{"id":2294,"date":"2010-03-12T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-12T15:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/03\/introverts-make-great-salespeople\/"},"modified":"2010-03-12T09:34:21","modified_gmt":"2010-03-12T15:34:21","slug":"introverts-make-great-salespeople","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/03\/introverts-make-great-salespeople\/","title":{"rendered":"Introverts Make Great Salespeople"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You heard me right, that is an indirect quote from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inc.com\/howard-greenstein\/2010\/03\/introverts_as_entrepreneurs_1.html?utm_source=feedburner\" target=\"_blank\">this Inc.com article<\/a>.\u00a0 This topic comes up often in our sales hiring activities as the conventional wisdom is that extroverts make better salespeople.\u00a0 Not true.\u00a0 Successful salespeople have a wide variety of abilities that go far beyond their communication style.\u00a0 And that is the point here, introvert\/extrovert is more of a communication style than anything else.\u00a0 It is important to know a salesperson\u2019s style, but it is not predictive of sales success.<\/p>\n<p>Here is some excellent advice from the article (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhen selling as an introvert, use your abilities as a good researcher to really know audience, know what matters to them, and figure out a product match before you go in. You\u2019ll be meeting with people, so rest up before social interactions with those you are selling to or speaking in front of. Prepare and practice because <strong>as an introvert you will think before you speak &#8211; as opposed to extroverts who speak as they think<\/strong>. So having a few lines ready, or thoughts composed in advance will be beneficial. Rest, prepare and practice is the magic formula because of the way introverts are wired.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Extroverts need to start talking to get to their point.\u00a0 Introverts have to think of their response before they speak.\u00a0 This point is never more obvious than when you are interviewing sales candidates.\u00a0 When I sit in on interviews with my customers, I always make sure to tell them if the candidate is more extroverted or introverted.<\/p>\n<p>My experience is this \u2013 an introverted hiring manager will be unimpressed by an extroverted sales candidate in terms of communication.\u00a0 The hiring manager has a tendency to comment on the candidate\u2019s rambling answers, long-windedness and tangential topics.\u00a0 At this point I explain that the candidate is extroverted and needs to start talking to get to his or her response.\u00a0 If they are strongly extroverted, they will have to rev up their answer a bit before delivering the point.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t necessarily a weakness, it is simply a style issue.<\/p>\n<p>I have seen a recent rise of the introvert in one key sales area \u2013 relationship selling.\u00a0 The reason is this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Introverts do well with deep relationships and conversations rather than chit-chat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If you have a relatively long or extended sales cycle, an introverted selling style is probably a more natural fit for your sale\u2019s requirements.\u00a0 As sales move away from one-call closes and on to relationship-based deals, introverts will play a prominent part in a sales team\u2019s success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You heard me right, that is an indirect quote from this Inc.com article.\u00a0 This topic comes up often in our sales hiring activities as the conventional wisdom is that extroverts make better salespeople.\u00a0 Not true.\u00a0 Successful salespeople have a wide variety of abilities that go far beyond their communication style.\u00a0 And that is the point here, introvert\/extrovert is more of a communication style than anything else.\u00a0 It is important to know a salesperson\u2019s style, but it is not predictive of sales success. Here is some excellent advice from the article (emphasis mine): \u201cWhen selling as an introvert, use your abilities as a good researcher to really know audience, know what&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/03\/introverts-make-great-salespeople\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,16,10],"tags":[340,257,1544,1546,1749,1545,1183],"class_list":["post-2294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-hiring-salespeople","category-interview","tag-communication-style","tag-hiring-sales","tag-introvert","tag-quiet-sales","tag-sales","tag-sales-person","tag-selling-style"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-B0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":846,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/04\/sales-skills-always-trump-style\/","url_meta":{"origin":2294,"position":0},"title":"Sales Skills Always Trump Style","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a myth regarding strong salespeople that they have to be outgoing. I contributed a short piece to an article earlier this year in regards to this exact error. And then I read this quick blurb for Selling Power's Identifying the Skills You Want in a Candidate: Sure salespeople\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":346,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/10\/spotting-strong-salespeople\/","url_meta":{"origin":2294,"position":1},"title":"Spotting Strong Salespeople","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm in to analogies this week so I have had this one rattling around in my head for a while. Its Friday so let's try it. If you are familiar with football and specifically the wide receiver position, you know that their primary purpose is to run fast, accurate routes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2307,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/04\/product-vs-service-sales\/","url_meta":{"origin":2294,"position":2},"title":"Product vs. Service Sales","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been seeing this distinction first-hand among salespeople I have encountered of late.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure there is a clear-cut sales ability towards product vs. service sales, but I do know that certain salespeople have skills and aptitudes that support one over the other.\u00a0 In that vein I give you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring Salespeople&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring Salespeople","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/hiring-salespeople\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1430,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/02\/hiring-for-style\/","url_meta":{"origin":2294,"position":3},"title":"Hiring For Style","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Selling Style is one area we assess in our process.\u00a0 Some people refer to it as personality which I don't believe is particularly accurate.\u00a0 Nonetheless, style is an important assessment for managing the salesperson but too many hiring managers assume certain skills based on a candidate's style. When we refer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/05\/experience-fact-or-fiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":2294,"position":4},"title":"Experience &#8211; Fact or Fiction?","author":"Lee Fratzke","date":"May 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"In this article from the Minneapolis StarTribune.com, the author discusses the growing demand for salespeople in the medical industry. One quote in particular jumps out: Medical salespeople often tell me it is rewarding to sell things that help people. I bring this topic up because it is of interest in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3194,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2016\/06\/collaboration-kills-commoditization\/","url_meta":{"origin":2294,"position":5},"title":"Collaboration Kills Commoditization","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"June 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a trend developing in the sales world that has caught my eye over the past couple years.\u00a0 This Sales & Marketing Management article opens with a terrific summary of what I have experienced (emphasis mine): According to Harvard Business Review, \u201cTraditional sales methods are increasingly unproductive. In fact,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Generations&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Generations","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/generations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Hammer-Egg.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Hammer-Egg.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Hammer-Egg.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2294"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2295,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294\/revisions\/2295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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