It’s easy for all of us to fall into all or nothing thinking. In this day and age, the thinking is that we must teach our teams artificial intelligence skills. That thinking is correct because AI is here to stay and the power of AI is in its’ infancy.
As technology takes on a bigger role in sales and sales leadership, there will be a temptation to bypass human connections in order to keep up with the pace of change. We will be tempted to confuse efficiency with effectiveness.
We might start believing that the incredible amounts of data at our finger tips will automatically make us better sales leaders. However, in this day and age of AI, we need EI, emotional intelligence skills.
I was reminded of the power emotional intelligence during a conversation with a VP of Sales at a tech company, one that is leading the way with AI.
“Yes, with one touch, I have access to my sales forecasts, trends and predictive analytics. But let’s face it, if a salesperson isn’t achieving their sales goal, it’s not about data. There is something else going on in this person’s life and only a human conversation can uncover the challenge. Perhaps this person is feeling self-doubt trying to sell into a new vertical, overwhelmed taking care of a parent just diagnosed with Alzheimer or not keeping their CRM data updated. AI can’t solve those problems. A human conversation can.”
The key to future sales success is teaching emotional intelligence (EI) skills alongside artificial intelligence (AI) skills. The combination creates synergy, positive energy and sustainable sales results. Here are three examples.
#1: Enhanced Collaboration and Innovation. The pace of change created by AI calls for teamwork and collaboration. One person simply can’t keep up with the amount of data being created each day. Ray Kurzweil, winner of the National Medal Technology and Innovation award shares his insights around the pace change.
“It is not the case that we will experience a hundred years of progress in the twenty-first century. Rather, we will witness on the order of twenty thousand years of progress.”
EI Skills: Teaching emotional intelligence skills such as self-awareness will help salespeople be more aware of the need to collaborate. We can’t go it alone with the amount of data and information being shared daily and weekly. Collaboration requires interpersonal skills. When discussing various ways to innovate, a member of your team may have a different perspective. Instead of fighting for the need to be right, the emotionally intelligent person is aware that they are getting triggered. With that awareness, they stop fighting for the need to be right and focus on the need to understand another person’s perspective. This type of thinking leads to improved collaboration, better and more innovative solutions.
AI Skills: AI can process vast amounts of data and provide insights that can drive innovation.
Synergy: Combining EI with AI ensures that the technological insights provided by AI are combined with years of human experience which leads to innovative solutions that are practical and innovative.
#2: Improved Decision-Making and Problem-Solving. Effective problem solving is always a combination of hard skills, problem solving skills and soft skills such as impulse control, reality testing and empathy.
EI Skills: Employees with high emotional intelligence can navigate complex interpersonal dynamics and make more empathetic, ethical decisions. They will look at a challenge and apply their self-awareness skills. Increased awareness helps them avoid jumping to conclusions or easy solutions. Empathy skills help people to understand how decisions personally impact people.
AI Skills: AI can offer data-driven insights and predictive analytics to support decision-making. This aligns with the EQ skill of reality testing, the ability to look at things for what they are, not what we’d like them to be.
Synergy: When EI and AI skills are integrated, decisions are not only data-informed but also empathetic and ethical decisions. This leads to well-rounded problem-solving that considers both quantitative data and human impact.
#3: Future-Proof Workforce. Change is the new normal. We no longer have the luxury of time to embrace new changes. The challenge is that human brain does not like change because change is unknown. The unknown is perceived as a threat sending salespeople into fight or flight, survival behaviors. Salespeople become walking reactions which depletes their energy and creativity.
EI Skills: Emotional intelligence is a critical skill for adapting to change, managing stress, and maintaining resilience in a rapidly evolving work environment. With improved emotional intelligence, salespeople will avoid becoming victims of their emotions. Improved emotional intelligence allows them to remain stable so they can consistently execute the right selling behaviors.
AI Skills: As AI continues to transform industries, technical proficiency in AI ensures that employees remain relevant and competitive. Training and education will show your sales team how AI can actually make their jobs easier and more productive.
Synergy: By developing both EI and AI skills, companies prepare their workforce for the future, ensuring that employees can adapt to technological changes while maintaining strong interpersonal relationships and emotional well-being.
These reasons highlight the importance of a balanced approach to skill development, combining the technological prowess of AI with the human-centered capabilities of emotional intelligence.
We need EI skills in an AI world. Provide both types of education to your sales team.
Good Selling!
