Why Emotional Intelligence Is A Critical Strength For Salespeople

Emotional Intelligence Is A Sales Superpower On this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount sits down with Robin Hills, a business psychologist and expert in emotional intelligence from the UK. Emotional intelligence is a concept that Daniel Goleman launched and popularized approximately 30 years ago. Robin began his career in sales in the 1980s and has been selling consistently ever since. Although he no longer holds the title of salesperson, he proudly wore that badge for well over a quarter of a century. Today, Robin's company Ei4Change (Emotional Intelligence 4 Change) trains individuals and organizations on emotional intelligence, positive psychology, and neuroscience in the workplace. What Is Emotional Intelligence? Emotional intelligence is the ability to combine your thinking with your feelings in order to build high-quality relationships and make authentic decisions. While it is a simple concept, it can be difficult to execute, particularly in situations with intense emotions or pressure. Relationships and decision-making play a crucial role in this process. It is essential to have high-quality relationships with people you can turn to and say, "Hey, I'm having a bad day. Can we talk about something other than work? Or do something together that can take my mind off things and help me get back to it tomorrow?" This allows you to step away from the situation and take a break. Salespeople, in general, are mentally resilient and must demonstrate high levels of emotional intelligence in order to be effective. Field-based salespeople, who may not work in an office, often need to motivate themselves and have an inner drive to sell to their clients. Salespeople handle a lot from customers and clients, and have good and bad days like everyone else. Emotional intelligence in sales involves understanding and managing your own emotions to influence the emotions of others. You Choose How You React to Your Emotions Emotions are a natural reaction to our environment, and we cannot control their occurrence. However, we can choose how we respond to them. Emotions prepare our body mentally and physically for events, and the intensity of emotions compounds with each event. At a certain point, emotions can become so intense that making a simple, effective choice becomes difficult. Experiencing fear, for example, is not something that we can control or prevent. In such moments, we are faced with a choice: do we react irrationally to our fear and potentially put ourselves in danger, or do we use the presence of our emotions as information to assist us in productive, clear decision-making? We can choose to become immobilized, paralyzed, or act out in self-destructive ways. and we can choose to handle our emotions, turn them into something constructive, and create positive outcomes. This is where mental resilience comes into play. When under pressure and stress, mental resilience — the ability to go from setback to comeback — becomes essential. Why Having A Support Network Is Crucial Having the right relationships and support network is crucial, especially in sales when you are faced with difficult emotions like rejection, fear, and stress every day. When you need help, don't hesitate to turn to your network for support. It's also important to establish a relationship of trust with your manager during good times, so that you can have a discussion about handling challenges when necessary. In general, opening up to someone about a problem you are dealing with can be helpful. You may have heard the oft-quoted saying, "A problem shared is a problem halved." Consider talking to your spouse, friends, or colleagues at work. Who in your network can provide support for you when you need it? Who can you provide support to in return? Think Before You Complain Having a support group of people to talk to is a great idea. It gives you a much needed space to have cathartic conversations beca...