But I’m Not a Salesperson! Business Development Made Easier
Presenter: Beth Buelow
Day of Meeting: November 10, 2014
Announcements:
Jennifer Hager announced that the Guild has hired an event planner and is looking for committee participants to help organize next year’s conference.
Presenter Bio:
The evening’s presenter was Beth L. Buelow of The Introvert Entrepreneur entitled "But I’m Not a Salesperson: Business Development Made Easier." Her tagline is "Amplify your strengths, Build a sustainable, energy-aligned business." Beth has written a book called Insight: reflections on the gifts of being an introvert. (More books she recommends for introverts can be found at introvertislandbooks.)
Meeting Notes
She began with talking about the difference between introverts and extroverts. She says that if you identify as an introvert she would like to give you information, and a perspective into who you are and what makes you tick.
There are many assumptions about what divides extroversion from introversion. Primarily, it is about where we gain and drain energy. Extroverts speak to think. Introverts think before they speak.
Introversion and extroversion are terms coined by Carl Jung in the 1920s. “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” The US population is roughly 50/50. There is a growing chorus of voices saying: Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being introverted.
The middle ground person is called an ambivert. Introversion does not equate with being shy. The definition of introversion doesn’t have anything to do with social skills. (Shyness does. It implies discomfort in social situations.) Introversion is about how you want to spend your energy. The old story about introvert equates it with being shy, anti-social, a serial killer in waiting, and no good at sales. Anti-social behavior is actually disruptive behavior. Culturally, introverts are shoe-horned into definitions that do not accurately describe them.
She referenced a comment from Dan Pink about debunking a sales myth, from his book To Sell is Human. According to a large study, the most destructive behavior experienced from salespeople is their excessive assertiveness and zeal.
The New Story: The more enlightened attitude tells us that ambivert qualities are a stronger indicator of sales success than either intro or extroversion. So how do you channel ambiversion? You try to balance your energies between inspecting and responding.
The dos and donts of selling like an ambivert are:
Don’t talk, do listen. Be curious, ask questions. Find common ground. We get nervous and think about, worry about what we’re going to say. One way around this is to engage in activities that help us find common ground. This is a powerful way to find a synergy between you and the other person. Find something you have in common. Don’t think of it as small talk. It’s a warmup. It’s just chit-chat.
Don’t complicate, do simplify. Don’t over complicate discussions about what you do. Beth is a huge fan of finding your niche. Focus on that, and all the other complicated stuff will fall away. What is my favorite thing to work on? When you’ve simplified and narrowed things down, it allows you to say yes or no quicker than trying to be all things to all people. Where do your gifts intersect with what the world needs? We played a Time Traveler exercise to experience firsthand how difficult it is to communicate topics to an audience who does not have a reference to what we’re talking about. It takes a lot of effort to boil something down to its essence. This exercise forces you to realize how much you make assumptions about the language (lingo, jargon, colloquialism) the other person understands.
Don’t sell, do educate. You want to attract people to you and that is about educating, not selling.
The one question we all seem to dread is: What do you do? A confused mind always says “no.” If the information doesn’t make sense you will shut down. This advice was a kind of warning not to answer that dreaded question with an overload of explanation.
Then Beth used a Dan Pink video to illustrate new varieties of the elevator pitch.
Pixar pitch: Once upon a time _________. Every day___________. One day_________________. Because of that, ______________. Because of that, ____________________. Until finally, _________________. (Now you fill in the details.) We see the world not just as a logical progression, but a series of episodes, and that ends up being a very effective way of getting your message across.
Email Subject line pitch: You offer something of utility or you pique someone’s curiosity.
Rhyming pitch: Rhymes increase what is known as processing fluency. That is what makes it memorable. It is easily absorbed. Things that rhyme are easily remembered.
The Question pitch: Questions are active; statements are passive. The question is more persuasive.
Twitter: Give people good information, even if it is self-promotional. Questions via Twitter are good, too.
The one-word pitch: Think of one word that could describe you. When people use this one word they think of you.
A pitch is an intriguing invitation to have a conversation. It is inherently collaborative, a pitch is an invitation to participate. Then we played around with some pitches. Beth made an offer through her website to provide a guided business assessment, and mentioned signing up for her newsletter.
She tells us that even though our core may be introvert, we can always cultivate ways of being an extrovert. One powerful way is to assume a role. Give yourself something to do and a reason to be there. Notice your anxiety. But if you assume the role as host and help others feel comfortable, you will help someone else who feels nervous, too.
Beth mentioned the Amy Cuddy TED talk. Ms. Cuddy talks about having a power pose. It opens you up. The victory pose, for example, standing with your arms outstretched above your head, and holding it for at least two minutes gives you energy to be assertive. It lowers cortisol.
What’s the most important point you want to remember from today? It’s all about curiosity.
What’s one thing you could do to make your business development activities more effective?
What action are you committed to in the next three months?
Beth ended with these concise comments. Educating is sharing a solution that you have. Connecting is finding common ground. Contributing is offering ways to set someone up for success.
She also recommended books such as Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath, and others on her book link: introvertislandbooks.