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In our efforts to develop highly-skilled and successful sales professionals the discrepancy between what we believe we accomplished during training and the results reported by managers once the person is on the job, continues to be a challenge. What is learned and seemingly perfected during training is often not applied to challenging or difficult customer situations.
One could argue that no one ever learned to play golf by simply reading a book on the subject or having someone tell you all about it. You learn to play golf by doing it. First someone must explain what you should do and how you should do it. Then you need more instruction and help as you start to practice it. The more you practice, the better you get. The same type of process is what happens in training, it makes certain, that you pick up the type of skills and competencies that you need in order to grow, change or even become a peak performer. This leaves however the trainers with the struggling task and question, to identify: “What stops this sales person from doing what he or she already seems to know?” Once an individual has acquired the needed knowledge, it is likely the barriers to high performance reside in another aspect of professional development, to develop it, into a competence. That aspect of development involves complementing their psychological, cognitive and verbal ability with expanding the individual’s emotional intelligence.
Given the increased competitive pressures of the global market place and major changes in customer requirements, sales professionals have found they must call on different decision makers and buying groups than they did in the past. Not only, has the sales cycle become more complex with more decision makers, and influencers, sales people must be able to communicate business as well as personal value to all levels of the organisation. These new realities can result in feelings of inadequacy and frustration.
For many individuals this both requires additional sales training, as well as, developing Emotional Intelligence capabilities. As these new realities require learning how to manage tension and increase personal comfort in adapting to various challenging situations and people. We need to assist sales professionals in:
- Developing timely awareness of their emotions “in the moment”
- Managing emotion and using “emotional muscle” to enhance business effectiveness
- Increasing perceptual sensitivity to detect and respond to subtle customer signals
- Integrating emotional awareness with authentic behavior
The sales professional needs to become aware of the impact various interpersonal verbal and non-verbal behaviour has on their emotional reactions and how these emotional reactions influence their ability to effectively respond to customers. Responding effectively to unanticipated situations is impacted by the sales person’s awareness of their emotions (needs, wants as well as value mindset and expectations) and understanding how these feelings influence their actions.
Developing timely awareness of the intra-personal communication isn’t achieved using typical or standard training techniques. It is achieved through a process of recognising and overcoming emotional barriers that can misdirect intentions. The first step in examining one’s emotional intelligence is to become more aware of internal communication. We all talk to ourselves, and many times this internal conversation (self-talk) has a negative or limiting impact on our actions. By increasing awareness of their intra-personal communication and identifying how emotional reactions impact behaviour; the individual is ready to examine especially challenging or confrontational situations.
Overcoming the barriers to high performance and the challenges imposed by a rapidly changing market has prompted business managers to consider alternatives to the “skill and drill” approach. These traditional training techniques are necessary to establish foundational skills, but are insufficient when engaging sophisticated buyers and complex sales. High performance can be achieved when a learning process is used to develop the professional’s cognitive, behavioral, and emotional abilities. Cultivating the individual’s emotional intelligence in harmony with their knowledge and skills enables the professionals to adapt their interactive skills to achieve peak performance despite industry volatility. The main learning points for an individual using Emotional Intelligence in their sales performance is how to:
• Effectively deal with difficult situations
• Maintain your self-control even when under pressure
• More successfully build relationships with your customers
• Use emotional intelligence to strengthen influence, trust, communication, and accountability
• Understand the customers’ value mindset
• Identify the explicit needs of the customer (value expectations)
• Develop flexibility in your communication style
• Include the personal value expectations of your listener into the sales messages
• Engage in appropriate actions, given the emotional content of a situation.
If you want to do something that can really help you improve the quality of your sales conversations, there is one thing that comes first: strengthen and cultivate your emotional intelligence as much as you possibly can.
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