Four Behavioral Styles of Customers
The following style grid outlines the four styles and positions them in relation to the vertical and horizontal axis.
The vertical axis is the openness scale, which refers to how willing the person is to be open and to reveal what is happening on the inside. At the top, we have highly open, talkative, friendly, relationship-oriented individuals: extroverts. At the bottom, we find self-contained, quiet, very closed individuals: introverts. Introverts are self-contained people, usually expressionless, not revealing their feelings, thoughts, or emotions. Their world is internal and it can be difficult to read them or know what they're thinking. Comparatively, the extroverts readily show excitement, joy, enthusiasm, anger, and a variety of emotions.
The horizontal axis is referred to as the directness scale: direct or indirect. People who are direct, on the right side, make decisions quickly and easily: not a lot of details are required. These people are spontaneous, "Sure, sounds good, let's do it." Their motto is, "It's easier to get forgiveness than permission." People who are indirect, on the left side, are not as comfortable making quick decisions. They move more cautiously, arriving at a decision more slowly. A direct individual may very well get frustrated by the amount of time an indirect person takes to make a decision. Conversely, an indirect person is not impressed with how quickly and recklessly a direct person makes decisions. It's all about understanding that people are different. Your interactions with people succeed when you heed their external signals. Interactions fail when you ignore the signals. Now for the bad news and good news: the bad news is there is only one thing you can control and change; the good news is, it's you. Don't try to change other people; you can't. The high divorce rate proves it. Even marriage counselors are in agreement that the behavioral flexibility model goes a long way toward improving relationships. The following pages outline the primary characteristics of each style. Let's have a look at each style and as you read through them, try to ascertain the style that best fits your behavior, at work and at home.
