The Enneagram test uses a questionnaire to analyze your core motivations, desires, and fears. These aspects of your personality tend to drive your behavior and the way you relate to others. As we mentioned in our blog post on different personality tests, you can use your understanding of how you interact with others and your motivations to find your ideal career path. But this doesn’t mean that you’re stuck to one type of career based on your personality. If you’re a Type 1 Enneagram with perfectionist tendencies, you can be expected to excel in detail-oriented positions with defined standards, but this doesn’t have to keep you from pursuing roles that are more flexible and open-ended. It’s all a matter of understanding your strengths and weaknesses and how you can either utilize or challenge them to succeed in whichever role you pursue.
“Working in sales requires a wide range of skills and personalities. The typical personality types that we see in sales tend to be extroverted, goal-oriented, and assertive — but sales is more than a singular career path and can encompass all types of interactions. You don’t need to be the outgoing charmer to be successful in sales!” Says Stephanie Staiano, CSS ProSearch Sales Director.
Having an understanding of the way you approach your strengths and weaknesses and the ways they plan into your interactions with others can strengthen and boost your performance in sales. Here are a few ways that each enneagram can succeed in a sales role:
1 – Reformer
You are organized and precise, and your attention to detail not only provides excellent service to your clients but also helps your organization perfect its back-of-house processes.
2 – Helper
With your empathetic nature and ability to foster and maintain relationships with others, you can make a difference in service-oriented and client-facing sales roles.
3 – Achiever
Your ambition and energetic attitude are important not just for attracting clients, but also for motivating your internal team to strive for and achieve their goals.
4 – Individualist
Sales is all about the relationship between you and the client. Your honesty, focus, and creativity are important sales traits for client relationships and problem-solving in your internal teams.
5 – Investigator
You are curious and analytical, and your strive for complete understanding will help your organization perfect its internal processes while delivering the best products and services to clients.
6 – Loyalist
As someone who appreciates a thorough understanding of both the risks and rewards, you are a reliable salesperson and can inspire trust in clients and your team.
7 – Enthusiast
Your energy and creativity keep clients engaged and excited while also motivating your internal team. In sales, your ability to be versatile and adapt quickly to new situations can boost business while also nurturing your career.
8 – Challenger
Assertive and goal-oriented, you are a master at straight-talking. As a salesperson, this can be invaluable in converting leads and promoting products and services, as well as leading your team to achieve their goals.
9 – Peacemaker
Building and maintaining lasting relationships depend on good communication and rapport. Your relaxed, trustworthy nature are valuable traits to bring to sales teams and strengthens your organization’s foundational relationships.
Our personalities play a huge role in how we work individually and with our teams. As work culture continues to evolve around employee and team engagement, understanding your personal strengths and weaknesses and how that can affect your work is an important way to figure out how to best approach your career goals.
Here at CSS ProSearch, we understand the importance of engagement and partnership when it comes to finding your next role. We take a consultative approach to place you in the best teams for long-term success. Read our blog to learn more tips on how to move forward in your career or contact us and see how we can help you find your perfect role.