Yes, We Are All Individuals

My name is Duncan Brown and I am an English Facilitator, here are some of my thoughts about learning the English language. 

Many years ago, in what seems like a different lifetime, I worked in retail. The term “worked in retail” is incredibly vague, as there are many roles, skills, and areas of expertise within this field of work. I did play several of these roles, and one of them was as a salesperson. Not a shop assistant. A salesperson.

I must admit, the companies I trained with demonstrated very different philosophies and methods of selling. I had the displeasure, with one company, of learning how to use fear and doubt to sell a bad product. I did not work there for long, but it did teach me how to recognise and avoid “bad” companies.

However, I also worked for and stayed with one company that particularly suited me. It was focused on the customer’s needs and wants in order to truly deliver service satisfaction. The sales training was more interested in who the individual customer was, rather than simply how to sell a product.

Within that training, people were simplified into four categories: thinker, feeler, entertainer, and controller. It is based on Carl Jung’s behavioural models, if you want to look into it, but the categories tend to speak for themselves.

As a customer, I am more of a thinker. I do lots of research before making an informed decision and want a salesperson to have detailed knowledge of their product or service. But in other aspects of my life, I can be all four. Of course, I consider myself an individual and cannot be pigeonholed, unique with all the advantages and disadvantages that go with that.

I think we all have a bit of each of these characteristics, which helps us communicate better with others. In my case, it was to be a better salesperson, or like now, to guide students towards a better understanding of English communication.

When thinking about conversations with others, I never consider what category people are. After all, we are all individuals.