INTROVERTS versus EXTRAVERTS
–  Who makes the best salesperson?

By Kym Cousins
Sprout Enablement

I am asked this question often – especially by managers and business owners looking to hire new sales people for their business.  I also have entrepreneurs complaining to me that they are ‘classic introverts’ and find it difficult to sell and wish they were more ‘extroverted’.  On the flip side, I have clients who are very talkative, social, loud people who are struggling to cope with keeping up with writing responses to customer emails and truly understanding their customers’ needs.

Anyone can be good at selling – with the right attitude, training, skills, support, motivation, coaching and mindset.  Knowing your true personality type, understanding your strengths and areas to improve upon will be the key to helping you succeed in sales.

The first step is knowing whether you are an Introvert, or an Extrovert and what that actually means.  What is ‘doesn’t’ mean is that all Introverts are quiet and shy, or that all Extraverts are loud and talkative.

Let me explain…  Introverts focus on what’s inside their heads and draw their energy from thinking deeply on subjects before they respond when communicating. They listen more than they talk.  Introverts are quite comfortable being alone and recharge their energy from having ‘quiet time’ – often at the end of a day of being ‘extroverted’.

Extraverts however, focus on what is going on outside or around them and tend to talk first and think second.  They enjoy being surrounded by lots of people most of the time and recharge their energy from the people around them.  They have lots of friends, enjoy socializing and are strong talkers.

Can someone be both Introvert and Extrovert (sometimes called Ambivert)?  Absolutely – we all have qualities from both.  But by nature, we tend to prefer one over the other, particularly when we’re tired, sick or under stress – that’s often when we revert to our natural personality type.

Introverts have great listening skills which are highly desirable traits for a salesperson, however they may find it more difficult to connect with their client on an emotional level.  Extraverts can sometimes talk so much that they forget to stop and listen to their customer, so they may miss important information which helps them connect their product/service with their customers’ needs.

Extraverts tend to have an easier time connecting with and building rapport with clients. They can be more comfortable spending time on the phone being assertive, which helps when making those dreaded phone calls to generate new business and following up on leads.  Introverts often struggle with this and no amount of training, mindset coaching, sales scripts or motivation can help some who totally fears this type of sales activity.

So – back to the original question. Who is better at selling – Introverts or Extraverts?

The best salespeople are those who can balance their style, communication and selling skills to be a bit of both.  Someone who can listen to their customers’ needs and who can clearly articulate why a customer would want to do business with them.  Both Introverts and Extraverts can be very successful at sales when they play to their strengths and connect with their own true values.  Whether you are Introvert or Extrovert is not important – what is import is being ‘authentic’ in how you communicate.  If you try to be something you are not, you will lose the connection and trust of your customer, no matter how hard you try.  To be successful in sales, you need to believe in your product, be passionate about what you do and truly understand how and why your customer should buy from you.  It really has nothing to do with your personality type and everything to do with YOU being YOU.

Kym

Kym Cousins
Sprout Enablement

Kym is best known for her passion in enabling her clients’ personal and business success through developing their confidence and skills in the areas of: sales, marketing, communication and leadership.  She is the owner of ‘Sprout Enablement’ – a national Training and Coaching Consultancy and holds academic qualifications in marketing and management.

Kym is a professionally qualified coach and facilitator and a certified Myers Briggs and Emotional Intelligence practitioner. Throughout her corporate career as a senior leader with some of Australia’s most recognizable Global IT brands, Kym managed high performance sales teams and enabled partner and alliance organisations to build vendor brand presence.  Amongst Kym’s accomplishments of which she is most proud are the achievements, accolades and career growth her mentees. Many of these sales leaders and entrepreneurs have won various global Awards, have built successful businesses and have enjoyed immense personal success.