How Emotional Intelligence Impacts Sales Performance and Employee Retention in a Dealership
According to the latest research, emotional intelligence (EI) is a crucial component of a leader's success. It can be the determining factor between making sales or losing business. In a dealership, it can create loyal customers and employees who stay motivated for long periods of time. Emotional Intelligence in Dealership helps explain why employees without EI fail to win business that's so critical for their bottom line and on-the-ground sales staff often lose their motivation to go above and beyond every day without it.
In this article, we'll explore the connection between emotional intelligence and sales in a dealership. How does it lead to true success? What can be done to increase EI in your dealership?
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize emotions, develop corresponding responses, and a capacity to monitor one's own performance. It's that very ability that makes someone want to interact with others on a personal level. The Issue is not whether one has a high IQ or the other; rather it's what makes one successful in life.
Emotional Intelligence in Dealership makes a strong case for the idea that emotional intelligence (EI) is the key to effective, sustainable sales and retention. The research supports it with case studies and stories driven by the experiences of successful and unsuccessful dealerships.
Emotional Intelligence at Work in a Dealer
Imagine you're in your car on an errand, test-driving a potential new vehicle. One of your top customers stumbles upon you while he's making his way down the line of cars. "Frankly," he tells you, "I've never had a more enjoyable car-buying experience than I just had with my last salesperson. I bought a truck from him three years ago, and I still love it. He made the experience fun for me and was so attentive to my needs, he had me in and out of here in under an hour."
How did that salesperson do it? He or she clearly understands the importance of emotional intelligence (EI). It's that set of skills and abilities that helps people accurately judge their own behavior as well as others' emotions; despite what their "gut" tells them. It's also the ability to harness EI for the betterment of a relationship with customers.
EI is one of four key components to sales success. The other three are knowledge, skills, and experience. In a dealership, the salesperson determined the customer enjoyed their experience by looking at several different behavioral cues that demonstrated he or she was in control of the meeting. The customer was smiling and laughing, talking animatedly and making personal comments. He or she paid attention to what the salesperson had to say, smiled, and related well.
Contrast that with your last car-buying experience. Perhaps you felt rushed, you weren't sure if you were being listened to or if your questions were being answered. You felt like the salesperson just wanted to get you out of there so he or she could move on to someone else or another sale. The person you were speaking with seemed to ignore your questions or needs, was impatient, and had a hard time making eye contact.
In short, you didn't feel like the salesperson was listening to what you had to say. You felt as though they were just trying to get you in and out of there as quickly as possible and maybe even back with someone else! That's how important EI is in a dealership. It all starts with a feeling of trust that is established at the moment of truth. The salesperson needs to demonstrate EI in order for the customer to feel comfortable buying from them. Otherwise, they could lose a sale or, worse yet, lose the person as a future customer.
EI in the Dealership
Let's say it's the end of a workday. You've just completed a deal with a customer where you drove over an hour to meet them. Your objective was to close the sale and get them into your lot for their new purchase, but you didn't hear back from them about an expected delivery date. In fact, when you called them back a week later, they were very upset and said they were getting ready to move on to another dealership. They cited poor service from your salesperson as the reason why. That's no way to build customer loyalty but is common among many dealerships, especially in small-town or rural areas where customers are more elusive than urban centers.
In contrast, consider EI in this situation. When you finally got a hold of them, they said, "Thanks so much for keeping in touch with me. We needed to wait until our current vehicle was paid off, but I knew from my experience with you at our last meeting that I would be buying from you again." You had a scheduled delivery date set for them for the following week. They thanked you repeatedly for your personal attention and asked if there was anything else they could do for you. Your salesperson is getting rave reviews and has earned the customer's trust. They're likely to purchase another vehicle from the dealership in the future, and refer friends and family members to you.
That's not just a feel-good story; it's real life at a dealership. EI makes it happen and can be the deciding factor between making that sale or losing it to another dealer. It doesn't matter if you're in an urban setting or small-town dealership; every one of your customers is going to remember your service, especially when they're buying their next new car or truck. They'll look at your brand as either being like them (emotionally intelligent) or being completely oblivious to their needs as a customer.
How Emotional Intelligence Is Showed at Work in a Dealer
If you're interested in learning more about emotional intelligence and EI, these are some practical tips to help you become better at it:
Translate your feelings into words. When expressing your feelings, use descriptive language like, "I feel angry," or "I'm sad." Better yet, say something like, "Yes that's true." It shows empathy by using the person's own words to express how they feel. Talk about the situation objectively. When talking to others who may have a different perspective of what is really happening, be informative and deliver a thought-out solution by saying things like, "Here are my thoughts. What do you think?" or "Here is what I propose," or "Based on what I have read…" As you demonstrate your EI in this way, the customer will likely be impressed and more open to listening to you. Be careful how you say things. Don't let your emotions get in the way; they can derail a customer's decision-making process. Rewrite any negative thoughts that come when expressing yourself in this way by saying something like, "Ever since we last spoke I've felt (fill in the blank with a different emotion)." Use honesty to demonstrate EI. If a potential customer is experiencing doubts about purchasing your product or service, tell them straight up that they may be better off choosing someone else.
Conclusion
It's no secret that in order to sell and close more sales, dealerships need to demonstrate EI. But it's not just about working on a better relationship with the customer; it also means creating an environment for your employees to learn EI as well. Take advantage of the training material offered by the International Consortium for EI since it can be used with all employees, from front-line workers up through management and owners. Just like other types of training, you should use the material at least once a year so everyone is kept up-to-date on changing trends in your business.