American in Spain

Personality Profile with Crystal Knows

July 7, 2015

crystalA podcast I have been enjoying lately, called Note To Self, recently did an episode about a company called Crystal Knows, that performs online searches on people to guess their personality type with the end goal of allowing you, as a marketer, recruiter, support technician, etc., to write a better email that will be better received by the other person. It seems a little bit like bullshit, and they are very secretive of their algorithm and just what information they use – it seems to be primarily from LinkedIn, but they claim to use Twitter as well (although I didn't specify my Twitter screen name...although that might be in my LinkedIn profile) – but, like a general horoscope that everyone thinks totally applies to them, i.e. the Barnum Effect, it seems, subjectively to confirmation-bias-suffering me, to have spit out a surprisingly accurate description of this lad named Erik on LinkedIn.

Erik is a natural problem-solver: perceptive, analytical, creative, detail-oriented, and very quickly becomes bored with routine.

Accuracy confidence: 89%

When speaking to Erik...

  • Start conversations with a problem to solve
  • Interrupt him if the conversation is going too long
  • Use visual aids
  • Provide your reasoning before you get to the bottom line

When emailing Erik...

  • Send lots of extra information (like links and attachments
  • Provide lots of detailed information and instructions
  • Ask him something that will require a long and thoughtful response
  • Use data to prove a point

When working with Erik...

  • Spend time exploring new ideas
  • Surprise him to get his attention
  • Take time to work out logical conclusions
  • Schedule meetings over food or drinks

When recruiting Erik...

  • Expect him to ask lots of questions
  • Use visual aids to explain your product
  • Make sure you're prepared for tough questions
  • Leave detailed voicemails

It comes naturally to Erik to...

  • Question the authenticity of an advertisement or sales pitc
  • Invent something
  • Independently come up with lots of ideas
  • Experiment with many solutions to a problem

It does not come naturally to Erik to...

  • Act as a mediator in a group decision
  • Stay loyal to trusted companies and brands
  • Finish one task before starting another
  • Be comfortable with a rigid structure

Creepy? Genius? Terrifying? Amazing? Yes, all of the above.