Can introverts be salespeople? A guide to hiring bankers who can sell.
Can introverts be effective salespeople at banks or credit unions? The cost of one bad sales hire for a financial institution can be astronomical, so in order to avoid a mistake, many hiring managers look for the classic “sales personality.” Many people associate extroverted behavior and a “big” personality with success as a salesperson; however, that limiting belief may be doing more harm than good to your salesforce.
The truth is that introverts can make excellent salespeople. While extraverts get more energy from being around people, introverts can get more energy from quiet time on their own. While extroverts may talk more and seek out others often, introverts can often spend more time thinking and contemplating before acting. This means that introverts may be perfectly suited for a longer sales-cycle product in a complex selling role like a Commercial Loan Officer, Wealth Management Advisor, or Private Banker.
It’s actually rare that a person is a complete extrovert or introvert. Most people fall somewhere in the middle of what is commonly referred to as the “energy spectrum.” People in a complex selling role need the skills of self-control, organization, patient listening, and empathy commonly associated with introverts. Meanwhile, extraverts in these sales job roles may suffer if they have too high of a drive to persuade or too much sociability that could distract them.
The bottom line is that there is no such thing as one successful “sales personality.” Instead, a person’s individual behavioral traits and competencies must be appropriately matched to a sales role if a hiring manager wants to be successful in interviewing and filling a job opening at a bank or credit union.
The Optimum Performance Profile™ hiring tool screens candidates for the behavioral competencies that drive success in each selling role, and it delivers a score that compares a sales candidate to the top performers in a specific selling role. See an example of an OPP report to see how much data this assessment provides, as well as the interview questions towards the end of the report, which can guide the hiring manager’s interview to explore a potential mismatch before an expensive hiring mistake is made.
