Extroverts are “Natural” Salespeople, and Other Lies. 

How many times have you been at a cocktail party or networking event and seen that guy, you know part Max Headroom, part Mr. Incredible, with the toothy grin and the bone crushing handshake who seems to be sucking all the oxygen out of the room as he makes a point of introducing himself to each and every person at the event?

We’ve all seen this at one time or another and then no doubt thought to ourselves, this guy MUST be in sales. Why? Because, somewhere along the way we became conditioned to think that to be a “natural” salesperson you needed to be an uber extrovert. Yet the results of an interesting new study published in the journal, Psychological Science and conducted by psychologist, Adam Grant suggest something else.

In the article Grant presents 3 months of sales records form 300 salespeople of varying personality types. The personality types were observed on a spectrum with the most outgoing personalities, the extroverts, placed at one end of the spectrum. The introverts were placed at the other end and people who’s personalities were deemed to be approximately equal parts extrovert and introvert were placed in the middle area. These people were labeled “ambiverts.” Actually, the vast majority of us possess some introvert and extrovert qualities. Therefore we too would be considered ambiverts.

Ok folks, now tighten your bra straps; here’s where it gets really interesting.

Surprisingly, the study found no correlation between extroversion and sales success.

The extroverts, Grant noted, because of their nature have a tendency to talk too much, listen too little and can come across as “pushy” in their desire to close the deal.

By contrast, the introverts had a tendency to come across as being too shy and lacking initiative. The introverts may also appear to be too intimidated to close the sale.

The ambiverts, Grant said, “had a tendency to be more assertive and enthusiastic enough to persuade and close.  At the same time, they seemed to listen carefully to customers while avoiding giving the appearance of being overly confident or excited."  Additionally, the ambiverts appeared to be more attuned to the needs and feelings of their customers and demonstrated more empathy and humility in client meetings. In a nutshell, the ambiverts showed they knew when to speak up and when to shut up.  

The results of the study showed that the highest sales revenue was generated by the ambiverts.  In fact, they recorded sales 24% higher than the introverts and a whopping 32% more than the extroverts.

You see, there are no “natural” sales people. As this study illustrates, we’re all salespeople.

So what are you waiting for?

Get out there. Sell yourself!

This much I know.

-Jeanine