Empathy; The Ability to understand the feelings of others.
I have learnt, the hard way, that sales is more about being interested than interesting. In Practice it has meant using the ear to mouth ratio: 2 to 1. With practice, more listening and understanding strengthens empathy, and in sales, empathy is prioritizing my clients emotions.
In other words, EQ trumps IQ.
Why is this worth more than knowledge and competency? Empathy builds connection and trust with a client. The client – you and I – buy from and do Business with those we trust and with those that show interest in what we want and how we feel. We all like to be heard right? It’s more important than being right.
Knowledge and Competency are indeed important. Delivering an impressive knowledge base flips the ratio of listening to talking the other way around, in a lot of cases. Remember when I said; be interested and not interesting.
A lot of you may agree and think of instances where being heard and understood meant more than being impressed. The sales person that asks more questions and keeps quiet, wins relationships and trust. Try it – everywhere – relationship quarrels, interviews, sales presentations and staff performance meetings.
Eva August