| In today's ultra-competitive business environment, it's not enough for sales professionals to be adept at technical and tactical skills such as getting appointments, making presentations, and closing deals. To really succeed, they must develop and apply their relational skills-or what is known as emotional intelligence-to help them connect with people, recognize customer wants and needs, and build strong, lasting relationships. The concept of emotional intelligence was first popularized in the late 1990s, and later linked to leadership and management success. Studies show that a person's emotional intelligence has an 80 to 85 percent influence on success in the workplace, while his or her IQ has at best a 25 percent influence. Now, in Selling with Emotional Intelligence, author and sales trainer Mitch Anthony presents the first-ever examination of emotional intelligence as it relates to sales performance. Anthony first explains what emotional intelligence is, then presents sales professionals with a proven program for increasing their emotional intelligence, thus improving their sales success. The program, which is known as the ARROW Program, includes five steps: 1. Awareness-Tune-in to natural strengths and weaknesses. Examine how one's personality impacts others. Be aware of emotions controlling the sales process. 2. Restraint-Identify negative emotions that can damage relationships, inflict pain, and cost money. Prepare a rational response that will restrain emotions. 3. Resilience-Learn to develop an optimistic, persistent nature. Embrace adversity. Recognize the true source of discouragement. Embrace intrinsic motivators. 4. Others (empathy)-Discern feelings and motives. Develop emotional radar. Learn to be a better listener and observer. 5. Working with others (building rapport)-Communicate. Resolve conflicts. Learn to relate to and lead others. A great deal of time and money is spent training salespeople in the technical aspects of their work. However, the real need in sales training lies in helping representatives and managers hone emotional and relational skills. Selling with Emotional Intelligence provides sales professionals with a program for dealing with the emotional challenges of their work and for enhancing sales performance. |
