictatorial. Since they are so structured and process oriented, they might miss some unique ideas their people might have. Gold leaders work hard and expect the same from their people.

A sales leader with a high-Green Personality is the Detective.

They are visionary and innovative. They’re great problem solvers and easily dive into the details. The problem is that they can get into ‘analysis paralysis’, appearing indecisive. They are succinct communicators and when they’re working with their Blue and Orange salespeople they probably need to open up with more small talk. Since Greens are curious by nature, they’re very good at asking the right questions at the right time. They value their people’s competence and those that generate new ideas.

A sales leader with a high-Orange Personality is the Activator.

They’re the cheerleader for the team and they’re always optimistic. They love to give their salespeople a good challenge and love to see them win. Since making the team numbers is always a top priority, Oranges are naturally strong at encouraging and motivating their people. Where they lack proficiency is in the details – they least enjoy proposals, paperwork and being organized. Other areas for improvement for the Orange leader are to develop their coaching skills and to provide more ongoing support to their team. Oranges are fast-paced and enjoy going with their salespeople on sales calls. Oranges can be very trusting which means they might overlook some issues their people might be having.

When we understand who we are, we can better flex to meet the styles of our team, whether their Personality Style is the same or different. The goal for leaders is always to build trust, loyalty, and long-term relationships with their team, prospects, and clients. Doing so will help them achieve their goals and reduce turnover. Understanding and consistently using Personality Styles helps build strong teams, for the long-term.

And that is why I wrote my new book, “The Relationship Selling Secret”. After nearly 40 years in sales and sales leadership, I saw something missing – the use of personality styles. When you understand where you are coming from as a leader, and where your salespeople are coming from, it can spark a new connection you might not have seen in what they bring to the table.

I hope you’ll buy it, use it, and share it with your colleagues, friends, and family. Knowing these styles will help you build stronger relationships, which is what I’m all about.

Good selling and leading!