(EQ)We all know that developing trust is one of the keys to long term sales success. Unfortunately, trust takes a big hit when a company can’t deliver on its promises, which is where many companies can find themselves due to persistent supply chain issues.
Successful leaders and superior performers can combat this with well-developed emotional intelligence skills, which enable them to work well with a wide variety of people. These “soft” skills help build trust and rapport. When you understand your own emotions and the emotions of others, you can adapt and respond effectively the communication styles of customers. This is a high-value skill in a rapidly changing business world.
In fact, a person’s emotional intelligence (EQ) may be a better predictor of sales success than intelligence (IQ). Here’s how you can develop your emotional intelligence and build your company’s brand.
The Benefits of Social Skills in Sales
We define emotional intelligence as the ability to sense, understand, and apply the power of emotions to facilitate higher levels of collaboration and productivity. In other words, it’s how well you can read your emotions and those of other people to get things done.
Think of emotional intelligence as the multiplier for the various ways you can build trust. You’ll develop trust much faster if you can “read the room” than if you can’t.
Another term for this is “social awareness”—understanding the emotional makeup of other people and how your words and actions affect others. Don’t worry if that sounds daunting. The good news is this can be learned. It’s possible to learn how to regulate any emotional environment you find yourself in.
How Emotional Intelligence Helps Build Trust
Customers have a hard time trusting a salesperson who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Your words, actions, and demeanor all demonstrate how much you understand about your customers’ businesses and if you can be a strategic partner.
According to the 2020 Linkedin State of Sales, 54% of customers said they would only do business with a salesperson who they consider a trusted advisor. If customers treat you as an “order taker” here are some things to work on:
- Develop emotional intelligence to engage and relate to customers
- Strengthen your knowledge around your product offerings
- Understand your organization, history, service, repair, delivery, etc
- Be familiar with your competitors’ products, prices, and what differentiates you
- Study industry trends so you can speak to future possibilities
- Know your customers’ business acumen so you can speak their language
People are more likely to trust you if they can put their confidence in you. This becomes even more important if you’re selling in times of uncertainty.
Trust in You Builds Your Company’s Brand
So how does this all relate to a company’s brand? A brand is more than just colors, fonts, and marketing. It is the ethos created by a company’s culture. And a company’s culture is created by—you guessed it—its people.
The personal impression you make on your customers is sometimes more important than your company’s brand, because people don’t deal with your company, they deal with you and the other people within your company.
While you can’t control how much trust customers place in your organization, you can control how much trust customers place in you. Ultimately it will be the consistency of your actions that determine how strong that trust becomes, and how quickly it is formed.
How to Develop Your Emotional Intelligence
A sales leader with high emotional intelligence can develop stronger relationships with their sales team. This has multiple benefits. It allows them to motivate sellers, energize disengaged employees, mediate conflicts, and reduce turnover. Salespeople with high emotional intelligence are less likely to leave a company when things get tough, because they have an easier time navigating whatever business landscape they find themselves in.
Emotional intelligence is critical to sales performance because it allows you to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power of your own emotions during interactions with buyers.
If you want to strengthen your social skills, learn how to read others, or regulate your emotions, find out more about The Brooks Group EQ Assessment. The EQ Assessment reveals strengths and gap areas relating to emotional intelligence and offers insight into improving low competency areas.
Learn more to become a trusted advisor and build long-term customer relationships.
