Oftentimes a common get-to-know-you question is, “are you an introvert, or an extrovert?”. This question may be easy for some to answer. People who feel energized by social interactions and find themselves being outgoing and chatty around others would most likely answer that they’re an extrovert. The opposite, people who are shyer and more reserved around others, refer to themselves as an introvert. However, this blanket question may be hard for some, and perhaps they feel they have both extroverted and introverted qualities and attributes. The real question here though, is what is the most effective for sales?
Adam Grant, from Wharton, conducted a study to identify whether extroverts or introverts have more effective salesperson qualities. He went in knowing the common assumption that extroverts are better salespeople, as they tend to be in tune with others and thrive in conversation. However, his findings were not such the case.
Grant found that the difference between extroverts and introverts was actually miniscule, and that ambiverts actually had the greatest sale advantage. Ambiverts are people who find themselves in the middle of the “extrovert or introvert equation”. In fact, Adam found that leaning too far towards extroverted or introverted can cause dangers in the sales process. Extroverts are more likely to overtalk and may struggle with the balance of restrictiveness and restraint, while introverts may be too timid to initiate or close a sale. Extroverts are geared to respond, and introverts are geared to inspect. The reality of these observations is that all sales activity requires a balance of responding and inspecting, and ambiverts tend to find that balance easily. Daniel Pink referred to this mix of qualities as the “goldilocks personalities”. You simply have to find the “in-between” and keep it in mind in the sales interaction, even if you normally lead farther to one side or the other.
BoweryJE22
I’m sure this was an interesting study to read about. Often, I do think we assume that extroverts would naturally be the best at sales. However, I do see how ambiverts would be able to have the right balance of knowing when to talk and having the confidence to do that, but also know how to listen and understand the prospect. I am an ambivert, and I definitely have learned how to balance these 2 skills when talking with friends or adults who I don’t know as well.
I found this to be an interesting topic of discussion in class. I heard of ambiversion, but never of the spectrum of leaning to one side or the other. Learning how to be a balance of both sides was a good point Pink made and you iterated at the end. Definitely is something to think about in everyday conversations.