If you’re always hearing the expression “you must be in sales” and yet somehow aren’t reaching goal, you might want to consider changing your approach.
For years, people have always been described as being either one or the other: Introverts and extroverts.
As it turns out, one key personality type that’s being left out of the conversation is the Ambivert.
An ambivert is one whose personality type is intermediate between extrovert and introvert.
Folks just can’t help it though.
When they think of salespeople, they conjure up images of no good, snakeoil-peddling, fast-talking, slick-back hair con artists who’d drop a dime on their own mother for a pay-day.
It’s understandable.
Just like any profession or walk of life, there’ll always be those who give it a bad name and perpetuate negative stereotypes making perception a reality.
There are plenty of salespeople out there today who’ll do whatever it takes to close deals while others work against the grain to demystify the preconceived notions that all salespeople are conniving tools.
These extroverted jibber-jabbers are giving the rest of us a bad name.
Advantage – Ambivert
According to Wharton School psychologist Adam Grant’s 2013 paper, “Because they naturally engage in a flexible pattern of talking and listening, ambiverts are likely to express sufficient assertiveness and enthusiasm to persuade and close a sale but are more inclined to listen to customers’ interests and less vulnerable to appearing too excited or overconfident.”
Ambiverts bring a level of balance to the sales process that relies more on listening than chatterboxing.
Ambiverts possess the flexibility to adapt to a prospect’s personality on the fly and make the proper adjustments on instinct.
The salesperson that’s too busy manufacturing rapport by shucking and jiving misses a prospect’s signals because they’re preoccupied with themselves.
Ambiverts on the other hand can walk and chew gum at the same time; their focus is always the client.
That’s not to say that an ambivert can’t act extrovertly.
They have plenty of personality.
The crucial distinction is knowing the difference between when to let loose and Business Time.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with expressing emotion during the sale as long as you don’t act the fool.
Here in B2B land, you’re negotiating with a sophisticated buyer who’s busier than a lady of the night on Navy pay-day.
Timing is everything.
Approach of the Killer Ambivert (What Makes Them Different?)
- They get out of their own way: This brings attention to the buyer’s needs instead of their own
- Their measured and calculated approach: B2B sales demands a sharpshooter’s approach to get consistent results
- The ability to read a room or a conversation: They’re constantly looking and listening for clues
Ambivert Alert
The truth about ambiverts is they’re highly capable at connecting with a wide spectrum of people.
Their emotional intelligence allows them to ask probing questions in a non-threatening and conversational manner.
This | Disarms Potential Buyers | Builds Trust and Confidence | Leads to Sales.
Ambiversion is devoid of fluff and deceptive tactics.
It’s a professional and collected approach that lets the prospect know – this is a balanced salesperson with the emotional maturity to conduct business at a high level.
If your sales are struggling, you could be inadvertently pushing your prospects away by coming on too strong.
As you sell, pay attention to your buyers’ tone and/ or body language and adjust your temperament to be more in-line with your counterpart.
An old-school sales method with some redeeming qualities when properly executed is the concept of mirroring.
By adjusting your demeanor to seem more like your prospect’s, you gain their confidence because they identify with a part of you that reminds them of themselves.
Sell It Like a Stand Up
As a salesperson set in their extroverted ways, it may seem impossible to suddenly switch it up.
Instead of worrying about becoming an ambivert overnight, a simple trick is to study stand-up comedy.
Stand up comedians, even on an amateur level, have skills that we as Salespeople can learn from.
One of these is the ability to read a room.
Within the first few seconds of a comedy routine, a stand up needs to know their audience’s temperature.
Jokes that killed the night before might fall flat because it’s a totally different crowd.
An added bonus for any stand-up is following another comic.
They can peek out the side of the curtain to gauge the audience’s tempo during the other comic’s set and make adjustments to maximize the chances of their material killing it.
We can follow suit in sales by listening in on our peers’ conversation with their customers.
By studying colleagues and sales leaders, we can only get better.
So, if you’re not pulling your weight, hop on as a fly in the wall during a coworkers’ cold and conference calls.
See how they approach their audience and what steps they take to win them over.
Ambivert is Not a Dirty Word
The most popular advice given to people before they embark on a job interview, date or presentation is to “just be yourself”.
That’s good advice unless yourself is an abrasive loud-mouth jabroni looking out for numero uno.
The sensible approach is to be a different version of yourself.
After all, you don’t interact with prospects like you do over cocktails with your crew.
These are obviously different circumstances so why would you behave the same in both?
Recognizing the difference is essential to adopting a sales style closer to that of an ambivert.
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When speaking to a gatekeeper or Executive Assistant in enterprise-level sales, it’s fine to be loose.
But, the further up you get on the decision ladder, the more substantive the conversations become.
It’s at this critical phase that you check your behavior and make sure you’re not acting the fool.
It’s here you want to tap into the version of yourself that’s situation appropriate.
Use your intuition | Stay flexible.
The Sales Whisperer
An ambivert’s style of sales is even-keeled.
They understand that everyone’s different and have developed the tools to adapt to a rainbow of personalities.
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Have you ever met someone and could have never guessed they’re in sales based on their personality?
And, the more you talk to them, you find out that not only are they in sales, but they’re very successful too.
That’s the Ambivert Phenomenon.
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