Written by Jamie Hanzo
Edited by Allison Herrera
Is emotional intelligence the core factor that makes a salesperson successful? Some might say so, however, studies show that it is not the only factor that makes someone good at sales. Journal Marketing discovered that having a high level of emotional intelligence is “not enough” to make a salesperson successful.
Why are we talking about salespeople today? Well, because digital marketing is essentially selling your product, service or idea behind a screen…and it is what we do best. A salesperson should both have and be skilled, with the ability to use, manage, facilitate and perceive emotions. These skills are not found easily, but when they are, it changes the game.
Researchers asked managers and salespeople throughout many industries (i.e. real estate, insurance, and more) about success. They found that those salespeople who are both emotionally intelligent and emotionally confident hold all the factors someone needs to be a top-notch employee. These types of people are able to relate, calm and empathize with customers resulting in a mutually beneficial relationship with their clients.
If someone did not have both emotional intelligence or emotional confidence, their sales performance would be worse in comparison with someone who does acquire these traits. If someone only has one of these traits, let’s say emotional intelligence for example, but not emotional confidence, that individual probably finds it difficult to obtain relationships with his/her clients. Confidence is key, in all aspects of life.
On the contrary, if someone has emotional confidence but lacks emotional intelligence, their results in sales will have the same negative results. This is because they are overly-confident while practicing sales and lack evidence to back up their strong points. Statistically, clients do not enjoy communicating with someone who is overly-confident. Most of the time, overly confident sellers lack connections; whereas, the more humble and down to earth you are, the more you can relate to humans on a personal level. Customers find that salespeople who are too confident come off as overly-eager or inattentive, as if they only care about making a sale – not the genuine state of the potential client.
“If their salesforce does not have the emotional confidence to match their emotional skills, then they cannot realize the benefits of these skills.” – (American Marketing Association)
In conclusion, salespeople need to be aware if their emotional intelligence is lacking compared to their emotional confidence, and vice versa. This awareness can be monitored by managers and executives through training. It is equally important to be trained in emotional intelligence as it is to be trained in emotional confidence. By acquiring strong levels in both of these things, sales results will sky rocket for salespeople.
An environment with encouraging supervision, high levels of team collaboration, and access to resources needed to serve customers is found to be the best for salespeople to obtain qualities of emotional intelligence and confidence. In addition, a workplace that is a low-stress environment can also help a salesperson work to the best of their ability on an emotional level.
With all of this being said, it is not impossible for someone to gain these traits over time. Salespeople all over the globe are continually striving to be the best they can be. Selling in person is tough enough, so let us come up with innovative and creative ways to get your points across. Call us today, and we can get started.
