The customer experience shift occurring right before our eyes is causing a sea change in sales. The transactional sale is being consumed by a myriad of company websites offering products and solutions. I think this description from the TTI blog<\/a> deftly describes the trend in sales hiring:<\/p>\n

\n
Only a few decades ago, a customer was mainly dependent on what was on supply. These days, a customer has so many options that the customer journey has become a key concept in the boardroom. Whoever delivers the most flexible, attractive, trustworthy and innovative product and\/or support wins over the customer.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The change is a supply issue – prospects have multiple solutions at their fingertips. This change puts added importance on hiring salespeople with strong “soft skills.” These skills have always been in demand for sales, but they have become critical in the past 10 years. The day of the hard-charging, damn the torpedoes hunter are dwindling. The shift is moving towards salespeople who can navigate a longer sales cycle, relationship sale.<\/p>\n
This shift is also occurring among sales leaders as they need to possess these skills to lead their new teams. Not a day goes by that we don’t discuss emotional intelligence among sales leaders with our customers. These discussions are always wrapped around the results of our assessments. There are certain aptitudes we assess that give us clear insight into a sales leader’s emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n
We start here:<\/p>\n
Empathetic Outlook<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis is the ability to perceive and understand the feelings and attitudes of others – to place oneself \u201cin-the-shoes\u201d of another and to be able to view a situation from their perspective. It involves being conscious of how one\u2019s actions will impact others.<\/em><\/p>\n
All emotional intelligence begins with empathy. The ability to understand the feelings and attitudes of others provides the feedback for the sales leader to make proper adjustments when interacting with that person. A low-empathy sales leader will make decisions without understanding the impact those decisions have on others.<\/p>\n
We end here:<\/p>\n
Internal Self Control<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis is the ability to maintain a steady and controlled level of internal emotion in a stressful <\/em>or emotionally charged situation. Although it directly affects self-composure in a difficult <\/em>situation, this capacity is more an examination of a person\u2019s tendency to allow the external <\/em>environment\u2019s level of stress to affect their internal levels.<\/em><\/p>\n
Emotional intelligence includes being able to understand your own emotions and not let them overwhelm you. Strong, modern sales leaders possess a strong self-awareness to maintain control of their own emotions. This control provides clear-headed decision-making even in the most stressful situations.<\/p>\n
In between these two ends are many aptitudes that we measure in all leaders. Monitoring others, leading others, persuading others are just a few of the measurements that reveal a sales leader’s emotional intelligence. If you are not measuring these traits in your hiring process, you are relying on your gut to guess.<\/p>\n
Don’t Guess. Know.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The customer experience shift occurring right before our eyes is causing a sea change in sales. The transactional sale is being consumed by a myriad of company websites offering products and solutions. I think this description from the TTI blog deftly describes the trend in sales hiring: Only a few decades ago, a customer was mainly dependent on what was on supply. These days, a customer has so many options that the customer journey has become a key concept in the boardroom. Whoever delivers the most flexible, attractive, trustworthy and innovative product and\/or support wins over the customer. The change is a supply issue – prospects have multiple solutions at… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,5],"tags":[417,1740,1747],"class_list":["post-47946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sales-techniques","category-trends","tag-empathy","tag-eq","tag-soft-skills"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-ctk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":436,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/11\/when-sales-job-postings-go-bad\/","url_meta":{"origin":47946,"position":0},"title":"When Sales Job Postings Go Bad","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 11, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"We keep an eye on the sales employment ads so we are informed of trends in the market. I came across an ad that was innocuous enough in its title. Then I read the opening sentence: This is a job in our Customer Service Department that can lead to an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2092,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/08\/should-you-involve-customers-in-hiring\/","url_meta":{"origin":47946,"position":1},"title":"Should You Involve Customers In Hiring?","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Quite the question, don\u2019t you think?\u00a0 That is the title of this article from Selling Power.\u00a0 I have to confess I was perplexed by the entire thought \u2013 how would you as the hiring manager benefit from having your customer help you hire the salesperson?\u00a0 I see nothing but pitfalls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1258,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/11\/sales-traits-series-sensitivity-to-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":47946,"position":2},"title":"Sales Traits Series – Sensitivity To Others","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we wrap up our year-long Sales Traits Series with the final installment. This week's trait is one that provides us insight into a candidate's soft skills when relating to a prospect or customer. Sensitivity To Others The ability to be sensitive and aware of the feelings of others, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aptitudes"","block_context":{"text":"Aptitudes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/aptitudes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1126,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/08\/a-sales-managers-biggest-responsibility\/","url_meta":{"origin":47946,"position":3},"title":"A Sales Manager’s Biggest Responsibility","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"SellingPower.com offers a terrific how-to article regarding the sales manager's role in developing his or her team. How to Ace Your Most Important Responsibility is a must read for any sales manager. The article categorizes the sales manager's approach into 5 straight-forward stages: 1. Set the schedule 2. Pre-call planning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Communication"","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":366,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/10\/anecdote-how-are-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":47946,"position":4},"title":"Anecdote – How Are You?","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok, I thought I would offer an anecdote from earlier this week. One of our customers has an unrefined sales rep who works hard but lacks many skills. He had a customer make a design change to a part that was going to cause an 18% increase in the price\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anecdotes"","block_context":{"text":"Anecdotes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/anecdotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1416,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/02\/dulled-by-success\/","url_meta":{"origin":47946,"position":5},"title":"Dulled By Success","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"There is an effect we have noticed when recruiting salespeople from larger companies that seems to be consistent across markets.\u00a0 Some salespeople, maybe many, lose their edge when it comes to prospecting when they land a large customer.\u00a0 I see this effect happening in larger companies, for some reason, more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Compensation"","block_context":{"text":"Compensation","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/compensation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Heart-Hands.png?fit=560%2C315","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48109,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47946\/revisions\/48109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}