Top 35 Sales Tips Mostly for Introvert and Shy Salespeople

In 1998 I wrote my first book, Sales Skills for An Unfair Advantage: 104 Sales Tips for People in a Hurry. Sales professionals still seem to be in a hurry! With speed in mind and a focus being to help in particular, here are 35 tips to help introverts and shy to sell more easily. Sales professionals can start and use these either in the final days of the year, or anytime. In particular, these are for introverts with a few for shy and even the reluctant extrovert salespeople.

1. Take time and use your listening skills to build rapport and trust.

2. Make your interest in research your strength and take time to work in silence at planned times in the day.

3. Go with a friend to networking events so they can make introductions for you.

4. Rather than try to engage in small talk, ask open-ended questions when you are networking and then listen and learn.

5. To overcome shyness and avoid networking opportunities altogether, join a social group with friends to accustom yourself to the environment.

6. To manage your introversion when networking, take planned breaks to grab a drink or go to the restroom.

7. Boost your confidence and belief in yourself by reflecting on past successes in any endeavors before you engage in sales and marketing actions.

8. Take time to write a thoughtful thank you note after first meeting someone.
9. Stay focused on people who you meet by maintaining eye contact through 80% of your conversation and you will eliminate exte
al distractions.

10. Take advantage of email to get your message just right.

11. To get known and become memorable, write articles for the internet as well as trade publications.

12. Take advantage of social online networking and set a goal for a comfortable number of networks and number of contacts you want to make.

13. Be more curious about how you can help others and become known as a connector.

14. Focus on and use your strengths of listening, planning and preparedness for all your sales and marketing.

15. Develop a sales and marketing plan that fits you instead of trying to follow some extrovert model.

16. Perfect your ability to shine in discussing bigger and deeper issues by scheduling follow-up meetings from networking events.

17. Learn to value yourself and what power you bring to a much wanted selling environment.

18. Pump up your composure and self-control to communicate self-confidence.

19. Get a massage to dissolve that tension carried in your muscles from any extended times of extroverting.

20. Stay true to your nature in networking and always leave a little early.

21. After any networking take time to get organized by making notes of people you met that you want to follow-up with.

22. Perfect for our planning nature: practice both a 30 second and 60 second version of the introductory elevator pitch.

23. Create a blog for marketing so you can build credibility while nurturing that introverting desire.

24. Bring to mind something that makes you smile often throughout the day to lighten up your thoughtful expression.

25. Make asking for referrals one of your top marketing activities since you value personal and deep relationships.

26. Work from the inside out and convince yourself first that you have a valuable product or service.

27. As your business grows, outsource some of the more extroverted activities and do what you do best.

28. Approach sales meetings with an agenda; written or spoken.

29. Keep a journal of successes along the way and refer to it often.

30. Schedule exercise or meditation into days that are going to be more extroverting than introverting.

31. Just take a step at a time and only build the social skills you believe you would most enjoy.

32. Find a coach or a mentor so that you can rely on these supporters to help you get out of your head.

33. Find the right sales organization which might be one that balances selling with a product or service that requires analyzing and problem solving.

34. Take advantage of follow-up meetings for breakfast or coffee since the structure is usually shorter than lunch.

35. Value yourself; you learned that in tip #17, because you bring power in ways much wanted by the buyers of today.

All professional salespeople do introverting and extroverting all day long. It’s the nature of the selling process as you work toward the benefit of a prospect to go from research, to planning, to sales conversations and follow-up. n