In this conversational video, Tan Lay interviews Jaakko to explore how Finnish cultural attitudes shape sales practices. They note that Finns view sales as potentially dishonest and prefer straightforward, fact‑based communication. The discussion defines introversion and extroversion beyond shyness, highlighting that introverts focus on ideas, facts, and product depth, while extroverts thrive on people interaction. While globally extroverted personalities are often seen as better salespeople, Jaakko argues that in Finland—especially for complex B2B or technical solutions—introverted traits (deep product knowledge, analytical focus) are more trusted. Both speakers observe that modern consumers are desensitized to aggressive sales tactics, making the loudest pitch less effective. They suggest extroverted sellers must adopt introvert‑like behaviors, emphasizing facts and credibility. The conversation concludes that the most effective salesperson in Finland blends both qualities: the relational energy of an extrovert with the analytical, trustworthy approach of an introvert.
Chapters
My name is Tan Lay. I enjoy speaking with people and noticing the obvious. And in this video, after speaking with Jaakko about selling in Finland, I noticed one obvious thing.
We Finns like to think of ourselves as honest and straightforward, and we think that sales is maybe dishonest and tactical, and therefore not truly Finnish way to behave. Finns tend to be relatively introverted people, quite fact-based people. I think we like an introvert salesperson sometimes much more than we like someone who is coming on to us too hard, especially if they are in B2B, business-to-business space. If you're trying to sell solutions, then being a very extroverted person, like, so that it's all about the people and not about the product, that may be a problem, especially with Finns. We like to know the facts, we know to— yeah.
Let's, let's define what is an introvert and extrovert.
Yeah.
Because I don't think it's shyness. I think you can be an extrovert and be shy. How do you be— what do you think an introvert and extrovert is?
I think of myself as an introvert, and that's because I'm really interested in ideas and thoughts, and I can find those in books. I can find those in conversations, of course, but I'm looking for those ideas and things to think about and, and, and all that. My wife is an extrovert. She loves people. She loves to meet new people. That's what drives her. She loves meeting new people, connecting with them, discussing them. But it's about the people. To me, it's about the thoughts. And that's why I think I'm a bit of an introvert.
If we take Finland out of the equation, if we just asked generally, Who would make a better salesman, an introvert or an extrovert? It's an obvious answer. The more extroverted you are, the more likely you'll succeed in sales. That's the obvious answer.
Obvious answer, sure. But let's say you're trying to sell complicated technology to Finns or to Germans. I think an introvert could do a very good job too. Focusing on the issue.
Yeah.
And not people.
We're so desensitized now. We're so used to sales tactics. We see sales messages and advertisement every moment of the day, which is why it's working less and less. And these extroverts now have to change. They have to learn to become— to think more like an introvert. In order to succeed, because you can't just go and before it used to be that the loudest, the person talking the loudest had the most influence. But now it's that I think that's changing, and that's and I think it's a good thing that it's changing. And and the attitude generally in Finland, so we were talking about is they don't trust. Tell me if this is true from what I've seen. You don't trust somebody who talks too much. It's immediately, okay, this person talks too much.
In Finland, yeah, yes, that's the way it is. I guess we allow it to foreigners, but a Finn that talks too much can be— yeah, but if you're a foreigner trying to sell stuff here in Finland, you can talk more than a Finn.
Really?
Yeah, I think so. The best possible person has Both qualities. Something of an extrovert can be nice, can be energetic, can be interested in people, interested in their feelings and their desires, but then can be an introvert too, focused on the product, on the service, and the facts, and, and the process and all that.
The products, services, and solutions that we sell today are very different to what we sold in the past. This means the way to sell them successfully is also very different.
