Can An Introvert Be Successful At Selling?
I wrote my book, Successful Selling for Introverts, to help salespeople to succeed by utilizing their own unique personalities instead of trying to imitate what might have worked for someone else. To show how powerful a genuine, warm personality can be, let me tell you about a printing salesman I had the good fortune to know. Working as a corporate advertising coordinator and new to buying printing, I nevertheless bought a great number of four-color printing jobs. Understandably, printing salesmen were always calling on me: adequate ones, less-than-adequate ones, and most somehwere in between. The person who rose above the others and received the majority of my business was Bob.
Bob was basically a soft spoken, quiet man. He didn’t play golf at a country club and never had tickets to a skybox for baseball or football games. He never slapped me on the back or repeated an off-color joke. If he ever closed on me, I was never aware of it. And while he always dressed appropriately for business, he never tried to impress people with expensive suits and jewelry. He drove a clean but not too garish car. Lunch with Bob was more likely to be Denny’s than a stylish bar.
But what he did do was to deal with every printing need I ever had. He knew printing backward and forwards. Sometimes, if his firm could not compete on a particular job, he would hlep me find another company who could. I never was never worried about when my order would be finished. And when there was a complication, as there always is in any business relationship, he took total responsibility and answered my concerns quickly. As you might expect, Bob was successful not only with me, but also with many other satisfied clients. You can imagine why.
Let’s look at him from a customer’s point of view. He was not only quiet; he was a good listener. He was not just studious; his product knowledge outshone any of his competitors. He did obsess over details but his commitment saved me many an uncomfortble moment.
Now there may be some skeptics out there. who say “of course handling accounts can be the introvert’s domain, but what about new business? Don’t you have to be competitive to get new business?”
Of course you do. But there are different ways to be aggressive. Bob was consistently the top salesman for his printing company and I don’t think he ever made a cold call. That’s because he had a sales force of hundreds of customers like me singing his praises and building his business. He was aggressive at being good.
Was Bob an introvert? Probably. Was he effective? He was very effective at being himself and serving his customers.
Bob was always a role model for me and he should be for you too.
Excerpted from Successful Selling for Introverts by Tom Murphy.
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