Types of partners: find out who you meet with

When conducting meetings, interviews or business talks, it is essential to know the type of interlocutor you are dealing with. As the experience grows, it becomes easier to determine this. Still, even so, it is sometimes difficult to find an effective way of dealing with a contact adapted to the individual.

When the exhibition takes place with a large group, a mixture of interlocutors is created (each with their personality) which can disorientate and destroy any programme if we are not trained. It can be quite challenging to be approached by several profiles at the same time.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to know the nature of the interlocutor beforehand. We are going to describe some typologies and how to maintain communication adapted to them.

Pretentious interlocutor

A complicated profile is that of a person who thinks he knows everything that is intended to be transmitted and even tries to prove that his knowledge goes much further. It is usually complicated to take the floor once they have spoken. They do not accept explanations and try to impose their criteria turns the conversation into a monologue.

Attempts to make him think will only complicate communication by giving him wings to continue his presentation. It is also not a good idea to exert pressure or to let yourself be driven to despair. Instead, we should let him expose his monologue and try to manipulate the discourse so that it seems that the agreement or solution to what has been said has come from him. They love to be proved right; they see it as normal and natural.

It can be frustrating, but fighting is usually worthless; it can have fatal consequences, especially for a client. Manipulation” is not simple, and the only experience will tell us how to apply it successfully.

Sociable partner

The person is talkative and optimistic and usually welcomes the proposed solutions. Sometimes they can be a bit complex because they tend to deviate from the main subject, so the conversation has to be redirected subtly through appropriate questions.

We have to be careful not to fall into the topic of conversation that is likely to be exposed and deviates from the main discussion. To do this, it is advisable to keep the initiative and obtain the information we need quickly. Patience will be a good ally, as it almost always is, but with this profile, we have the advantage that there is an excellent predisposition to reach agreements.

Rude interlocutor

Raising one’s voice while making demands and complaints from the beginning can indicate that we are dealing with a rude, violent or at least rude person. In my experience, it has been clear to me that it is best to let him vent and then show our calm and kindness by speaking slowly and in the right tone. They tend to cause a certain amount of contagion and will help us to have an assertive conversation.

These people are usually aware of their character and may end up apologising. If that moment comes, we can see (in some cases) how the chip changes and they are especially prone to compromise. If we put ourselves at their level, this is impossible as we will be feeding and justifying their attitude.

Shy interlocutor

When a person is mainly reserved and rarely communicates, and in a very low tone, we can ask many concrete and closed questions to obtain the desired information. Our explanations should be sufficient, but silence should not be interpreted as a need to expand or repeat them. Above all, we must transmit security and confidence through a close, simple discourse and take the initiative.

This can be confused with an undecided person since not knowing how to act can lead to limited expression. In this case, it is more typical that he shows his confusion and insecurity, which can cause an uncomfortable and frustrating feeling. In any case, we can use the same technique as with the shy ones but adding an extra cup of patience.

Objective partner

I leave my favourite for the end. He or she is someone who knows what he wants and communicates with precise data using few but sufficient words. By using well-formulated questions, we can get the information we want. We can take our turns speaking, give appropriate answers to their inquiries, and explain our position on a problem. Unfortunately, as we have seen, not everyone is like that. It would be easier, wouldn’t it?

Source: https://www.pymesyautonomos.com/consejos-practicos/tipos-de-interlocutores-descubre-con-quien-te-reunes