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CHAPTER 5
ADAPTIVE SELLING FOR
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
Outline of Chapter
I. Types of Presentations
A. Standard Memorized Presentation
B. Outlined Presentation
C. Customized Presentation
II. Adaptive Selling and Sales Success
III. Adaptive Selling: The Importance of Knowledge
A. Product and Company Knowledge
B. Knowledge About Sales Situations and Customers
C. How to Create Knowledge
D. Retrieving Knowledge From the Knowledge Management System
IV. The Social Style Matrix: A Training Program for Building Adaptive Selling Skills
A. Dimensions of Social Styles
1. Assertiveness
2. Responsiveness
B. Categories of Social Styles
1. Drivers
2. Expressives
3. Amiables
4. Analyticals
C. Identifying Customer’s Social Styles
D. Social Styles and Sales Presentations
E. Versatility
F. Recap: The Role of Knowledge
V. Systems for Developing Adaptive Selling Skills
VI. Selling Yourself
VII. Summary
Teaching Suggestions
An alternative would be to use the PowerPoint slides provided with the text.
1. Begin the discussion on adaptive selling by talking about how important it is. Remind
students that personal selling is the most expensive form of communicating with
customers, yet firms use it anyway. Ask your students why firms use this expensive
communication vehicle? They should come to the conclusion that personal selling is more
effective, so you might continue this line of thought by asking why they think personal
selling is more effective than other communication vehicles? Review the different types of
sales presentations and note that the flexibility increases as you move from a standard
memorized presentation, through an outlined presentation, and then to a customized
presentation. Personal selling is unique in that salespeople can customize a presentation
for each customer and make adjustments quickly.
2. Emphasize the superiority of the customized presentation at every step of the sales
process. Customers know or can sense when they are listening to a canned presentation
and the salesperson loses both credibility and the ability to make adjustments. You may
want to ask your students why they think a customized presentation builds credibility and
how having greater credibility affects the other steps in the process.
3. Next, relate the concept of adaptive selling back to the buying behavior discussion in
Chapter 3. Talk about the different types of strategies that a salesperson can use to
influence a customer’s evaluation. Ask students if salespeople should select one of these
strategies and use it on all customers. Assuming that they decide that salespeople
shouldn’t, ask them when each of these strategies should be used? The use of a strategy
depends upon the importance weights and beliefs that a customer has. Salespeople need to
adapt their strategy to reflect the customer’s importance weights and beliefs.
4. The previous discussion is a good lead-in to a discussion of the relationship between
knowledge and adaptive selling. After all, a salesperson needs very detailed and specific
knowledge about their product and their competitor’s products, in addition to knowing
how much weight their customers assign to various attributes in order to use the strategies
outlined here. Emphasize that knowledge about customers and the selling situation are
keys to effective adaptation. Salespeople with more knowledge are able to adapt to a
wider range of situations. There are several approaches a salesperson can use to develop a
knowledge base. Also, talk about ways to retrieve knowledge form their knowledge base.
5. The social style matrix demonstrates one form of knowledge. The categories are: Driver,
Expressive, Amiable, and Analytical. Next, talk about the cues for recognizing which
social style to associate with the customer. Having associated a customer with a social
style, what then should you do? As a seller, you should adjust your own social style.
You may want them to assess your own social style, using Exercise 5.1 (see below in this
6. Students should understand that they need to know their own social style before they can
effectively adjust it to match their customers’. Have students rate their own social style
the exercise). You might also have friends of the students in the class rate the students to
demonstrate how self-ratings differ from ratings by others.
7. Discuss how each social style has its strengths and weaknesses. We know that one style is
not best in all situations, but to emphasize this point you might start the discussion by
asking students to indicate which style is the best. A good follow-up question is “What
style of salesperson would you like to hire?” Again, the salesperson who is more flexible is
likely to be more successful.
8. You may want to mention alternative training systems to the social style matrix exist. Be
sure to emphasize that the social style matrix is just one of many approaches for
categorizing customers and that this approach is limited because it only considers social
style and not benefits sought by customers. The other customer classification systems use
different dimensions to categorize their customers but work similarly, with the same
limitation. Finally mention expert systems as alternatives to customer classification
systems.
Suggested Answers to Ethics Problems
1. Your boss tells you about one of your buyers, Erica: “Just talk about Cubs baseball,
because she’s a fanatic about the Cubs! If you do, she’ll like you and buy just about
anything. Even more than she needs because she hates to say no to someone who likes
the Cubs!” What will you do in that situation?
If using information about social styles or personal interests is
intended to trick or deceive buyers, then their use would be unethical.
2.You have a buyer, a driver, who is a real challenge. It seems as though she is always
playing games with salespeople. For example, today she said she wouldn’t answer
questions about her needs or what she was currently buying from your leading
competitor. She said, “You need to find some other way to discover what business your
competitors are getting here.” Then with a sly turn of her head, she added, “I think
you’re going to have to engage in some espionage, here as well as at your competitor’s
warehouse. Are you a good spy?” What will you do in this situation?
Try your best not to let her style affect you personally. She probably works with all people
in the same manner. Without being a bully yourself, try to find ways to interact with her
Suggested Answers to Questions and Problems
1. A salesperson stated, “I just can’t stand to deal with buyers who smile, ask about my
family, and refuse to tell me why they can’t buy from me that day.” Based on this limited
amount of information, what social style would you guess the salesperson to be? What
would be your response to this salesperson?
The salesperson sounds like a driver. What the salesperson is really saying is that s/he
2. While many salespeople have adopted technology tools to aid them in selling, some have
refused. What would be your response to a salesperson who says the following: “Look, I
put a lot of information on my computer a few years ago, including all of my contacts,
and notes about calls. Then my computer crashed and I lost everything! I’m not going to
waste my time like that again!”
These kinds of things do happen in life. It’s a fact. But life goes on, and the computer
3. A salesperson made the following comment: “It’s such a waste of time to read all of my
company’s internal blog posts and the white papers my company sends me about the
industry I am selling to. Who has time to read all of that stuff?” Based on what you
learned in this chapter about knowledge systems, what would be your response to this
salesperson?
Successful salespeople add to their knowledge base by reading far and wide. It’s not a
waste of time if you discover something that will help you better meet a client’s needs or
4. “A good salesperson can easily adapt to any customer type. That’s why we hire them,
right?” Do you agree? Why or why not?
A key success factor in personal selling is the ability to use different sales approaches in
different situations and the ability to alter the sales approach based on a reassessment
5. In general, would a salesperson with an expressive social style be better at selling than a
person with a driver or an analytical style? Why?
No style is better than any other style. Effective selling involves adjusting your style to the
6. Some people object to the social style matrix training system because they don’t want to
“act”. They just want to be themselves, and not “put on a show.” What would you say to
them?
We adapt to the situation we find ourselves in all walks of life. Students act differently at
7. What social styles would you assign to the following people?
a. Conan O’Brien.
When one author asked his students, they gave the answer of Driver, although students
b. Your favorite instructor in high school.
c. One of your parents.
d. Kim Kardashian.
8. The salesperson in Building Partnerships 5.1 used encounters with C-level executives at
an industry meeting to help secure the attention of lower-level buyers and influencers in
the firm. Can you think of at least one other way that a salesperson might use a C-level
executive to influence decisions made by buyers and influencers lower in the firm?
9. Suppose that during a sales call on an electronics reseller, the buyer says, “I don’t think
iPhones are going to continue to be a best-selling item in the future!” How should you
respond if this customer is an amiable? An expressive?
For an amiable, you could help them see that many of his/her business associates (like
employees at the store, store assistant managers, etc.) do think that iPhones will be
for iPhone sales.
10. Market research by a company specializing in designing and installing custom counter
tops in commercial kitchens identified two types of buyers. Type I is concerned only that
the item is the absolute cutting edge in terms of style and materials. Type II is concerned
about practical elements such as functionality and long wear. How would you adapt the
selling of your custom countertops to each type?
For Type I customers, emphasize facts and figures that prove the materials and styles are
cutting edge, including survey results, industry trade publications, and consumer ratings
For Type II customers, demonstrate long wear with test results as well as actual
demonstrations to show how well the counters hold up under extreme conditions (e.g., run
Suggested Answers to Case Problems
Case 5-1: Won’t Take No for an Answer
Questions
1. Based on the limited amount of information provided, what would you guess is the social
style of the buyer? How about the social style of the seller? Please explain your
reasoning.
The fact that the buyer told the seller she had to go to a meeting would suggest she was either a
driver or expressive. But her willingness to stand there and be late for her next meeting doesn’t
2. Make a list of five “rules” you could set for yourself as a salesperson to avoid making a
buyer like this angry at you.
Here are some possible rules.
1. Listen to what the buyer is saying. If the buyer says, “let’s do this some other time” do it later.
2. Watch nonverbal cues. If the buyer is giving cues that suggest a later meeting, follow those
cues.
This is a real situation, and here’s a note from the buyer:
This salesperson works in a very competitive business. Many groups offer the same
services, but I am usually interested in meeting with the different vendors to see if they
have any unique feature we have not already evaluated. What did I do in this case? Instead
Case 5-2: Zimmer
Questions
1. What is the social style of each surgeon? Discuss facts that helped you determine that
assessment.
2. How should Alexa adapt to each surgeon?
Doctor Social style and cues How to adapt (Note that the case says the
seller is an expressive)
Dr. Avilia Driver
Awards on the wall
time, he tells you to
leave
Be less expressive.
Become businesslike
Make decisions based on fact, not
emotion
Dr. Mokri Expressive
Competitive
Be like yourself, since you are both expressive.
Dr. Rodriguez Analytical
Wants tons of
information before
affection
Oblivious of power
Be less responsive, and less assertive.
Become businesslike, and talk less
Restrain enthusiasm
Be more deliberate, don’t rush
Let the customer direct the flow of the
End of Chapter Role Play
When you debrief this role play, ask the students how many got it right, and ask if they got all the clues.
Then identify the cues that buyers used. Discuss how difficult it can be, especially in a neutral setting
without the availability of office décor or other surroundings to help identify the person’s style. See
teaching notes for additional information on how to discuss barriers to identifying someone’s social style.
EXERCISE 5-1 WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSOR’S PERSONALITY STYLE?
Visit with a classmate or a professor and determine that person’s social style: Amiable, Driver, Analytical,
or Expressive. Do not ask any questions that will help you determine the social style. Instead determine
style on the basis of what you observe.
NOTE: WRITE YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSION BELOW BEFORE YOU DISCUSS YOUR
OPINION WITH YOUR PARTNER. Be sure you justify your decision. Then compare your notes with your
partners. Any differences? Why?
EXERCISE 5-2 A PERSONALITY ROLE PLAY
Gather two members of the class together with you. Take turns, with one person as seller, one as a buyer,
and one as an observer. When you are the buyer, write down the personality style you are trying to be (try
something different than what you think is your own style). Then have the seller try to talk you into joining
a campus organization, eating somewhere, or something else like that. After a few minutes, stop and ask the
observer and seller to guess the personality style. What clues did they observe?
EXERCISE 5-3 SELF-ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL STYLES
Use the questionnaire and chart on the next page to assess your social style. Total your score on
assertiveness and divide by 15. Then total your score on responsiveness and divide by 15. Plot the two
average scores on the chart.
Assertiveness Ratings
I perceive myself as:
Responsiveness Ratings
I perceive myself as:
1 2 3 4
4 3 2 1
Slow to Decide Fast to Decide
1 2 3 4
Impulsive Deliberate
4 3 2 1
Going along Taking charge
1 2 3 4
Using opinions Using facts
4 3 2 1
Supportive Challenging
1 2 3 4
Informal Formal
4 3 2 1
Compliant Dominant
1 2 3 4
Emotional Unemotional
4 3 2 1
Deliberate Fast to Decide
1 2 3 4
Easy to know Hard to know
4 3 2 1
Asking questions Making statements
1 2 3 4
Warm Cool
4 3 2 1
Cooperative Competitive
1 2 3 4
Excitable Calm
4 3 2 1
Avoiding risks Taking risks
1 2 3 4
Animated Poker-faced
4 3 2 1
Slow, studied Fast-paced
1 2 3 4
People-oriented Task-oriented
4 3 2 1
Cautious Carefree
1 2 3 4
Spontaneous Cautious
4 3 2 1
Indulgent Firm
1 2 3 4
Responsive Nonresponsive
4 3 2 1
Nonassertive Assertive
1 2 3 4
Humorous Serious
4 3 2 1
Mellow Matter-of-fact
1 2 3 4
Impulsive Methodical
4 3 2 1
Reserved Outgoing
1 2 3 4
Lighthearted Intense
4 3 2 1
1
ANALYTICAL
DRIVER
2
1 2 3 4
3
AMIABLE EXPRESSIVE
4
High
5-11
ASSERTIVENESS
