
Why Introverts Are Better at Sales Than Extroverts - walterbell
http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/first-90-days-the-surprising-reason-introverts-are-better-at-sales.html
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bobbyadamson
This is a weak argument and frankly the introvert extrovert juxtaposition is
trite at this point. The article sounds like frustrated happy hour conjecture
by somebody who has never actually worked in sales. Cherry picks a lot in
order to make its case. Yes selling takes a lot more than a smile and
persistence. But why can't extroverts be good at research and listening? What
if you're driven and enjoy a good balance of quiet time and social time? It’s
rare that anyone is this binary and thinking that way is ignorant and kind of
rude. You’re essentially saying “extroverts are dumb they don’t know as much
as they should”. Come on. And also there will always be some form of cold
calling in sales. The point is not literally the call, its finding a way to
introduce yourself to a complete stranger and create a relationship. Whether
thats through email, the phone, or walking up to someone at a conference,
there will always be some version of this. If you’re relying on landing pages
and conversion optimization to sell at all scales of software, someone else is
going to beat you by knowing a guy who knows the CTO, or being the nephew of a
VP, or having the guts to walk up to someone at an event.

Theres obviously a lot to learn from archetypal human behavior, but when it’s
presented like this it just falls flat.

~~~
caseysoftware
Exactly.

I have yet to meet a good salesperson who didn't research, listen, and react.
That's part of the sales process.. to understood who you're selling to and
why.

This is Sales 101 and has nothing to do with being a intro/extro-vert.

~~~
johansch
The best sales people I've worked with (in a software/services B2B context -
specifically when the customers are large companies) are into long-term
relationship and trust building.

They analyze the hell out of the customer from an organizational perspective
and really try to figure out what problem they need to get solved.

They are definitely extroverts. They are interesting people to be around, have
great conversational and wining and dining skills, etc.

They know their limits when it comes to technology and see themselves as
facilitators of deep technical discussions between the prospective customer's
tech people and the internal staff. They are happy to take the backseat when
it comes to tech discussions - while still listening, taking notes, etc. (That
they'll then come back with to i.e. me to try to understand and figure out the
next step.)

~~~
caminante

      The best sales people I've worked with (in a software/services B2B 
      context - specifically when the customers are large companies) are 
      into long-term relationship and trust building.
    

Adding nuance, I was intrigued by an argument [0] that "relationship builders"
weren't the out-performers in sales. In fact, they were the least likely to
outperform in complex B2B sales.

[0] [https://hbr.org/2011/09/selling-is-not-about-
relatio](https://hbr.org/2011/09/selling-is-not-about-relatio)

~~~
johansch
It obviously differs quite a lot depending on the type of customer.

An example where I have seen the type of relationship-building salesperson
outperform the aggressive kind of sales person: sales to large, stable
incumbent companies in Europe.

~~~
caminante
For sure! I think the nuance (and if you read the article and the study) is
the best performers are consistently "assertive" \-- or in the middle between
passive and aggressive.

~~~
johansch
Yeah. They have to be able to carefully thread that needle between
pushy/assertive vs annoying quite carefully and intelligently. And counteract
the pushy factor with charm/hosting skills.

.. and that's why this job is so highly paid (the kind of people I'm talking
about: ~300k/year or more).

------
falcolas
Every good salesman I've ever met has either been an extrovert, or acted the
part to a tee.

As an anecdote, my heavily extroverted brother in law is the best salesman I
know. He went door-to-door in San Diego selling pest removal services. He
would net over $80,000 in commissions over a summer.

Maybe it's different in B2B, but in B2C the best salesmen I've seen have
always been extroverts.

~~~
avenoir
How do you know if someone selling you something is introverted or
extroverted, unless of course they're your friend? All i see is someone trying
to pitch something to me. They could be extroverted and naturally good at it
or they could be introverted and acting the part out. How would you know?

I'm an introvert myself and if you see me in social situations you'd never
think that I am and most people don't realize it until they get to know me
personally. This is why this article makes little sense to me.

~~~
sin7
If an introvert is quiet and no one is there to hear it, is he still an
introvert?

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reubenswartz
This seems to be a bit of click bait, but when Mark Roberge at HubSpot
analyzed the performance of their sales people, they found that the most
important traits were conscientiousness and coachability. I've seen this come
in multiple interviews on Sales for Nerds-- if you can get away from the
notion in your own head that you have to be extraverted, being introverted is
fine, and _may_ be an advantage because you may be more process-oriented, more
willing to take rejection as a chance to fix process vs personal, etc.

Mark Roberge's book The Sales Acceleration Formula.
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T7Q9E2S/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T7Q9E2S/)

~~~
pdq
Props Reuben, I'm a fan of your podcast.

For others that don't know:
[https://www.salesfornerds.io](https://www.salesfornerds.io)

~~~
reubenswartz
Thanks for the kind words. Selling introverts unite! ;-)

------
traviswingo
I can't take this article seriously. I've never met a (good/great) salesman
who was introverted. They are always super comfortable meeting new people and
shooting the shit. Saying an introvert is better just because they research
and listen doesn't exactly prove a point. All of the aforementioned great, and
extroverted, salesmen I mentioned prior researched and listened - that's why
they are great.

~~~
basseq
I have met several good, introverted sales-people (and like to think I was one
for a couple years). But _most_ good salespeople are extroverts. The exception
that proves the rule.

My definition of introvert is "drained by other people" (vs. extrovert as
"energized by other people"). I'm not _shy_... I'm outgoing, friendly, good at
shooting the shit. But I get home and I'm _tired_.

Extroverts, by virtue of that energy-boost, are _more likely_ to get into a
enjoy sales... and do what it takes to be a _good_ salesperson (research,
etc.). So that means that the _average_ introvert in sales is a "better"
salesperson than the _average_ extrovert, because the extrovert population is
so much larger/deeper. There's no such think as a low-performing introvert in
sales, because that introvert wouldn't be in sales in the first place.

~~~
shuntress
To say that introverts are drained and extroverts are charged by interactions
with people doesn't seem right to me.

It feels like saying "Power lifters are energized by weight lifting; frail
people are drained by weight lifting."

Interacting with people (like lifting weights) is just work. People who are
good at it make it look easy. People who are bad at it get tucker'd out.

~~~
gerbilly
I'll offer two theories:

1) Introverts may have a higher default level of arousal, so that social
situations overstimulate them and make them tired. In this case extroverts
would be the opposite, i.e. their default arousal is lower, so they seek
social situations to raise their arousal level.

2) Introverts process social situations more deeply, and therefore expend more
energy in the same social situation than an extrovert would.

------
gt565k
"Why classifying people into categories is bullshit"

I hate these articles that assign a label to an individual. We are complex
beings that constantly evolve as we go through life and explore various
experiences.

You know who's better at sales? The person that has had a wide-range of
experiences, understand the domain he's selling in, and especially one that
can put themselves in the clients' shoes because he has been on their side of
the aisle. That person can sell, because he/she understand the value
proposition of what they are selling better than anyone else.

Any time I see an article that throws people into groups "Millennials, baby-
boomers, white, black, introverts, extroverts..." I just cringe at how stupid
it is to categorize people based on a single trait.

The day we learn to stop putting labels on everything, is the day humanity
will change forever.

We are more than a label. We are human beings.

IMO articles like this should be flagged with reason: "label bullshit".

Just my Friday $0.02 rant :)

------
woliveirajr
> Customers hate being cajoled or manipulated into buying something they don't
> want.

I, personally, even hate when I actually buy something that I wanted, but was
pressed by the seller at the same time. It takes away my joy of buying, of
deciding, of choosing.

~~~
Jtsummers
I rarely wear hats, but found a nice hat shop in Charleston while on vacation
with my girlfriend. I found a hat that I liked, might have even bought it (I
could use one, hair's thinning, nice for some weather conditions, hate
baseball caps which are all I have).

A salesperson started hassling me, pointing me at other hats, practically put
one on my head before I took it from her hands. We left, didn't buy. They lost
a sale because they were too pushy.

Show that you're available to the customer, listen to what they actually say
(don't pull out the items they aren't looking at unless they are actually
similar and/or better by some metric - less expensive, better material,
something), and get out of the way.

~~~
logfromblammo
A salesperson helps you find what you want, and buy it from them. These people
are useful occasionally, and only when they are actually knowledgeable about
the products.

An advertiser tries to make you want something that you were not previously
interested in. These people are the bane of my existence. I don't go shopping
unless I already want something, and whatever that may be is extremely
unlikely to match the thing that the advertiser is trying to push that day.

Combining the two is a guaranteed-certain way to make me leave immediately,
and avoid walking in to your store forevermore.

------
eksemplar
I never really understood the introvert vs extrovert sort of definitions. They
are always measured in absolutes meaning you can't be both, yet I'd wager that
most people are.

I'm a good example of how unfitting the definitions are. In my professional
life I'm an extrovert. I refine my ideas by running them by other people or
thinking out loud, I engage in office talk every time I think I can contribute
(it's not always the case), I wastly prefer face-to-face communication, I
couldn't function outside the open office space and I'm a member of every sort
of club and social activity we have as well as being friends with pretty much
everyone I've ever worked with.

In my private life I'm almost he exact opposite. My ideal Friday night is
alone on my couch with a good book, and maybe my fiancée. It's not that I
don't like spending social time with my/our friends, but it's usually a taxing
experience that I need to rest after.

I score as ESTP on the Myers Briggs related tests professionally, but if I
answered in regards to how I live my private life I'd be a clear ISTP. I've
thought about whether one side was dominant or not, but I frankly can't say
that one is.

------
mattm
If you're an introvert like me and want to explore sales more I highly
recommend "The Secret of Selling Anything" by Harry Browne Check out this book
on Goodreads: The Secret of Selling Anything
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17622965-the-secret-
of-s...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17622965-the-secret-of-selling-
anything)

He lays out the sales process in a very logical manner that I have not seen
elsewhere. Before I read this book I too had the impression that sales was
about manipulation and this book completely changed my view on it.

------
stupidcar
I wouldn't necessarily say that technology has cold calling obsolete. We sell
a SaaS platform, and despite doing lots of online marketing, we still get a
lot of business by having salespeople ring up companies who we think would
benefit from using our software and pitching it to them.

Can't say it's a task that appeals to me, but it does seem to be fairly
effective.

~~~
lafay
+1

B2B SaaS here too, and targeted cold calling is our most effective lead gen
channel.

------
logfromblammo
Some introverts, maybe. I couldn't sell an extinguisher to a man on fire.
Actually, I could, but it would likely be at cost, rounded up to the nearest
whole dollar.

Because come on, the guy was on fire.

What if he tried entering my personal space like that?~

------
11thEarlOfMar
In B2B, there is a sales activity called Appointment Setting. Appointment
Setters do nothing but cold calling and scheduling appointments. They don't
attend meetings or, in many cases, even work for the company that has
something to sell. They learn just enough to know whom within a company to
target. Appointment Setters typically are paid in part based on the number of
appointments they set. You don't hire them as much as you turn them loose...
These are the purest hunters and good ones are relentlessly effective.

Once the appointment is set, the person who actually makes the sales visit is
a specialist in selling the product.

If the product or service is highly technical, the sales person may be backed
up by sales engineers, who join the sales process at the point that the
prospect is making a more serious inquiry. Sales engineers may just respond to
technical questions, or, they may actually develop prototype or demonstration
implementations of the product.

Pairing up Appointment Setters with introverted technical sales personnel can
be an effective strategy to maximize sales production.

In the end, companies that succeed have learned how to best sell their
products and services, whether it's a smartphone cover and no humans are
involved in a sales transaction except the customer, or whether it's a weapon
system sold to the Air Force that keeps a sales team of 20 busy for years, or
your local Toyota dealer.

There is no one-size-fits-all, but if you need to figure out how to sell your
stuff, you can look at successful companies that reflect yours to learn what
worked for them, and then assimilate what looks effective for your business,
instrument the process, and iterate.

------
bayonetz
I'd argue the author is half right: people want their sales person to have
these qualities (which there is plenty of evidence that introverts are better
at). What he's wrong about is that people are willing to give up the social
skills they are used to in good extroverted sales people. You still need those
social skills to get your foot in the door. 9/10 what people want is
extroverted sales people who've put effort into developing these other (often
introvert-attributed) skills to round things out. Yes, the cartoon stereotype
of the sleazy extrovert salesman is out. Everybody is on the lookout for them.
Consequently, in the meantime, real extrovert sales people have gotten the
memo and adapted. I find it very easy to classify people I meet into the
different personality categories (introvert/extroverted,
thinkers/feelers,serious/casual,etc.) I'm an introvert and I can spot these
well-rounded extroverts salespeople a mile away. I appreciate their efforts to
tune into my wavelength and I can tell when they are operating outside their
natural strengths to do so. Anyone willing to adapt like this I am happy to do
business with and be sold to by them.

------
adevine
As an introvert, I'm skeptical of the conclusions of this article. Sales will
always include a huge amount of customer interaction, and someone who _gains_
energy from these interactions will always have an advantage over someone who
finds these interactions tiring.

If anything, I've seen a greater separation of responsibilities, where sales
people are supported by technical presales folks who can do a lot of the
behind the scenes work.

------
Arizhel
Not only does this idea sound ridiculous (extroverts can't listen? WTF?), it
sounds like the author is missing the point of the big difference between
extroverts and introverts: how much they enjoy being around and meeting new
people. To introverts, this is tiring, whereas to extroverts it's enjoyable
and refreshing. Sales is naturally a job for extroverts because of this
factor.

As an aside, this makes me wonder: what jobs are a good fit for introverts,
aside from maybe 3rd-shift security? Software development, for instance, is
most definitely a job for extroverts. Introverts would never be happy with all
the noise, talking, commotion, and lack of privacy involved in a modern
software development job in an open-plan office.

------
lapsock
What defines being "good at sales"? Is it selling more things, or is it making
your customers happy? It seems that in today's corporate world being good at
sales means you sell lots of things, regardless of whether your customers are
happy or not.

~~~
maxxxxx
"Good at sales" means selling and bringing in money.

------
lapsock
It's a great thing that we have all these brilliant minds who just sit at home
theorizing about life. How else would I know how stupid I am and how I'm doing
X wrong and why Y is better than Z.

------
jondubois
Good sales people are pushy - They know how to close. Introverts are often too
considerate of other people to actually get the deal over the line.

Closing the deal often requires a blatant, highly assertive statement.

When I was a sales person in a computer shop, my best closing line was:

"So you want me to wrap it up for you?"

I would say this before the customer expressed any interest in buying the
computer - It actually works though - It turns out that a lot of people prefer
to fork out $1000+ than to create friction by saying "No".

------
edblarney
I'll need to see some data on that.

The reason I doubt it: extroverts are 'present' focused on the person they are
with. Introverts are more likely to be 'inwards' in their thoughts - less
attentive to the social situation, not paying attention to emotional queues,
not engaging.

Sales is mostly relationship management. Extroverts are usually better at
dealing with people, finding common ground etc., introverts more likely to
tackle intellectual issues.

------
BlackjackCF
I'm so tired of this introverts versus extroverts stuff.

Seriously. You're good at what you do because you're good at what you do.
Generally, the people who rise to the top or perform better are the ones who
really put their minds to doing whatever it is they do, which usually means
taking careful study of their field and spending some time alone to focus.

------
JSeymourATL
FLASHBACK: "Ambiverts achieve greater sales productivity than extraverts or
introverts do," > [http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/ambiverts-are-more-
successful-a...](http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/ambiverts-are-more-successful-
amp-influential-than-extroverts-here-s-why.html)

------
jschwartzi
And Scorpios make good scientists.

------
cmdrfred
I think the internet will virtually elimate sales for the generation that grew
up with Amazon. I know it has for me, I consider any product that forces me to
call someone for a quote likely too expensive for my needs.

------
maxerickson
Introversion-extroversion probably is an interesting axis for analyzing
socialization, but I wonder if enough people are really far enough from the
center for analyses like this one to mean anything.

------
johnreagan
Extroverts can also research, listen and adapt.

------
Cypher
Introverts are better at hide and seek.

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choward
Is there any evidence here or is Toby just making this stuff up?

------
xchip
and yet another article that makes things black and white... I'm sure _again_
the sweet spot is somewhere in between.

------
metaphorm
this "article" is 484 words. it's so vacuous I'm surprised it wasn't published
as a tweet storm.

------
mvkaxon
Why HN? Why? Why to bring an article to the front page and then beat the shit
out of it in comments??

------
jkaljundi
They listen.

------
BlackjackCF
I'm so tired of this introverts versus extroverts stuff.

Seriously. You're good at what you do because you're good at what you do.
Generally, the people who rise to the top or perform better are the ones who
really put their minds to doing whatever it is they do, which usually means
taking careful study of their field and spending some time alone to focus.

