Why EQ Determines Sales Success

I recently hosted a discussion on the role of emotional intelligence (EQ) in sales success and John Smibert produced a video of the Sales Masterminds (SMA) event. It’s a must watch for anyone in sales and the conversation followed one of the best presentations I’ve seen on sales success by my good friend Cian McLoughlin (video also included at bottom of article).

The leaders on the panel above were brilliant and Tim Cavill nails the issue when he says “hiring is hard.” In my experience, hiring represents the biggest point of risk for a business leader or manager because people are the greatest variable and every strategy succeeds or fails based on the quality of execution.

Hiring based on skills, qualifications, and experience is relatively easy but how do you assess emotional intelligence?

Hiring the right people into sales teams is critically important and beyond core intelligence, their level of EQ has a massive impact. This is because execution determines success with any business or sales strategy. Here are the questions that are answered by the panel of business leaders:

• How do you define EQ and which traits do you rate most highly?
• How do you get to the truth concerning a person’s level of EQ?
• What are the most important traits for sales success?
• What is the best way to do win/loss reviews?
• How important is commercial curiosity within salespeople?
• How do you socialize the importance of EQ within your own organization?
• How important is diversity in a team and are females more likely to succeed?
• Should you hire for cultural fit with your organization or with customers?

“Hire for cultural fit and train for skills” Cian McLoughlin

“Curiosity is one of the biggest determinants of sales career success” Tim Cavill

Here is Cian’s full keynote that preceded the Q&A. He discusses the importance of emotional intelligence and obtaining customer insights from win/loss reviews.

“People won’t buy what you’re selling until they first buy you and your stories” Cian McLoughlin

Thanks, Cian McLoughlin, Tim Cavill and Steve Ludlow for sharing your wisdom and thanks John Smibert for producing the videos.

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Tony Hughes is ranked as the #1 influencer on professional selling in Asia-Pacific and is a keynote speaker and best selling author. This article was originally published on LinkedIn where you can also follow Tony’s award-winning blog. Also, visit Tony’s keynote speaker website at www.TonyHughes.com.au or his sales methodology website at http://www.rsvpselling.com/.