Use your emotional intelligence as an entrepreneur

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The following is taken from “Don’t Settle for a Seat”

Women in the workforce keep hearing it, “You’re so emotional.” It’s a criticism of women (usually men who are afraid to express their own feelings). The subtext reads: “You are too emotional to lead, to make prudent decisions, to be an adult.”

It’s infantilizing, harmful, and worst of all, it targets our core strength. Because our ability to feel, sense and control our emotions is actually our superpower.

Women have a stronger drive than men to connect emotionally with other people, and that has both biological and social roots. We have evolved and trained our entire lives to connect emotionally – and that skill is an asset with real economic value.

With this, for example, our broker gained our trust when my husband and I bought our home and you can use it to attract customers who are excited to work with you and who are living well for the added value you add to their lives. To do this, you need to use your emotional intelligence in a cornerstone of business life: sales.

In particular, you need to use your emotional intelligence within the new sales model that women are prepared for to succeed. In this article, I’m going to share some tips on how to increase your empathy and use your innate emotional intelligence to sell more and create lasting customer relationships.

Emotional intelligence and the old and new salesmanship

We all live in a messy moment where the old and the new kind of retail business coexist. When you compare the two, the only thing that sets them apart – emotional intelligence – becomes impossible to ignore.

When it is lacking, sales reps tend to do whatever it takes, such as: They ignore or suppress objections, stick to a script, and try to get the other person to say yes.

The new way, on the other hand, puts emotional intelligence at the center of all processes in the sales process. As a salesperson, your primary goal is to understand the customer’s needs or problems, and you do so by listening – not just to answer, but to understand.

You get into customers’ minds from your own head by paying attention not only to what they say but how they say it. Her focus, rather than expressing herself, is on serving the other person, which is what women are socialized for. This emotionally informed sales process works better and feels better for everyone.

Empathy is important

Empathy, the ability to feel what someone else is feeling, is a crucial piece of emotional intelligence. It’s about not just reading the emotions of others, but also sharing them. To build and maintain your customers’ trust, it is important that your customers see that you really care about them.

Take my fitness coaching business as an example. My ideal customer was a woman who wanted to take her health and body image into her own hands, but couldn’t do it on her own. Before she found me on Instagram, she felt pretty shitty about her body. She was likely to have feared for her health, confusion about what to eat and how to exercise, and shame that she was not getting what she wanted in these areas.

That’s not the leeway for someone willing to spend serious money on high-end fitness coaching and immerse themselves in the program with unstoppable enthusiasm. To be ready to buy, she had to be convinced that her problem was solvable, that I had the right solution for her, and that with my help, she would be able to achieve the results she wanted. It was my job to lead her on this path from fear and self-doubt to trust and self-empowerment – to show her that I have empathy and genuine care.

The best news: As a woman, you already have an advantage. Research shows that women generally show more empathy than men.

This is how you strengthen your empathy

Okay you think. I’m a woman, but the sale still drives me crazy. What if my tools are a little rusty for feeling with others? Intentional practice can strengthen your empathy and keep it in mind. Build these into your everyday life to strengthen your empathy:

Talk to new people. Invite friends over for lunch to get to know them better, or get in touch with the neighbor, whom you always wave to but have never met.

Practice curiosity. Make curiosity your number one priority in any conversation. Go beyond the usual small talk with deeper questions that provoke more intimate, real dialogue. Follow that with great listening.

Try another life. Get out of your comfort zone and try a new perspective by doing things outside of your normal routine that can open your mind to how other people’s life and views are different from yours. Start by traveling to a new place. Do something you’ve never done before, such as B. To play a new sport. Read books about people who are different from you.

If you do a few of these things on a daily basis, you will quickly find that your instincts for empathy grow stronger.

Manage your emotions during the sales process

Empathy is just an emotional intelligence that you need to master sales. Another is dealing with emotions. That is the skill that allows you to separate your ego from the outcome of the sale and meet your customers where they are.

If you are emotionally hung up on whether to get a yes or a no, there is no way you will be able to listen with empathy and tailor your response to the needs of customers. In the end, you interpret any objection, question, or disapproval as a personal attack, and that can make you feel nervous, angry, or dejected. With these emotions in the room, you will be amazed at how quickly the sales process can dissolve.

There is a simple change of perspective that solves this problem immediately: sales are not about you at all, but about the customers. If you think too much about yourself, you will get stuck in your head when you really need to be in hers. They need you to help them solve problems. So the more you focus on listening to them and showing them how your solutions will improve their problems, the easier it will be to take your ego out of the equation.

For my students who have difficulty controlling their emotions during sales pitches, I recommend practices like affirmations, mantras, and meditation to get the right mindset. Occasionally check yourself in during the conversation and ask who you are paying attention to, yourself or the other person. If you practice these simple practices regularly, you will soon be approaching every sales pitch with enthusiasm and a sense of opportunity.

Mirroring your customer

Once your ego is in control, you need to meet your customers where they are emotional. Mismatched vibrations are uncomfortable. Imagine if you were a woman on a mission ready to get the job done and the saleswoman was the definition of zen, would you think she was the right person to help you out?

You want your customers to feel like they’re on the same wavelength. So, at the beginning of the sales pitch, mirror their emotional states and energy levels. This will make them more open to following you as you lead them to the emotional state you want them to be in.

That is not to say if someone comes up to you in frustration, mirror that and spend the entire conversation annoying each other. Instead, show that you understand the person’s frustration, and then lead them to relief by explaining how to solve the irritating problem.

Watch out every day

I hope you have realized that if you pay close attention to these important skills, you can strengthen these important skills simply by going about your daily life. There is no need to take the time to practice, meditate, or reflect.

Just keep doing what you do – work, study, shop, play, socialize, and care for others – but with a more conscious awareness of the emotions in and around you. Who feels what? How do you know? How can you make them feel better and strengthen their connection with you?

Cultivate yours emotional intelligence is good for all of your relationships, but pay special attention to how this affects business interactions. When were you as a customer enthusiastic about a purchase? Unchallenged? Now whenever you buy something, feel these feelings and try to figure out where they are coming from.

This conscious practice and heightened awareness will strengthen your emotional intelligence and you will soon have the feeling that you can almost read the minds of your customers. You will feel empathy, reflect it, and create lasting connections that will serve you, your brand, and most importantly, your customers for a lifetime.

For more advice on how to use emotional intelligence to your advantage, see “Don’t Settle for a Seat” at Amazon.

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