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May 5, 2015 at 3:00 am #1181024Up::0
So obviously from your vast experience you have some statistics that show that introverts cant run a business successfully,
May 5, 2015 at 3:14 am #1181025May 6, 2015 at 4:02 am #1181026Up::0I’ll have to respectfully disagree right back with you Chris H. Jayne’s article encouraged people to market in the best way to suit their personality type. As a massive introvert, I find face-to-face interaction very hard. But I have had a lot of success marketing my way: connecting through the written word and via online … this has allowed me to limit the amount of face-to-face stuff I’ve had to do which has preserved my energy levels and allowed me to ‘meet’ and network with hundreds more people that I would ordinarily. I agree that sometimes we have to step outside our comfort zones and remove the limitations we are placing on ourselves. But we also have to be mindful of our limited energy levels and work to preserve those too.
May 6, 2015 at 5:57 am #1181027May 7, 2015 at 2:17 am #1181028Up::0Completely agree Kelly!
The introduction of the internet was a big game changer. I think that pre-internet you would’ve had to be one-hell-of-a good face to face or cold call sales person to actually succeed. But the internet saw the birth of Inbound Marketing, which is great for people in all comfort levels. Less
Anyone hesitant to start their own business because they’re scared of traditional Direct/Outbound Marketing style; please don’t be. There are new marketing methods being uncovered day in day out. Each business is different and requires different marketing to help their sales. According to a Hubspot source, lead generation using Inbound Marketing will cost 50% less than Direct/Outbound Marketing methods.
I’m not against Direct/Outbound Marketing – far from it! I believe that different people have different marketing styles, just as different businesses require different marketing styles. Its a matter of finding what works for you and using it to its fullest potential.
May 7, 2015 at 9:06 am #1181029AnonymousGuest- Total posts: 11,464
Up::0Chris H, post: 212976, member: 45873 wrote:Unfortunately, I disagree with the article…
Running a business is about getting out of your comfort zone, labelling yourself an introvert is excusing yourself from the environment of face to face selling…Hi Chris,
You raise a good point there.
Face-to-face selling is extremely important for many business owners, and those who can nail this skill will set themselves up for success. I particularly love your phrasing on an earlier post that it is tragic to see so many soloists sabotage their success by not being prepared to knock on doors.
But please bear in mind that my article was about marketing, rather than selling, which is a different skill set.
There are also lots of business owners around here who never or rarely engage in face-to-face selling – it all depends on their industry and business model. For example, in my marketing consulting and copywriting business, I see most of my clients only rarely, and have never met some of them despite having worked closely with them for years. On the other hand, in my flower essence business, connecting with people face-to-face has been great for us, and we actively look for opportunities to do so.
All of that’s a bit off topic from Will’s original question!
Will, I hope that this discussion has given you some ideas and momentum
Jayne
May 7, 2015 at 10:48 am #1181031Up::0[QUOTE=”FS Concierge, post: 213130, member: 2205
Face-to-face selling is extremely important for many business owners, and those who can nail this skill will set themselves up for success.Jayne, I am really struggling with this line of thinking, basically if you are an introvert and cant sell you will go broke.
Using me as an example I am an introvert, finding it much easier to say this via a keyboard, than I would face to face. But the number of jobs I have won after doing a dodgy sales job, gives me the impression that a lot of clients actually prefer an introvert, than a slick up front sales guru. After I have started a job I often ask them why they chose me over other contractors (sometimes knowing I quoted higher), and it is often because I didn’t do the big sales job on them.
Often it comes to a matter of trust, and people would prefer to deal with someone who than can trust, and aren’t just telling them something to get the sale or the job.
May 7, 2015 at 10:50 am #1181032Up::0Chris H, post: 212985, member: 45873 wrote:Did I say that?
you did actually – “” Running a business is about getting out of your comfort zone, labelling yourself an introvert is excusing yourself from the environment of face to face selling… Which is fine… As long as you don’t mind going broke.””May 14, 2015 at 11:32 pm #1181033Up::0I am an introvert and I’ve never been happier than running my own business. It’s a website, which means I don’t do any face to face selling. It suits me perfectly and I’ve enjoyed it for 5 years now, with every year better than the previous one. Life has never been better.
May 15, 2015 at 12:56 am #1181034Up::0As an introverted software developer running my own business I have found that selling custom projects requires an uncomfortable amount of self promotion. Now I am selling TransPost which is an off-the-shelf add-on to MYOB that costs under $200, the pricing structure means that there is little budget for extensive communication with prospective buyers. The marketing, apart from participating in MYOB-run events and the MYOB Add-ons pages, is based entirely around the TransPost web site.
I receive phone calls from people saying “How does it work?” which taken literally has a very long-winded answer. I tell them that the best way to find out is download the trial and give it a go and then tell them what the deal is if there is a problem. That hopefully answers the implicit but very real underlying questions like “Do you answer the phone?” and “Is this sold by a real business that will support me if I have problems?”
I do find that I need to be very aware of the ways in which I do not think the same as my prospective market.
Foe example I hate video instructions myself, preferring written step 1 … step 2.. style written documentation, but I realise that I am the odd one here and will be creating a series of videos to show people how to use TransPost over the next couple of months.
I am also setting up a referral process whereby users who refer our products can earn longer license periods. I may be useless at referrals but that is not necessarily the case with my users.
May 15, 2015 at 1:27 am #1181035Up::0Okay, now that I lit up a fire storm, I would like to clarify what I am saying.
It seems that many of the people here are running businesses that are side projects. Meaning the business owner may have other employment or be a stay-at-home Mum (Which is full-time employment and respect to you).
These side businesses probably run very well as a passive endeavour and may not be required to produce the primary household income.My comments are more directed towards businesses that need to be the sole source of income. I would define this as a business that is generating as much income (not turn over) as the minimum full-time wage in Australia.
I would be very interested to hear about the success that people have had in generating this sort of income through wholly passive efforts. Furthermore it would be interesting to know what the ROI is on setting up the passive marketing strategies would be.
As a business owner and past Business Development Manager I know for a fact that many businesses fail primarily because of their lack of focus on sales.
As already stated my comments were primarily directed at B2B where a specific customer profile has been defined and can be accessed.
I am not attacking introverts, I just think it’s sad that rather than working to overcome a limiting factor, people instead avoid selling altogether.The first time I went out to see a customer I was CRIPPLED with fear, but I stuck at it and overcame. There are a number of areas of expertise that don’t come easy to many small business owners. These can be areas such as accounting, time management, record keeping etc. I put sales into this bracket where for most businesses that wish to be a serious endeavour. This is not an area where we can afford to shy away, it’s like throwing our hands up with accounting and just saying we aren’t good with numbers.
I will also add that sales isn’t necessary what some people may envisage, it’s not a too shiny suit and too much cologne and back slapping. It is simply speaking to customers directly with an intent to understand their needs and offer a product or service that helps them. I have met people who tell me they aren’t sales people, but they are in fact excellent sales people, they win business, they just don’t fit the mould of what they would term as a “salesperson”.
I stand by what I said, that the overwhelming majority of businesses that succeed in generating enough income to provide sufficient income to support a household, WILL have strong face to face selling.
May 15, 2015 at 1:30 am #1181036Up::0There’s at most three types of people in this world. 1. Customers. 2. People who might become customers. 3. People who will never (or never again) become customers. Social media is very useful for maintaing a relationship with group 1, and keeping them there, through increasing brand awareness, introducing new aspects of the business and building reputation. That’s important because word-of-mouth is a factor in most business successes, and group 1 are really the best bet for word-of-mouth transformation of group 2-ers. But it’s the longer game, and somewhat un-quantifyable. I’ve spoken to great advocates of social media who invariably have never had to rely on it exclusively to build a customer base, they tend not to walk the talk. I’m currently chasing new business, social media is in the mix but I will be putting out direct marketing to attract new customers. Chiefly I need to make potential customers aware of what I do and what I could do for them, and convert. That’s what it boils down to. I’m an introvert.
May 15, 2015 at 2:02 am #1181037Up::0Howdy All
Ok, i have followed this post with interest having input from the likes of those i respect being Jayne & Kelly from FS as well as Bert (God knows why ) and have been biting my tongue incessantly from the outset of Chris’s reference and meaning behind being unsuccessful as an introvert.
Allow me to keep this reply in line with FS guidelines and contribute for the benefit of the community and the OP, if i can.. Also, let me premise this reply with something i hold dear to my heart which is something that has taken me many years to grapple with.. What is it that i hold so dear to my heart? It is the understanding that when someone uses a comment or a phrase it is being spoken from their own personal experiences and beliefs and not necessarily those of the broader community, or in particular your own.
This belief has allowed me to listen a little more intently to Chris’ post and i sort of understand where he may be coming from although i think his brush strokes are a little to broad for me. Just read the last excerpt from the last post:
Chris H, post: 213645, member: 45873 wrote:Okay, now that I lit up a fire storm, I would like to clarify what I am saying.
It seems that many of the people here are running businesses that are side projects. Meaning the business owner may have other employment or be a stay-at-home Mum (Which is full-time employment and respect to you).
These side businesses probably run very well as a passive endeavour and may not be required to produce the primary household income.My comments are more directed towards businesses that need to be the sole source of income. I would define this as a business that is generating as much income (not turn over) as the minimum full-time wage in Australia.
Without dissecting it completely, to try and stay within guidelines, it sounds like the only successful introvert that Chris has met in business are all stay at home mums wanting to earn a ‘lil’ extra on the side (or someone running a P/T business or hobby by the sounds of it).. Can anyone else see the problem with such a generalisation as this? Personally, this is a rather offensive comment from someone that may not meet lots of people, or more specifically many successful introverts.
I for one, and i know most would disagree, am most certainly an introvert and can also sell quite well. In fact, i regularly win awards (well when i was in corporate life) for highest achievement be it finance, telecommunications or FMCG which were my key strengths. This skill set, and i am still an introvert, has been brought across many platforms that i have worked in since as a successful self employed professional. Did i say i am still an introvert?
What appears to have been addressed since Chris’ first few replies and what i truly wish to add is that an introvert can contribute to any successful platform and in fact can bring much more to the table than an extrovert (love you all though) via a level headed or grounded approach in any situation.. Dont want to ramble on about this, although most would understand what i mean.Furthermore, what has truly been overlooked is that most introverts have a humble understanding of their innate ‘flaw’ if you wish to call it that Chris and generally devise the best method of contribution that they can work within. This may involve online tools, phone sales, inbound sales orientation and to be frank some actually may even thrive in the challenge of competing in a face to face environment that extroverts so naturally thrive in. For me personally, i can work face to face or not and the funniest thing is that i understand my challenges in the real world although when i represent a product or service that i am extremely passionate about i can talk to the best of them – be it a beautiful stay at home parent or a CEO of a fortune 500
Just to add, Chris i think the fire you have lit under a post such as this is a little too skewed in your own personal beliefs without much merit being contributed to the argument. Apologies for saying that, and each to their own beliefs although you may benefit from exploring this unexplored area of expertise you appear to think you know about.. It may open up some additional successful collaborations for you in the future…
Another item to add, if i may as its a huge post already, is that maybe a point of research could start with the following names:
- Bill Gates
- Michael Jordan
- Harrison Ford
- Charles Darwin
- David Letterman
- J.K. Rowling
- Christina Aguilera
- Emma Watson
- Mahatma Ganhi (just interesting)
- Warren Buffet – mmm, not sure if he is successful or not.. LOL
One more note, to all those introverts, thank you… Although we may enjoy inward reflection, this is our time, we also love people and talking to others and enjoying others company. Sometimes we just to to re-energize, within ourselves and choose our time to shine as required.
Cheers
Jasonps.. so sorry for my novel
Jason Ramage | Lucas Arthur Pty Ltd | E: hello@lucasarthur.net.au P: 61 3 8324 0344 M: 61 412 244 888May 15, 2015 at 2:05 am #1181038Up::0ps.. some of the most successful sales people i have ever met are definitely introverts… Why? because the agenda and proposal they set in sales tends to revolve around what the client requires (consultative) rather than being all about the extrovert and their needs
Jason Ramage | Lucas Arthur Pty Ltd | E: hello@lucasarthur.net.au P: 61 3 8324 0344 M: 61 412 244 888May 15, 2015 at 2:21 am #1181039Up::0You seem to have misunderstood me completely.
I am not criticising introverts, instead I am speaking of people who choose not to engage in direct sales due to being an introvert.
Every single person in your list has overcome introversion and done presentations, interviews and sales.Would Microsoft be here today if Bill Gates had relied on a nice website and some direct marketing to launch Windows 3.1?
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