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10 Ways To Sell To Introverts Buyers

Whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, you probably have

an unthinking tendency to market to people the way you yourself

prefer to be communicated with and treated. If your target

audience resembles you, that approach succeeds. But if your

target audience differs greatly from you, you're shooting

yourself in the foot when you do that. Worse, unless you've

investigated or learned about the preferences of those with a

different personality, you may not realize the extent of this

disconnect.

For best results, you must market to people the way they prefer

to be marketed to, not the way you prefer to market or be

marketed to.

When you are selling to people who are reserved, quiet,

comfortable with themselves, independent thinkers and not the

life of the party - in other words, introverts - here are 10

important guidelines to keep in mind.

10 Ways to Sell Successfully to Introverts

1. Third-party credibility boosters. Introverts tend to be less

gullible than extroverts, because they're less swayed by

enthusiasm or the desire to follow the crowd. You want to win

their respect, and they respect media coverage, awards,

certifications, credentials and endorsements from industry

leaders who are known as the most competent in their field. Any

relatively objective indicator of excellence influences

introverts to become more interested in what you offer.

2. Confidentiality. Introverts treasure privacy, and they retreat

when they see that you might not keep their patronage of you

private. Coaches and consultants who illustrate their points with

examples from clients raise this suspicion, even if the clients

are identified only by a first name. Likewise, offering feedback

as part of a package but only in public can make introverts hang

back. Explicit reassurances about confidentiality can be crucial

to earn the trust of introverts.

3. Opportunity to ask questions before the sale. Because

introverts are less likely to get swept along by the breathless

enthusiasm of a sales pitch, they value the chance to contact the

seller to clarify something that's important to their

decision-making process. Saying there will be an opportunity to

get questions answered after the sale helps, also. If the

question-asking occurs in private rather than in a group setting,

all the better.

4. No gratuitous videos. Don't force a prospective buyer to sit

through a video in order to access introductory information about

your product. Introverts enjoy watching videos for entertainment

or for demonstrating how to do something, but when you deliver

information on video that that could easily have been conveyed in

text, they'll resent you for wasting their time. Forget about

"talking head" videos for this group.

5. No fluff or filler. Introverts hate hype. They also dislike it

when people don't get to the point. High-content communications

with some promotion woven into it or appended at the end

therefore go over best with introverts.

6. Samples. Because introverts prefer substance to fluff,

they're more eager to buy when they've seen a sample that

impresses them. So if you are selling a book, provide a free

sample chapter; if you are selling a coaching program, make a

sample session available, with the participant's permission

noted.

7. No name dropping. Some marketers like to refer to colleagues

as "my good friend (or buddy) so and so," but if you do that

too many times, introverts may lose respect for you. They'd

rather have fewer, closer friends, and they'll think you're

blowing hot air when you claim to have close relationships with a

lot of people. In addition, the mere fact that you know someone

important doesn't raise your status even a millimeter with an

introvert.

8. Personal attention. Introverts prefer to interact one-on-one

or in small groups. They don't like crowds. So if you offer

seminars, coaching, tours or workout facilities, do so on an

intimate scale. You won't catch introverts yearning to cruise on

a thousand-passenger ship, enjoying stadium-sized lectures or

belonging to a crowded, cavernous gym if they have another

choice.

9. Minimal pressure. If you sell overly aggressively and don't

give an introvert time and space to think through their decision,

they'll duck out and go elsewhere to buy. Deadlines are fine,

but not ten minutes down the line.

10. Practice what you preach. Introverts value consistency.

They're put off by a proofreading service that has a typo in its

marketing copy, a purportedly "green" company that wastes paper

or someone who says he's not selling something yet proceeds to

do exactly that. Make sure you embody the principles you espouse

in the way you promote your offerings and the way you treat

customers.

Above all, communicating in a calm, respectful, content-rich

manner wins over introverts. Be prepared, be succinct, be

substantive with them and you'll be successful.

21st Century Selling: An Anthology of Advice from Top Sales Pros

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