Three Selling Tips for Introverts

Does selling scare the pants off of you? If you’ve read, The New Brand You, then you know that it actually happened to me once! Whether you consider yourself an introvert, an extrovert or just someone who doesn’t like to sell, these selling tips for introverts will probably help you out.

“So you’re painting your house? Did you consider Hardie Plank Siding?”

My husband and I were standing on the sidewalk, staring up at our home as we chatted with the guy who was going to install new windows for us. The task ahead was daunting – renovating the exterior of our early 1900’s character home.

The conversation carried on for less than 10 minutes. At the end, this fellow who had been hired to install new windows took the $7,000 window job and turned it into a $27,000 job that included replacing all our wood panels with Hardie Plank Siding.

He wasn’t a salesperson; he was a tradesperson running a small business. He was the guy who hauled the materials, did the work, and got really dirty doing it. He had one guy helping him full time and another that came on board for bigger jobs.

Whether you’re an introvert, an extrovert, or you just find selling totally uncomfortable, it’s important to note what he did, because he did what so few people do well. He saw an opportunity and he:

• Understood the process perfectly (he had a high level of expertise);
• Asked great questions to understand our situation;
• Proposed a solution that gave us what we really wanted; and
• Didn’t worry about what the other guys were offering – his focus was solely on what we needed.

Selling is about finding solutions that help people.

It requires a number of elements to be in place, but once you have that, people will be stepping forward asking to work with you, offering the very thing you want them to do/say/buy, and it will seem almost magical.

But what if the thought of networking or speaking to strangers has you hiding under your bed sheets? What if the very thing that will sell your books, your products or you for the job is the same thing that drains your energy and makes you nervous? Well, that’s where these three selling tips for introverts come in: