This week I had the pleasure task of attending and exhibiting at a tradeshow for work (ie: my 9-5 job). I had to help set up a large booth area and display, then act as a mini-salesperson during the 2 days of the tradeshow (then of course help take everything down). It didn’t help that we were setup outside and it poured the first day… but I digress…
For me, sales and selling just doesn’t come naturally. I honestly hate talking to people (sorry, people!) with all the small chit chat and random generic banter (oh hey, how are you, good, blah blah). I 100% blame this on my Introvert-ness (I’m a Myers Briggs INTJ, btw) and I’d rather just not talk to people than talk to them… you feel me?
But it’s weird, because (apparently) I am approachable, cheery and bubbly, and others assume I would be good in sales. I am always positive and smiling (for the most part) and I guess that just attracts people – happy people attract other people… makes sense. I’m not really nervous in having to talk to anyone, it’s just something I would rather not do.
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but when I attend a tradeshow, I am always too shy to go up to people in the booths; so whenever I am the one in the booth, I make sure to emote extra positive energy to entice the passersby to come talk to us. I make it a point to say “hi” to almost everyone, no matter if they’re leads or not; to me, anyone could be a potential client, you shouldn’t judge someone based on their age, gender or how they are dressed! (But that’s probably another topic for another day).
Anyways the simple act of acknowledging someone and saying “Hi” as they are walking by, really forces them to stop and look towards where it’s coming from. This just happens to get people to actually turn their heads towards our booth and see our company name/products/info/etc. Something that they wouldn’t have otherwise done if I would have just kept quiet.
At the end of the two days my mouth did hurt from smiling so much, and I probably didn’t look too happy when it was raining like crazy, but I did enjoy the change of scenery from my normal working environment! I was able to meet some of our suppliers and customers, and put faces to names and voices I normally just interact with via email or phone.
But I will definitely be glad to be sitting back at my desk on Monday, and not having to force myself to break out of my introverted shell to talk to people. I am NOT a salesperson because I don’t like talking to people – why do something that doesn’t feel natural to you?
Sometimes one needs to get out of their comfort zone …