Sales and networking require us to effectively communicate with strangers. In those situations, many agents struggle to separate themselves from the crowd, and fall into the trap of simply being seen as a commodity.

We all have things that make us different. What we're passionate about, the value we bring to the table, the niche we serve and our own personal journeys that set us apart.

When we're able to present ourselves leading with these things, we get elevated to the status of an expert in the eyes of the people we meet.

How do we find the niche we can dominate? Why are stories a central part to sales? In this episode, I'm joined by internationally-recognized consultant, speaker, coach and author of the new book, The Introvert's Edge to Networking, Matthew Pollard. We talk about what it takes to get better at selling ourselves.

Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode

The biggest misconception people have about introverts and entrepreneurship

It's hard to convince the world that introverts can be good at selling, and that's because there are a lot of misconceptions about what introversion means. Being an introvert doesn't mean you can't sell, it's just about where you draw your energy from, and that your path to success is often different.

Why niching down offers more options than we think

Niching down allows us to become an authority in a specific space. One mistake we make is thinking there's limited niches available. We can niche on demographics like retirees, by occupations such as medical professionals, or we can niche down based on an outcome or a specific result we can get for people.

How to sell more effectively by telling stories

When it comes to sales, agents often over complicate everything and overwhelm people with information, which puts them off. Instead of overloading them, we have to tell stories to short circuit the logical mind and reach them on an emotional level. People resonate with stories more, and when we embed our communication with names and anecdotes about changing people's lives, we get attention and spark a relationship.

Résumé — Manager, ce n’est pas contrôler