In general, people create stereotypes based on a person’s gender, age, nationality, or profession.  These are generalised beliefs reflecting the expectation that one might have about the characteristics and the exhibited behaviours of nearly every person of a particular group.  As far as salespeople are concerned, among others, they are mostly considered to be extroverted, outgoing and overconfident.   

Without a doubt, selling is a vital part of the world economy, so nowadays, there are millions of people working in this sector.  In the USA alone, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, one in nine Americans is associated with Sales.  Since this is the case, it comes as no surprise that psychologists are very much interested to find out what are the characteristics of successful Sales professionals.

According not only to stereotypes, but to conventional wisdom as well, extraverts are considered to have an advantage when it comes to selling and that is why they have more chances to be selected for relevant positions by Sales managers.  Research has shown that there is a good reason for this, because as selling mainly requires meeting with potential customers, extroverts are quite comfortable in initiating conversations with others.  Moreover, since extroverts tend to be confident and enthusiastic this can help in influencing customers to prefer the product/service that they are offering.

As per the above, the conclusion that we all make is that selling is only for people with these traits, but according to Adam Grant, Professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, this may not be the case.  In order to test the relationship between Sales performance and extraversion, he conducted a study of 340 call-center sales representatives, measuring their extraversion levels and tracking their Sales revenue over a period of three months.  The results were quite surprising, as the people that had intermediate extraversion (ambiverts) scored 32% more in turnover compared to extroverts.  How can this be possible?

Personality characteristics like extraversion can definitely have benefits, but they can also become “too much of a good thing” at extreme levels.  Extroverts are most likely to dominate conversations, neglecting the perspectives of others and tend to want to be the centre of attention.  They can also become too assertive and enthusiastic when referring to their products/services, something that can be perceived from customers that they are “being sold” and when this happens it is very much probable that they will enter the “zone of resistance”.

On the other hand, ambiverts can have the right balance in being outgoing and confident enough to influence buyers, while at the same time they can be listening more actively and carefully.  This can lead to better understanding of the needs of the customer, something that is highly desirable in the modern selling environment.  As with most things in life, the right balance can make all the difference.

Therefore, it is important for Sales leaders to train the extrovert member of their teams to sharpen their listening skills, adopting the tendencies of their more introverted peers.  Additionally, maybe it is time for Sales organisations to review the criteria and to challenge the stereotypes with regards to personality traits when it comes to hiring salespeople.