Sales Techniques Over the past forty years, countless millions of sales training dollars have been spent trying to perfect and teach optimal sales techniques to sales teams. Technique without talent simply doesn’t take you far. The best pitching coach in America could teach me the best technique to throw a split fingered fast ball, but I simply don’t have the talent to break seventy miles an hour! Teaching sales techniques alone misses the mark for organizations seeking to create breakthrough sales performance. The differentiator in great sales people versus mediocre sales people is found in their level of emotional intelligence. Webster’s defines emotional intelligence as, “An awareness of and ability to manage emotions and create motivation.” Since the late 1990’s significant psychological research has proven the presence of emotional intelligence is by far a greater indicator for success that native intelligence or relative professional experience. The focus on teaching sales techniques cannot close the gap between the presence or lack of emotional intelligence. The fact of the matter is, sales are rooted in relationship. Successful relationships are built upon trust, empathy, intention, and the mutual belief that the individuals in relationship care for one another. People buy from people they like. Granted, there is a threshold of utility that must be present in a product or service, but given the competitive nature of products and services today that utility is almost a given from one company to another. Either product will probably be sufficient to do the job for the client, so it really comes down to who the client wants to do business with that wins the day. Cultivating emotional intelligence in a sales force truly places the use of sales technique as a secondary consideration. Emotional intelligence elevates authentic presence in an individual and enables the clear communication of positive intention and concern for the client to emerge. It creates a space which allows relationship to take root and flourish. The use of sales techniques alone almost implies a negative intention; a predatory approach to a zero sum game in which someone must lose for someone to win. The expression of authentic concern for the client communicates positive intention; the sales representative is seen as somewhat of a partner in the process of a win-win approach to the sale. By investing in teaching the attributes of emotional intelligence versus sales techniques also serves an organization in the development of their next generation of sales team leadership. Even the United States Army is beginning to see the importance of emotional intelligence versus leadership technique in developing truly effective officers. While sales techniques have a certain place in the sales process, such as asking for the order, it is emotional intelligence that will direct the sales professional to know when it is the best time to ask for the order. This heightened level of sensitivity can make or break a sales representative and differentiate an entire organization in the eyes of the marketplace. Companies that adopt a more enlightened approach to developing and training sales personnel will benefit from this in both external sales returns and internal, positive relationships throughout the entire company. Related Articles Sales Strategy Sales Strtegies