How to Sell as an Introvert: 5 Hidden Strengths That Make You a Natural at Sales

[00:00:02] Welcome to the Blaze Podcast, where we’re all about tearing down barriers and building up community. My name is Meg, and I’m a former pre-med student turned online business owner. I started this show because entrepreneurship can be lonely as hell sometimes. And I want to remind you that no matter where you are on your journey, You are not in this alone. Our community is here to light the way, cheer you on and pour gasoline on your fire. Most importantly, we’re here to help you find your unique way of doing business because no advice is one size fits all. And the best strategy is the one that feels good to you. So whether you’re just getting started or you are already blazing your own trail, you are in the right place, friend. Let’s get started. Hello, friends, and welcome back to the show.

[00:00:47] So glad to have you here today. We are talking all about how to sell as an introvert. So you may or may not know this if you’ve listened to the show before, but I’m actually a pretty hardcore introvert myself. And today I’m going to be sharing some of my best sales tips for introverts, how to set yourself up for success in your marketing and on sales calls, along with which strategies I’d recommend and which ones I would avoid if you are an introvert yourself. So this is going to be so helpful for you, especially my introverts in the crowd, but honestly for everyone, because whether you are super outgoing and extroverted or not, you are most likely going to have times in your business, days or weeks in your life where you don’t feel like going out and talking to a bunch of people.

[00:01:32] So these are really great strategies and tips to have in your back pocket for when you are maybe low energy or just going through a season in your business where you want to keep things a little bit quieter and a little bit more low key and support yourself through that. So that’s what I am going to help you with today. This is actually a very timely episode for me because I was having one of those days earlier this week. I just got back from the weekend in Montreal. We were there for just a couple of days. We flew from Toronto. So it’s a little bit of a whirlwind. And there were seven of us. So I went with my family, my mom and my two siblings, their partners and a family friend. And it was a very nice day. It was so much fun, but I was around people pretty much 24-7. And so when I got home, I was like, no one speak to me.

[00:02:16] I just need to lie on the couch with a blanket over my head. Like no one talked to me. Noise canceling headphones in because I need to recuperate now and lay in bed with a book and do nothing. And I was thinking about this because I was actually also recently on a mastermind call with some other coaches who were all extroverts. And I do find a lot of coaches tend to be extroverts. And they were all saying how they are that type of person who, when they sit next to someone on a plane, for example, by the time they land, they know each other’s entire life story and all of this. And I was like, that is my literal worst nightmare. No disrespect to those people. But when I’m on a plane, like I don’t want to talk to people. I just want to do my thing, read my book, have my headphones in. And I have no problem making friendly conversation with people and talking to people for, you know, a couple minutes here and there.

[00:03:04] But I have been on overnight flights where someone just will not stop talking. And I’m like, it is 3 a.m., buddy. Like, please, please, it has been enough. And so I think it’s important to first clarify like what even is an introvert. I feel like there’s so many misconceptions that it means you’re super shy or not as confident and things like that. And like I said, that’s not my experience. I have no problem talking to people. I don’t feel like I’m shy at all, but I’m not going to go out of my way to start a conversation, if that makes sense. I really do love talking to people, especially one-on-one, like having podcast interviews, for example, or having one-on-one like coffee chats and networking calls and things. But I do need to be mindful about managing my energy. And I do think it’s interesting that I teach sales and I’m so passionate about sales and do truly enjoy it in my business because so much sales advice is really geared toward extroverts.

[00:03:56] And it’s so much about connecting with people and starting conversations. And that doesn’t come naturally to a lot of introverts. And so today I want to talk about how to market yourself, how to sell really effectively if you are an introverted entrepreneur and not burn yourself out in the process. So today’s advice is not going to be about how to become more outgoing or, you know, 10 million networking events. There is nothing in here about needing to be more assertive or aggressive either. That’s some common pushback I hear sometimes. And let me tell you, that’s not going to make you more effective at sales. So that is a common myth. And I just want you to know that if you are someone who has found yourself burnt out or exhausted by sales and marketing in the past, you might assume that there’s something wrong with you or that sales and marketing just isn’t your thing when the truth is a lot of common sales and marketing advice doesn’t work for introverts.

[00:04:50] A lot of common sales advice is like, go out there and talk to as many people as possible. And you’re like, that sounds terrible. I don’t want to do that. Right. Or you need to be more pushy and aggressive. And that really doesn’t sit well with you, potentially. So it could be that that person, you know, is coming from a good place and they’re just sharing what worked for them. It just happens to be the wrong advice for you if you are an introvert. And there are other options available to you that I’m going to share today. But I do think it’s important before we get in to just acknowledge that if you are an introvert and you’re trying to fit yourself into this extroverted sales box, your brain is literally wired differently than someone who is more of an extrovert. And so I think it’s important to start with that, that like, yes, this is a personality thing and it’s all a spectrum, but there is a very real difference in your brain. So it’s not made up that you feel exhausted after that. Like there is a very real biological chemical difference happening your brain and essentially introverts are more sensitive to dopamine which means we get over stimulated more easily and we need that alone time to reset and our brains also tend to prefer acetylcholine to dopamine which is associated with memory learning attention and deep thinking so If you really love your alone time to just be creative, if you love having really deep conversations and you struggle with the surface level small talk, which is common for a lot of introverts, we want to lean into that, right?

[00:06:14] We want to make the most of your natural strengths instead of trying to force these strategies that are just never going to work for you. So I’m going to share some tips that have really worked for me as an introvert myself and that have worked for many of my clients who happen to be introverts as well. If you are interested in having more support implementing all of this and building an introvert-friendly sales system for your business, one-on-one coaching is a really great option for you. If you want that step-by-step guidance and mentorship, putting everything that we’re going to talk about in today’s episode into practice in your business and having support from someone who gets that as well, then one-on-one coaching is for you. Applications are open now at megansmyth.com and the link is in the show notes for you as well.

[00:06:59] Okay, so let’s get into it. And I want to start with this really common misconception that extroverts are better at sales. So often when people say things to me like, I’m not really a salesperson or, you know, that’s just not me. What they’re actually saying is they’re not super talkative or outgoing. They don’t love talking about themselves. They’re not super loud. They aren’t aggressive or pushy in any way. And that makes sense to me because I think when we all have that stereotypical salesperson in our mind, they are more of an extrovert. They are super loud and outgoing and assertive. But as I’ve talked about in previous episodes, that’s actually not what makes you effective at sales. And beyond all of this, sales is a skill set, not a personality trait.

[00:07:43] So you can be a great salesperson if you are an extrovert or an introvert or somewhere in between. And they have done research on this and found there is zero correlation between extroversion and sales success. So in case you are curious, what the research actually suggests is that extreme extroverts often lose sales because they don’t spend enough time listening. And they tend to over-dominate the conversation, leaving the other person feeling sort of unheard and not as well taken care of. Again, none of this is to say if you are an extrovert, you’re automatically bad at sales either. Listening is a skill, obviously. Everything in sales and marketing is, but they have found that ambiverts tend to do really well because they balance that.

[00:08:25] They balance the listening with some amount of directness and assertiveness. And so regardless of where you identify on the spectrum, extrovert, introvert, somewhere in between, you can learn that same balanced approach. If you take nothing else away from today’s episode, let it be this. Being successful in sales is not about becoming someone that you’re not. It is not about being inauthentic or forcing yourself to be more outgoing or to put on some sort of mask with people. It’s about being authentic and leaning into your natural strengths. And as an introvert, you do actually have plenty of natural advantages when it comes to sales. So I’m going to go over five hidden sales strengths that all introverts have and how to really leverage these effectively in your business. So first and foremost, as I hinted at earlier, introverts are naturally great listeners.

[00:09:18] And I always say that sales is 90% listening. So I want you to really, really lean into this. Even if you feel like you’re already doing it, you’re already naturally a great listener, just see if you can train yourself to become even more aware, listen even more deeply, listen even more actively, right? There is a difference between passive and active listening. Okay. And one of those is going to go much further into making your clients feel really seen. So one way to really elevate your listening skills is to go beyond just listening and nodding along and start to actually reflect back to your clients or your potential clients what they are saying. So when they tell you something, reflecting it back to them essentially just means, yeah, I hear you, I understand, and then you repeat word for word what they said. I teach all of my clients and students to do this, especially on sales calls.

[00:10:08] There is a very particular point in the sales call where you are going to recap and reflect back to them. So what I’m hearing is you’re struggling with XYZ and you would really like to achieve ABC. And, you know, this is why that’s important to you. And this is what’s coming up for you. Does that sound right? Is there anything else you’d like to add? But reflecting it back to them in their language is going to make them feel so seen, heard, and understood. And that feeling more than anything else is what makes people buy from you. So practice this as much as possible. And as much as possible, again, it’s their own words. So if you need to take notes, then do that. But don’t paraphrase and don’t impose your own language. Whatever they told you, you’re repeating it back to them in their own words.

[00:10:53] So that voice of customer is so important. Like I said, you can do it on sales calls, but you can also do this in market research scenarios. And in all of your copywriting and messaging, all of that starts with really effective listening. If you want to become a better salesperson, spend less time convincing and more time listening. I also just want to give you permission if you are someone who’s like, oh, I don’t like selling because I hate talking about myself. Good. Don’t talk about yourself. I say this to people all the time. They’re like, I hate talking about myself. And I’m like, you don’t have to. Like, you really don’t, especially on a sales call. I mean, of course, maybe in like, you know, an email welcome sequence or somewhere on your website, you’re going to have like a small bio section. But in general, when it comes to copywriting, when it comes to sales, it’s not about you. It’s really not.

[00:11:39] It’s about the other person. It’s about your client or your customer. And if they want to know more about you, they can go read your about page on your website. Or let them ask you, right? Like if they’re curious, they will ask you. But you don’t have to like have this sort of whole spiel and monologue about yourself and why you’re qualified and all of that. If you have set up your sales process properly, there’s no need for that. And focusing on the other person is going to feel better for you because it takes the pressure off, but it’s also going to feel better for the other person as well. Everyone loves talking about themselves. Okay, it’s just human nature. So you can delete that thought from your brain of I hate talking about myself. It’s pretty unnecessary in most scenarios. Okay, moving on to number two, your hidden advantage as an introvert. Being protective of your time and energy often leads to better lead qualification and higher quality sales conversations.

[00:12:31] So lead qualification is something that I feel like not a lot of people talk about, but it’s so crucial. Like every single client I’ve ever worked with, pretty much, this is something we really work on together of how to actually attract really high quality pre-qualified leads so that you are only getting on calls with people who are like your absolute dream clients and they’re pre-qualified and they’re ready to go. So pre-selling, pre-qualifying people through things like your pre-sales call nurture sequence, which I give to all of my clients as well. Having really great copy and assets that sell for you in advance. You can also qualify people through your inquiry form as well. That’s something we usually do work on within the first couple of days working with my clients.

[00:13:14] I’m like, show me your inquiry form, especially if they are attracting people who maybe can’t afford them or things like that. I think it’s important to know what are your standards for getting on calls with people? What are your standards for the clients that you work with? Because introverts can really easily burn themselves out trying to show up like an extrovert with no boundaries. and just being available all the time to anyone. So for me in my business, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. I cannot be available at all times to anyone who is interested. So take the time to think about what you want this to look like in your own business. For me, I found having dedicated call days, so only taking calls two days per week, That was an absolute game changer for me.

[00:14:00] And so not allowing people to book space on my calendar whenever it works for them, but really being proactive about that. I don’t have my scheduler link for, you know, clarity calls and things like that. I don’t have any of that publicly available. So I actually, you know, if someone applies to work with me, I want to see that form first and go through and make sure it’s actually the right fit because I don’t want to waste their time. And I don’t want to get on a call if it’s not the right fit either. So if it’s not, then I can direct them elsewhere and save them the trouble. I also would recommend thinking about how many calls you are actually willing to take per day or per week and giving yourself space in between calls because having let’s say three, four, five calls a day, especially if they are back to back or close to it, that’s definitely going to give you a crash after, right? You are going to be so exhausted by the end. So think about what does your ideal call day look like? Do you need breaks built in? What Would you rather do them in the afternoons or the morning?

[00:14:55] Like what is actually going to work for you and your energy? Which obviously is going to fluctuate. But I find in my mind, just knowing like Wednesdays and Thursdays are my call day gives me so much peace of mind. And what’s really interesting is that I find when you’re not available to just anyone at any time, people actually respect you more for it. Like there’s this really interesting phenomenon that happens. And I see the same thing when people manage their email inbox. the same way. So they say, you know, I respond to emails, I don’t know, twice a week or something like that and you can expect to hear back from me in this time. Like my respect for that person kind of goes up actually because I’m like, wow, they’re being really intentional about how they manage their time and their energy. And it’s permission giving for the rest of us to do the same. So don’t be afraid of setting those really clear boundaries in your business and then sticking to them.

[00:15:40] And my other advice would be to consider batching your work when the energy is there. So if you are creating marketing content, for example, protect that creative time in your business. So crucial. Don’t let other people’s requests sort of spill over into your deep thinking creative time. Because like I said earlier, our brains literally crave that and we need to be giving ourselves that time on a regular basis. So block it out and protect it. It’s only going to do really good things for you and for your business as well. The third hidden advantage or strength that most introverts have is that we love to be prepared. So chances are you are not the type of person who is showing up to a sales call or a networking connection call without really doing your research on the other person. And going into that call well prepared makes it easier for potential clients to trust you.

[00:16:32] So lean into this in your business. This is great advice for everyone, but especially introverts. The more processes you have in your business to fall back on, the easier your life is going to be. But especially in a sales and marketing context. So I want you to think processes, not pressure. When people say things to me like I don’t like selling, especially on sales calls, I can almost always trace it back to a lack of processes. Because what are some of the common reasons why people find sales calls draining? Here are a few of the common ones I hear. The 30-minute call ends up going on for an hour or more. I always end up giving away free advice or free coaching.

[00:17:16] I don’t like thinking on my feet or handling objections that I wasn’t prepared for. All of those are process issues. When you have a really solid sales call process in place, one that genuinely feels good to you and your clients, all of those issues disappear. You have no pressure on you because you know exactly how you’re going to manage time and expectations. You know the flow and the process you’re going to walk these people through. How you’re going to transition to the offer. How you’re going to handle any potential objections. You have a process for all of this. So you can just relax. And there is no pressure on you because you’ve done this before. It’s repeatable. You’re not just getting on the call and flying by the seat of your pants. I find objection handling, especially my clients tell me, like once they have a process for this, it changes their whole sales call experience because they do feel prepared.

[00:18:07] They have thought about some of those common objections in advance. But even if someone throws something at them that they’ve like never heard of or thought of before, it’s the same process or the same framework behind it. And I’ve shared some of that process here on the podcast before, so we will link my objection handling episodes in the show notes for you if you’re interested in that. Another common reason why people don’t love sales calls is maybe they do have a process, but it doesn’t actually feel like you. So maybe you have some other sales coaches process or you were taught to sell in a way that feels really salesy and icky to you. Like you were taught to push really hard on objections and that feels kind of gross and you don’t like it. Or someone told you that you have to get the person’s credit card information on a call and you’re like, that feels awful to me. So it could either be like a lack of processes or it could just be you have a process, but something about it feels a little bit off.

[00:18:59] And so that is… coming through and that’s impacting your experience. Some other things you want to look at are also your pre and post sales call process. This can make your life so much easier. As I talked about, you know, with lead qualification, you can really pre-sell people so that they are ready to go. They’re ready to sign before they even get on that call with you. That takes a ton of pressure off as well as having that clear post-call process. So you’re not left thinking like, oh, do I follow up with this person? Like, how do I follow up without being weird and annoying, right? This is something I walk all of my clients through and they find that it’s so simple, but it makes a really big difference. Having that clear post-call process so they don’t have to wonder with each potential client. Lastly, just to give you one more option here, you don’t actually need to do sales calls if you don’t want to.

[00:19:48] So we have a fantastic episode with Emily Jane Lee about converting clients asynchronously, no call required. But I will say, you know, with the right process, you might find you actually enjoy these calls a lot more than you think. Okay, moving on to the introvert sales strength number four, you have in-depth expertise. So introverts may be quiet, but they are damn good at what they do. They tend to go really in-depth and they tend to love learning, as I talked about earlier. So you are probably someone who, whatever it is you do for your clients, whether it’s coaching, design, you’ve taken a million courses. You spend all your free time learning about this thing and just love nerding out on whatever your niche is.

[00:20:32] And so my recommendation here is to lean into that. Lean into content marketing in particular that really lets you go deep and show off that authority and expertise. So for example, long-form evergreen content channels are going to do really well for you. Things like podcasting, blogging, YouTube, Substack potentially. These are all also platforms that are search-driven, meaning people can find you 24-7 whether or not you are personally online at that time. They are also what I call evergreen sales and marketing assets. So I teach all of my clients one-on-one and inside of my program, Sales Liberation, to switch their mindset from creating content to creating assets. Things that are going to continue to work for you around the clock, you create them once, they live on forever.

[00:21:21] SEO, blogging, long-form content, all of this is going to continue to work. I have clients and friends in the space who they still get leads and traffic from, you know, a YouTube video or a blog article from five, six years ago. And so you really want to make the most of that as opposed to short-form channels where you have to show up. every single day, right? On Instagram, TikTok, those type of social platforms where after you create something, it essentially disappears into the void. That’s a lot of energy. That’s a lot of pressure on you to personally show up every single day and create fresh content as opposed to building out this more evergreen library. I also find that long-form content works really well because, like I said, introverts love to go deep. And so if you’re someone who you’re like, I’ve been trying to create Instagram reels and I just cannot fit what I want to say into like a 10-second video.

[00:22:13] It feels so impossible to get my point across. Now you know why, right? Like you are maybe just not built for the short form content game. And if you do want to be active on those platforms, what I recommend instead is you start with the long form, go really deep, share everything you want to share. And don’t be afraid to like really take people into your expertise and then repurpose that. So, you know, pick small pieces out and repurpose them to the short form platforms, but start with the long form. I actually would not recommend social media for any introverted entrepreneurs unless you have someone on your team who’s doing that for you because most introverts are going to find social media very draining. It requires constant time, energy, and attention.

[00:22:58] It is also built around dopamine, right? Like social media is designed to addict you, to give you that dopamine hit. And as I talked about earlier, your brain is actually more sensitive to that. So I, for years, you know, could even open TikTok. Like I’ve never had a TikTok account, but every time people send me them and I get little glimpses of it, I’m just instantly overstimulated by the whole thing. And so if you’ve ever felt that way, or you felt like really exhausted and drained from social media, this could be why, or at least part of it. So that is really something to consider. And like I said, I would go for a more long form evergreen content marketing channel. Also things like automated email funnels that can run for you 24 seven paid ads are a great strategy as well.

[00:23:40] I have clients who they love paid ads because they essentially, you know, again, create it once. They leave it running and then they get leads and sales calls just booked onto their calendar and they just wake up to new leads every single week, right? So lots of options for you aside from social media, if you have been burnt out by that in the past. If you want even more options and ideas here, I have a freebie called 27 ways to find clients without social media. So I’ll link that in the show notes for you as well. It’s at megansmyth.com slash social. And I’ve got a whole list of ideas for you to choose from, as well as some questions or reflection prompts to help you hone in on what one is actually best for you. Like what is actually aligned with your strengths and the way that you like to show up in your marketing. Okay, moving on to the fifth and final introvert sales strength.

[00:24:28] Introverts tend to be really deep relationship builders. So like I said earlier, a lot of us are pretty incapable of surface-level small talk, but we do build really deep relationships. So maybe you have a smaller audience or a smaller network of people in your world, but you do have really deep trust with those people who are there. And so you want to really prioritize depth over quantity, right? So focus on going deep with a smaller number of people and the quality of those relationships rather than trying to connect with like 20 new people every single week or attending a ton of networking events and things like that. If you are going to quote-unquote network, I would recommend for most introverts, you’re going to enjoy one-on-one more than large events. So reaching out to people individually, only when it feels…

[00:25:14] authentic and aligned to do so, but maybe there’s someone who, you know, you listen to their podcast or you’ve been following them online or you get their email newsletter and just reach out to them and start a conversation. And again, only if that feels natural, like this is someone I genuinely want to connect with. And that is how you will actually start to build up one-on-one relationships, partnerships, potentially, you know, collaborations or referral partners and things like that. I just did an episode all about referral partnerships, which is one of my all-time favorite strategies. It worked so well in my own business and so many of my clients have success with it. So we’ll link that for you as well if you want to go deeper on that. You can also experiment with going deeper with your clients and your customers as well. So I feel like there’s so much pressure in the sales and marketing space to just always be chasing more.

[00:26:00] Like more traffic, more visibility, more leads, more people, more sales and this and that. The easiest sales in your life will always come from your current clients. or past clients. And so instead of always chasing new people, what about going back to the people that you’ve helped in the past and looking for new ways to help them or to take your work together deeper. So think long-term relationships, lifetime value, upsells, retention, VIP offers, I have helped clients double, in some cases triple, their revenue with this alone rather than constantly chasing new leads. Just going back to the people who you’ve already, like I said, really built deep trust with.

[00:26:41] Because something I hear from a lot of introverted entrepreneurs is like, once people work with me, they’re sold for life, right? Like they love working together and they see that really deep expertise and they appreciate the experience of working with you. You just need more of those people. And in some cases, that’s true. And like I talked about, there are ways. We talked about lots of ways to connect with more and with new people. But also, what about looking at how you can continue to take that relationship deeper and to serve them at like an even higher level? So something to think about. One of my most popular podcast episodes of all time is our episode on lifetime value. I think this is like a hidden golden opportunity for so many business owners, especially my introverted friends. So check that out and take a look at that in your own business of how can you continue to serve people and build an even deeper relationship.

[00:27:31] So to recap, being an introvert is not a bad thing when it comes to sales. It is not about being the most outgoing person in the room, and you never need to force yourself to be anyone else. You just need to lean into your natural strengths. And so as an introvert, some of those strengths are going to be really deep listening, high standards around managing your time and energy, having preparation and processes in place, especially around your sales calls, but really everything in your business, and creating expert-level evergreen content and prioritizing really deep relationships with your network, your referral partners, and your clients. When you lean into these strengths, instead of forcing yourself to that extrovert mold, your clients can feel the difference, your audience can feel the difference, and most importantly, you are going to feel the difference.

[00:28:19] Everything is going to be so much easier when you just allow yourself to be who you are instead of trying to be someone else. So you’re going to have better conversations. It’s going to be a natural, enjoyable process for you. And that is going to result in more sales and conversions. So thank you so much for being here, friends. I hope you found this helpful. If you do want support implementing all of this and really building a sales system that works for you, no social required, then you can apply for one-on-one coaching at megansmyth.com apply. And all of the links that I mentioned here today, the other episodes, the freebie, all of that is in the show notes for you down below. Thanks so much for being here. Again, I’ll see you back here. Same time, same place. next week. Take care.

[00:29:01] Hey, Trailblazer. Thank you so much for listening to the show today. If you found this episode helpful, please help us spread the word so we can get more valuable, free content in front of more people who need it. Share this episode with a friend, post it on social, and tag me at saleswithmeg on Instagram. I would love to hear your biggest takeaways. Until next time, remember that fortune favors the bold, but success favors the stubborn. Keep going, friend. You got this.