Why Increasing Emotional Intelligence Increases Sales

You may have thought that Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a new buzz word, however it’s been around since the early 90’s. Research has shown since the 1990’s that EI is far more important than IQ when it comes to future success.

Dr Howard Gardner the influential Harvard theorist defines your EI as “the level of your ability to understand other people, what motivates them and how to work cooperatively with them,”

Consider this from a sales perspective if you increased your EI so you could understand your clients better, find out what motivates them and then work cooperatively with them. Would they want to do business with you? Yes of course. Clients come to us and share their dreams so we can help them come true.

Companies like American Express, Avon, L’Oréal, MetLife, 3M, Motorola, Johnson and Johnson just to name a few are incorporating EI into their business to help build stronger connections with their clients.

There is no doubt that using EI in your interviews will improve your success…

Developing Your Emotional Intelligence

First, manage your emotions

One of the things we all can control is our reaction to our emotions. No matter how we really feel, sales professionals need to portray a positive, enthusiastic outer view to our clients. Part of this is self-awareness.

That’s the ability to recognise how we are feeling but not let how we’re feeling affect our behaviour or the subtle signals we send our clients. Check in with your yourself several times a day. Ask yourself, “How am I feeling?” and “Is how I am feeling affecting my behaviour?” The more you check in, the more self-aware you will become.

Second, improve your social awareness

Be aware of how your client is feeling. Pick up on their emotions, read their body language and notice what’s going on in their environment. Then, based on your social awareness, you can learn how to manage the relationship with your client.

The higher your social awareness, the better you’ll manage your client interaction. During every call, ask yourself, “How is my client feeling?” and “How would I want to be treated in this situation?”

As you practice these skills, your brain will build pathways that make these new skills habits. Better yet, as you practice these skills, your brain will eliminate the old bad habits that held you back. By putting this all together, you will sell more, and that’s what we all want!

What are some ways you could improve your self-awareness and social awareness in client interviews?

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