Selling things and understanding feelings go hand in hand. If you don’t get feelings, you might not be great at selling. Since the 1960s, people have known that being smart with feelings is super important for doing well in life and at work. Still, sometimes the bosses of sales teams only teach the hard stuff and forget about the softer side, like understanding emotions.
But guess what? Being smart with feelings is super important in selling stuff. How salespeople handle their own feelings and other people’s feelings can really make a difference in how well they do their job. Let’s talk about what this “EQ” or emotional smarts thing is, why it’s a big deal, and how to spot it in someone you might want to hire.
What Is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is knowing what you’re feeling and what others are feeling, and being able to handle those feelings well and kindly. When we talk about someone’s emotional intelligence level, we mean how they score on a special test that measures this.
Daniel Goleman, a guy who writes about science, told everyone about emotional intelligence back in the 1960s. He broke it down into five parts. These parts are like the ingredients for being good at dealing with life and work.
How Feelings Make Sales Better
People who are really good with feelings do better at a type of selling where they give advice and help to customers. To understand why, let’s look at the five parts of emotional intelligence and how they help sell things.
Knowing Yourself
Self-awareness means knowing your feelings and how they can change what you do and how you affect others. Salespeople who get this are really good at using their time and energy, even when they’re feeling all sorts of emotions.
They don’t get angry or bug customers with their bad vibes. Plus, they get over sad stuff, like someone saying “no” to a sale, quicker than others.
Controlling Your Impulses
Self-regulation or “impulse control” is when you can keep your feelings in check and change them to fit the situation without bothering other people.
Salespeople who can do this don’t let their worries or bad moods mess up their talks with customers. They can change how they act to do their job well. And they can keep their excitement and drive going to do great work over time.
Being Socially Savvy
Social skills are about being aware of others, making friends, getting along, and keeping those relationships going.
Salespeople who are good at this can find more chances to sell because they know a lot of people. They work well with others and can change their behavior to get what they want out of a situation.
Understanding Others
Empathy is like self-awareness, but for other people’s feelings. It means you can tell how someone else is feeling and want to respond in a helpful way. Salespeople with empathy are great at figuring out how a customer or someone who might buy something is feeling.
They can change how they talk to make sure the conversation goes well. Empathy also helps them understand what customers need and want, and how to help them best.
But having too much empathy isn’t always good. Some salespeople might be too worried about what the other person feels, and they might not do things like ask important questions because they’re afraid of being too pushy.
Staying Motivated
Motivation is when you really want to finish something or reach a goal. Salespeople with lots of motivation get more done. They don’t get too upset when they hear “no,” and they’re always looking to get better at what they do.
They try new things to reach their goals, listen to advice, and really go after good leads.
When you’re looking to add someone new to your team, try to find someone who knows themselves well, can understand and trust others, control their feelings, and connect with people easily.
Emotionally smart salespeople are good at:
Spotting Emotional Smarts in Sales Folks
Here are some hints and questions to think about when you’re trying to figure out if someone is good with feelings and might be a great salesperson:
What to look for in sales EQ:
Building Emotional Smarts in Your Team
Emotional intelligence is a bunch of soft skills that you can get better at to help your sales team do an awesome job. Your team will be way better at selling when they really get the people they’re talking to and can show them why what they’re selling is valuable.
You can help your salespeople get better with feelings and do their best with a special test that checks their EQ.
This test helps them know themselves better and make smarter choices. It shows what they’re good at and what they need to work on when it comes to feelings. And it gives them ideas on how to get better at the stuff they’re not so great at.
Sometimes, salespeople can get thrown off by their feelings, which might make them miss out on good chances. They might offer the wrong things, not ask enough questions, or not seem like someone you’d trust.
Having a good handle on feelings lets salespeople use their emotions to make sales better, not worse.
Did you miss our previous article…
https://pardonresearch.com/?p=3541