Excellent Sales People

Conventional Wisdom

Stereotypes and conventional wisdom say that to be a great sales success, we need an outgoing, social personality type. When we think of a top sales person, a charming, expressive motormouth who won’t-take-no-for-an-answer image pops to mind. An extravert. Stereotypes and conventional wisdom come from somewhere, right? Smoke….fire?

Self Mastery

Part 1

Stereotypically..

Here’s the thing: quite often, stereotypes are simply beliefs based on a limited observation or worse; only what we have been told.

In fact, if we think about it, the words “sales rep” or even “sales” have something of a stigma. We all have an inherent B.S. meter, and when a glad handing, grinning, sparkling toothed, story-telling, “silver tongued sh*t slinger” approaches us, we feel the skepticism rise up. Taken to the extreme, we even associate these qualities with the archetypal con man.

“A belief is simply a thought we have had over and over again. That is it!”

Dr Joe Dispenza

Do Introverts Recoil

On the other hand, we have created a perception in people who are shy or introverted, that they would never make it in sales and certainly wouldn’t want to. Time and time again I have heard the words “I would never be a good sales person, I am too honest”.

We observe then, that we don’t always respond to personality in a sales situation, as we might have thought. Can we be thinking about ourselves in the same way?

Quick quiz:

You’re in the market for a new car. After you have shortlisted your preferences, you head down to the dealership to take a look around. A sales rep approaches you. Would you like her to:

1 Welcome you kindly
2 Shake your hand firmly
3 Have good eye contact
4 Dress as though they respect you, their brand and themselves
5 Ask about your needs, thoughts and hopes in a new car experience
6 Really listen to your answers with authentic interest
7 Consider the options before jumping in
8 Allow you quiet time to think
9 Be confident when answering your questions
10 Be honest and geniunie without being blunt
11 Guide you through the buying process
12 Make you want to come back because of how comfortable you felt

If you answered yes to all those questions, you are looking at an mixtrovert or an ambivert. Both extravert and introvert. (1, 5, 6, 8, 12 are qualities most often associated with introverts and the rest are either extraverts or both).

1, 5, 6, 8, & 12 are qualities most often associated with introverts

EQ Course

Are we Oversimplifying?

If you think about it, our personalities cannot typically be described in such simple terms anyway. We have both qualities in varying degrees. You may enjoy social events very much (extraverted) as long as they are with people you know (introverted). You may be an excellent public speaker or networker (extraverted) but on weekends you would prefer to stay home (introverted). We appear to have both sets of qualities in varying degrees.

According to a Wall Street Journal interview with Wharton psychologist Adam Grant, ambiverts make up between half and two-thirds of the population.

What works best in our industry?

In his study named “The Ambivert Advantage” Grant scientifically explains how ambiverts combine the best of both sides. In one of several such studies, ambiverts achieved higher sales productivity than introverts or extraverts – in some cases, twice as much.

Because ambiverts can listen as well as assert themselves, they’re ideal sales people, coworkers, business owners and leaders. How cool is that?! Another myth busted.

The idea then, is to raise our self-awareness – especially our strengths – and leverage them.

So, we now know that we would all rather be served by a sales professional who cares more about their customer than their commission. Who wants to find the right solution for the buyer or seller, not for the sales person’s back pocket. Who is real and someone we would remember for how they helped us.

Is this who you are being?

A note on the spelling of Extravert.

Common practice in US English use appears to be “Extrovert”. However, in English’s root language, Latin, the word “intro” means inside and “extra” outside. Psychologists prefer the latter.

So, we are being purists for a day, here.

Gail Roberts