[ericabiz]

I can shed a bit of light into this as a Myers-Briggs INTJ (so common in Silicon Valley it's called the "programmer type.")

I'd definitely rather be behind a computer than out talking to people, especially people I don't know.

And I fear rejection--just being brutally honest. (Most people wouldn't admit that this is a core reason they don't like sales.)

I've gotten a ton better since I've run retail stores for the last 3+ years, and that's pushed me out of my comfort zone so frequently that I'm pretty decent at small talk now. (INTJs tend to hate small talk, and sales can be a lot of small talk!)

I doubt I'll ever get to the point where sales is fun for me like it would be for some of the extrovert types. Still, sales is worth doing as a boundary-pushing exercise and a getting-comfortable-with-rejection exercise.