Do you think you are too introverted to be a successful rainmaker?  Think again.

The stereotypical image of the successful rainmaker is the six-foot-two partner who comes into a room and fills it with his booming voice and gregarious personality.  Or it’s the glad-handing guy who doesn’t hesitate to ask for business.   Or the confident lawyer who commands the room as he delivers his sales pitch.

But I have always been a bit suspicious of these stereotypes.  During my 18 years of coaching and training, I’ve observed that successful rainmakers come in all personality types–some gregarious, some quiet, and some in between.

As it turns out, recent research supports my skepticism.  In his book To Sell Is Human, Daniel Pink cites studies of salespeople who sold a complex product.  Those at either end of the introversion/extroversion scale experienced about equal success in sales.  (Yes, I know, lawyers hate to think of themselves as salespeople, but that’s what we are in many situations.  We sell our ideas to clients, we persuade opposing counsel of our positions, and we convince prospects to hire us.)

Guess which personality type scored “off the charts” as successful salespeople?  Those in the middle.  People who are neither extremely introverted nor extremely extroverted–like the vast majority of us.

It turns out that extroverts–the classic big personalities–can talk too much and listen too little.  And listening too little often means failing to hear and understand a prospect’s needs.  If you don’t discover what a prospective client perceives as her needs, rather than what you think her needs are, you can easily wind up selling something that she isn’t interested in buying.  “Telling is not selling.”  I use that phrase to remind my clients that listening, rather than pitching, is the key to effective business development.

This point is also backed by the extensive neuroscience and behavioral research cited in the best-selling book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.  The book’s author, Susan Cain–herself an introverted lawyer–highlights how quiet lawyers are effective because of their natural inclination to listen closely and ask questions, rather than make bold statements.

Many of Cain’s suggestions about how introverts can thrive in a “world that can’t stop talking” mirror the advice I give my more introverted clients:

• Focus on your strengths, and let go of your weaknesses.
• Find venues that work for you.
• Engage in small-group and one-on-one interactions, rather than large, impersonal events.
• Recognize the value of listening carefully.
• Have deep conversations rather than engaging in small talk.
• Ask questions and reflect on what you have heard before speaking.
• Go to networking events with the goal of having one meaningful conversation with someone you will follow up with.  Then give yourself permission to leave.
• When forced to be a “pseudo” extrovert, seek a restorative niche afterward.  Find that quiet place you like to go to recharge your batteries, whether it’s your office with a closed door or your favorite reading nook at home.

So instead of bemoaning the fact that you don’t naturally fill a room with your big personality, rejoice in knowing that your mellow disposition brings other strengths to the business development process–in particular, your natural inclination to listen and then talk.  These are huge business development assets.  Embrace them!