News Flash! On Tuesday, I had an article published on Housing Wire – ‘In Defense of the Individual Real Estate Agent’. It’s a unique post (not part of my regular blog). Check it out here.
Presenting to Analyticals
If you’re a Driver, Expressive, or Amiable, working with an Analytical can be exasperating.
Drivers understand the need for data, but why does the Analytical ask so many questions and take so long to process information?
Amiables can relate to taking time to process information, but why does the Analytical seem so unfriendly and overly obsessed with facts and figures?
Expressives? They’re the polar opposite of the Analytical. They drive each other nuts! 🤪
However, as REALTORS®, we need to learn how to communicate effectively with all different communication styles.
Having a deep understanding of what makes others ‘tick’ opens up a whole new world of possibilities and makes it easier to accomplish more with less frustration.
7 Tips to Reduce the Pain
The Analytical is more introverted than extroverted, and they value data more than they value relationships when it comes to making business decisions.
1. You need plenty of information. But this is NOT a case of “the more, the better.” It’s way too easy to overwhelm an Analytical into Analysis-Paralysis.
2. If you’re doing a market analysis, stick to demonstrating supply, demand, and absorption rate. In other words, go deep on the important stuff, and avoid the unimportant. 🤐
3. Be prepared to spend plenty of time discussing the “hows and whys” of the data being presented. This means you need to understand it thoroughly.
4. Provide plenty of information about comparable properties, but again, be careful to guide your Analytical client so they don’t go too far down a rabbit hole looking for answers that aren’t there.
It’s easy for an Analytical to draw false conclusions from either too little or too much data. They’re searching for logical conclusions in what we know is often an illogical “science.”
5. Be patient! Allow your Analytical client to indicate when they are ready to proceed. If you rush the process, you’re not doing them (or you) any favors.
6. Don’t waste time chitty-chatting and telling stories (unless your stories are about facts and figures). Analyticals care more about data than they do about being your friend.
The Analytical will hire whoever they think understands the data the best—not who they want to party with the most. (They definitely do not want to party with you, Expressives!) 🎉
7. Analyticals often have great difficulty making decisions. You can help by simplifying things. For example, try the trial offer, where you write out only the most important components of an offer on a blank piece of paper, rather than handing them an entire complicated contract. One step at a time.
Learning About all Four Communication Styles
If you read those seven points above and you still cringe at the thought of working with Analyticals, that’s because I can’t provide all the information you need to become highly skilled at this critically important topic, in a tiny blog post.
You need to study this subject more. The more skilled you become, the fewer times your head will explode. 🤯
Only about 25% of your fellow humans communicate the same way you do. This means we all need to learn to deal more effectively with the other 75% if we want to succeed in our relationship-based business.
When you set your mind to study and practice communication skills (the opposite of sitting around thinking about it), it’s entirely possible to turn what seems like drudgery into a challenging but enjoyable exercise of your knowledge and skills.
The good news is we all have traits from all four styles deep within us. You just need to learn how to access those traits and bring them to the surface when necessary.
I’m not trying to sales-pitch you into taking my course just because one of the modules is on Communication Styles. If you’re not ready to take the plunge yet, that’s okay!
You can learn a ton about this subject for FREE on the Internet. I suggest you do that. It’s one of the most important skills you can learn.
By the way, if any of you Analyticals have taken offense at this article, know this:
I’m one of you!
Whether you are an Analytical or one of the other three styles, it’s important to understand yourself as much as it is to understand others.
New! Would you like to rate your current REALTOR® skills? Check out the 70-Skills Challenge
This article was inspired by module #7 – Communication Styles – part of the Agent Skills Master’s Program.
In ‘Communication Styles,’ I explain step-by-step how to quickly identify a person’s preferred communication style (Driver, Analytical, Amiable, or Expressive), gain a deep understanding of your own style, and massively improve your communication skills with everyone.
Here’s another article inspired by the same module: Communicating with Couples.
