Close More Sales With Emotional Intelligence

What is it beyond sales skills that exceptional salespeople and sales leaders possess that make them so successful? It's not just one thing but a set of factors that create a competency that make the difference between a good salesperson and and an elite sales superstar. You can think of it as the sales equivalent of Emotional Intelligence. The more of these factors your sales team has, the better they will be at keeping cool under pressure, forging meaningful connections with prospects and customers, digging deep to uncover issues, and creating the kind of urgency that gets prospects to move forward and commit to solving problems.

Southwest Airlines is famous for hiring employees with a high degree of emotional intelligence. These people are great to be around and seem to have a knack for diffusing tension and adding a sense of humanity and adventure back into airline travel. The same can be said for an emotionally intelligent sales force. You wouldn't mind being stuck in an elevator (or an airplane) with them.

Emotionally Intelligent salespeople are fun to work with because they are all about getting results (for their clients and their companies) and they consistently outperform the competition. They are "A" Players. They are masters at relating to others and tend to develop sales relationships early in the process, giving them an edge over the competition. They like themselves and they like selling. They are problem solvers who are willing and able to ask the many tough questions no one else is asking at just the right time and in just the right context. In short, customers want to work with them.

We call this Emotional Intelligence competency Sales Posturing. We look for it when we evaluate sales force effectiveness for clients who need to make improvements and when we are helping clients recruit stronger sales candidates and more effective sales leaders.

What percentage of the salespeople you hire become “A” players? Of those, how many would you enjoy being stuck in an elevator with? Yeah, that's what I thought.

If you'd like to take a look at how we help clients hire, develop, manage, and coach world class sales leaders I have included a few links below. If you're a CEO or president who is ready to hire talented salespeople and managers consider being my guest later this month for a webinar on sales hiring. As always, I welcome your thoughts and questions. You can post a comment below or reach out to me personally at [email protected].

Register for Our FREE Sales Recruitment Webinar Here

Register for a FREE Candidate Assessment Here

Grade Your Salesforce Here

Calculate the Cost of Your Hiring Mistakes Here

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