My first impression of Bob Prosen’s Kiss Theory Good Bye was “this is all task-oriented stuff, how are you going to get buy-in from people-oriented individuals?”

Maybe it was because I was in the middle of a DISC profile training at my company, The Stelter Company, at the same time I was reading this book, but Prosen’s style all came off as very high “D” task oriented suggestions. While this approach will appeal to other “D’s” and “C’s”, what about the “I’s” and “S’s” among us? Those coming from a people orientation? How can we take Prosen’s five ways and work them into our way of thinking?

After re-reviewing the text, his overuse of percentages and numbers in every section seems to have skewed my initial perception. Being a people-oriented “S” myself, I’m much more interested in the personal stories and anecdotes. Indeed much of what Prosen discusses throughout the five ways can be easily assimilated into any DISC profile.

Superior Leadership – must be master communicators and be decisive. While the “D’s” and “I’s” may be faster talkers, but since when has the speed of message delivery been the differentiator between a message actually being understood? While the “C’s” and “S’s” may pause and think things through a bit more, they can be just as effective.

Sales Effectiveness – hire great sales people, remove ceilings for bonuses, remove hurdles for sales, then stand back. I don’t foresee any personality having a problem with this.

Operational Excellence – invest in good tracking systems (accounting, manufacturing, CRM, etc) that can produce meaningful reports that can be acted upon. This section, more than any other, caused me to pause. The task driven “D’s” and “C’s”, and even the status quo “S’s” will find solace in an efficient, dependable system. The more abstract and big picture “I’s” would need to be kept at a higher level of operating excellence. They wouldn’t want to be tied into the intricate inner workings of such a system.

Financial Management – no easy way to get around this one. The high “C’s” will gush all over this one – as much as accountant types can gush that is. I was pleased to see financial report providers taking a more proactive approach. Instead of providing numbers and analysis, make them part of the RCAs and ICAs. Get more input from them than just data. Yes, these are the numbers but get to the “whys”.

Customer Loyalty – my personal fav. This one actually favors the people-oriented personalities a bit. Move beyond selling to a customer. Build a relationship and find out what they really need, not what you want to sell to them. Jennifer’s example in class last night was a perfect example. PetSmart stores were buying too much permanent signage. By getting to the root cause of the situation, they solved the problem, saved their client money, and built a lasting relationship based on problem-solving and collaboration.