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[E38] Behavior Week: Controller Part I – Fears, Confrontation, and Empathy
Three groups covered…now for the final one – the
Controllers.
If you have been listening along to these behavior
episodes, then you know that the terms used are pretty descriptive.
Check out this episode to learn more about how
Controllers deal with situations, their biggest fears, what they think about
confrontation, and their empathy level towards other people.
Episode 38 – Transcript
[Coming Soon]
On
this episode, I talked about the group that’s really mad at me. I’m sure,
because I made them last in the list. This is the controllers. Welcome to
Episode 38 of The Sales Experience Podcast. So far, I’ve covered three out of
the four behavior groups. We talked about the main attributes, how they like to
buy, how to sell to them, how not to sell to them. And similar to the disc
model, if you’re familiar with it, the three groups that we covered analyst,
promoters and supporters. Now it’s time to talk about that polar opposite group
from the supporters, which is the controllers.
First
off, like I said, if there’s any controllers listening, I’m sorry for upsetting
you by putting you last on the list. I know you’re not used to that. I know
you’re used to your way or else kind of mode and I put your last. So, what are
the defining characteristics of the controller behavior group? You can tell by
the name, they like to be in control. More than that, they really need to be in
control. They know where they’re going and what needs to be done and they’re
not afraid to make it happen, no matter what obstacles or people get in their
way. And this is not to imply that they want to harm people or they willingly
harm people. It’s just that they’re voted most likely to not let anyone’s
feelings get in their way.
This
group is the one that’s driving the bus and wants to be going from point A to
point B, and they know it. And they’re not as worried about consensus and
concerned about what everyone else thinks or what everyone else feels, they
know where they want to go. If we jump into the conversation about
confrontation, the confrontational level for the controller is full. It is high
level confrontation mode.
And
again, the point is not to hurt other people’s feelings, they don’t do
confrontation because they like drama, they like to hurt other people. And it’s
not that they don’t care, it’s just that they’re totally willing to use
confrontation or to have confrontation as a way to interact with other people,
they are not concerned.
If
we talk about the supporters, and how they do everything to avoid
confrontation, the controllers, on the other hand, are totally okay with
confrontational arguments, conversations, debates with other people. And at a
certain level, sometimes they actually enjoy it in different situations and
scenarios, where they feel like they’re in control. Let me give you an example.
I once knew somebody who was a controller, you know, by the nature of these
behavior groups, and he actually enjoyed going to car lots and talking to sales
people, and the interactions and the battle of buying a car.
In
fact, in the last episode, I mentioned how a lot of times, if a supporter wants
to buy a car, they’ll take a controller with them, somebody who actually can be
that confrontational buffer. He was that guy that would go with somebody else,
and be the one who loved it. He loved the battle of buying a car or not buying
a car, knowing full well that he didn’t need the car, he was in full control,
he could walk off the lot at any point. And so with nothing to lose, there’s no
reason but to have fun with that person.
And
again, for other groups out there, if you’re listening, and you’re like, wow, I
would never do that. That’s not for me, that helps you understand kind of the
mentality of somebody in this group and how they view confrontation versus
others who wouldn’t want to be confrontational, or have a salesperson confront
them, or upset with them, whatnot. For controllers, that’s totally okay with
them because they view that as an outcome or a result of being in control or
wanting to control a situation.
Now,
this also plays into the flip side, which is their biggest fear, the biggest
fear of a controller is not being in control situations that they cannot
control or out of their control, or even people that they cannot control is a
big fear or a blind spot that the controllers do not like. They like being in
charge of a company where everyone works for them. And they can drive the bus
and they got a everybody kind of in their control, whether it’s a negative or
positive, but they’re controlling the situation, the scenario and the company,
they want to be involved in everything.
They
don’t like not being in control. They don’t like the thought of going into a
situation where they’re not in control, somebody else might be in control or
nobody’s in control, and it might be chaos. So at all times in their mind, it’s
telling them to make sure that they have control or they’re very much aligned
with whoever’s in control. And that’s important to know, especially when we get
into the next episode and the conversation around how they like to buy, and
then how you actually sell to someone like this.
Now,
we’ve got the confrontation, we talked about fear, let’s talk about empathy.
Their empathy level is similar to analysts, where it’s more pragmatic and
analytical. As far as if somebody’s hurt, if somebody is in pain. You know,
they want to help that person just move on and move away from the pain and just
keep on moving forward. It’s not as loving and nurturing as a supporter. And
again, keep in mind, I’m going to keep saying this over and over again, it’s
not that their empathy or their support, or their nurturing is wrong. It’s just
different. And so how they view it is, hey, let’s just keep going, get back on
track, and move forward. It’ll be okay. Don’t worry about it. You know, I know
some controllers in the past who have taught me lessons where they say, if
you’re going through something right now, picture five years ahead of time from
right now, will this drama, will this issue, will this problem, will this hurt
that you’re going through right now, still be something that matters five years
from now? In five years, when you look back to this point, will there be any
energy, will it matter, will it be an issue? If it’s not move on, it’s not a
big deal. And so that’s kind of the pragmatic approach to hurt and pain from
controller/analyst perspective.
Now,
keep in mind, if you were to put all of these four behavior groups into a box
on opposite corners of a box, right, so everyone’s on a different corner, there
is a primary behavior group for each person and then there’s a secondary one.
So, you might be an analyst who’s also part supporter part controller. And so
for a controlling person, for a controller, it really is going to depend. Their
empathy level is going to depend on if they tend to be more analytical or more
on the promoter side.
If
they tend to be more of a promoter controller, then they’re going to view it as
kind of pragmatic, but they’re still going to want to have fun to alleviate
that pain, instead of just going all in on wanting to be analytical on it. All
right.
That’s
it for part one of the discussion on controllers. Make sure to come back
tomorrow and listen to the second part. And like I said, I’m going to cover how
they like to buy tips for actually selling to this group of people and what
would make you most effective in dealing with them, both in a sales role as
well as in relationships in your own life. Now, make sure that you subscribe to
The Sales Experience Podcast, wherever you’re listening to these podcasts and
download it all over the place. If you’re on iTunes, I would love it if you
left a five star rating and a comment that helps so much.
And
until next time, always remember that everything in life is sales and people
will remember the experience you gave them.
View all episodes
By Jason Cutter
4.9
3535 ratings
Three groups covered…now for the final one – the
Controllers.
If you have been listening along to these behavior
episodes, then you know that the terms used are pretty descriptive.
Check out this episode to learn more about how
Controllers deal with situations, their biggest fears, what they think about
confrontation, and their empathy level towards other people.
Episode 38 – Transcript
[Coming Soon]
On
this episode, I talked about the group that’s really mad at me. I’m sure,
because I made them last in the list. This is the controllers. Welcome to
Episode 38 of The Sales Experience Podcast. So far, I’ve covered three out of
the four behavior groups. We talked about the main attributes, how they like to
buy, how to sell to them, how not to sell to them. And similar to the disc
model, if you’re familiar with it, the three groups that we covered analyst,
promoters and supporters. Now it’s time to talk about that polar opposite group
from the supporters, which is the controllers.
First
off, like I said, if there’s any controllers listening, I’m sorry for upsetting
you by putting you last on the list. I know you’re not used to that. I know
you’re used to your way or else kind of mode and I put your last. So, what are
the defining characteristics of the controller behavior group? You can tell by
the name, they like to be in control. More than that, they really need to be in
control. They know where they’re going and what needs to be done and they’re
not afraid to make it happen, no matter what obstacles or people get in their
way. And this is not to imply that they want to harm people or they willingly
harm people. It’s just that they’re voted most likely to not let anyone’s
feelings get in their way.
This
group is the one that’s driving the bus and wants to be going from point A to
point B, and they know it. And they’re not as worried about consensus and
concerned about what everyone else thinks or what everyone else feels, they
know where they want to go. If we jump into the conversation about
confrontation, the confrontational level for the controller is full. It is high
level confrontation mode.
And
again, the point is not to hurt other people’s feelings, they don’t do
confrontation because they like drama, they like to hurt other people. And it’s
not that they don’t care, it’s just that they’re totally willing to use
confrontation or to have confrontation as a way to interact with other people,
they are not concerned.
If
we talk about the supporters, and how they do everything to avoid
confrontation, the controllers, on the other hand, are totally okay with
confrontational arguments, conversations, debates with other people. And at a
certain level, sometimes they actually enjoy it in different situations and
scenarios, where they feel like they’re in control. Let me give you an example.
I once knew somebody who was a controller, you know, by the nature of these
behavior groups, and he actually enjoyed going to car lots and talking to sales
people, and the interactions and the battle of buying a car.
In
fact, in the last episode, I mentioned how a lot of times, if a supporter wants
to buy a car, they’ll take a controller with them, somebody who actually can be
that confrontational buffer. He was that guy that would go with somebody else,
and be the one who loved it. He loved the battle of buying a car or not buying
a car, knowing full well that he didn’t need the car, he was in full control,
he could walk off the lot at any point. And so with nothing to lose, there’s no
reason but to have fun with that person.
And
again, for other groups out there, if you’re listening, and you’re like, wow, I
would never do that. That’s not for me, that helps you understand kind of the
mentality of somebody in this group and how they view confrontation versus
others who wouldn’t want to be confrontational, or have a salesperson confront
them, or upset with them, whatnot. For controllers, that’s totally okay with
them because they view that as an outcome or a result of being in control or
wanting to control a situation.
Now,
this also plays into the flip side, which is their biggest fear, the biggest
fear of a controller is not being in control situations that they cannot
control or out of their control, or even people that they cannot control is a
big fear or a blind spot that the controllers do not like. They like being in
charge of a company where everyone works for them. And they can drive the bus
and they got a everybody kind of in their control, whether it’s a negative or
positive, but they’re controlling the situation, the scenario and the company,
they want to be involved in everything.
They
don’t like not being in control. They don’t like the thought of going into a
situation where they’re not in control, somebody else might be in control or
nobody’s in control, and it might be chaos. So at all times in their mind, it’s
telling them to make sure that they have control or they’re very much aligned
with whoever’s in control. And that’s important to know, especially when we get
into the next episode and the conversation around how they like to buy, and
then how you actually sell to someone like this.
Now,
we’ve got the confrontation, we talked about fear, let’s talk about empathy.
Their empathy level is similar to analysts, where it’s more pragmatic and
analytical. As far as if somebody’s hurt, if somebody is in pain. You know,
they want to help that person just move on and move away from the pain and just
keep on moving forward. It’s not as loving and nurturing as a supporter. And
again, keep in mind, I’m going to keep saying this over and over again, it’s
not that their empathy or their support, or their nurturing is wrong. It’s just
different. And so how they view it is, hey, let’s just keep going, get back on
track, and move forward. It’ll be okay. Don’t worry about it. You know, I know
some controllers in the past who have taught me lessons where they say, if
you’re going through something right now, picture five years ahead of time from
right now, will this drama, will this issue, will this problem, will this hurt
that you’re going through right now, still be something that matters five years
from now? In five years, when you look back to this point, will there be any
energy, will it matter, will it be an issue? If it’s not move on, it’s not a
big deal. And so that’s kind of the pragmatic approach to hurt and pain from
controller/analyst perspective.
Now,
keep in mind, if you were to put all of these four behavior groups into a box
on opposite corners of a box, right, so everyone’s on a different corner, there
is a primary behavior group for each person and then there’s a secondary one.
So, you might be an analyst who’s also part supporter part controller. And so
for a controlling person, for a controller, it really is going to depend. Their
empathy level is going to depend on if they tend to be more analytical or more
on the promoter side.
If
they tend to be more of a promoter controller, then they’re going to view it as
kind of pragmatic, but they’re still going to want to have fun to alleviate
that pain, instead of just going all in on wanting to be analytical on it. All
right.
That’s
it for part one of the discussion on controllers. Make sure to come back
tomorrow and listen to the second part. And like I said, I’m going to cover how
they like to buy tips for actually selling to this group of people and what
would make you most effective in dealing with them, both in a sales role as
well as in relationships in your own life. Now, make sure that you subscribe to
The Sales Experience Podcast, wherever you’re listening to these podcasts and
download it all over the place. If you’re on iTunes, I would love it if you
left a five star rating and a comment that helps so much.
And
until next time, always remember that everything in life is sales and people
will remember the experience you gave them.