Emotional Intelligence as Applied to Sales Essay

Emotional Intelligence as Applied to Sales - Essay Example In the first example, I went with three friends to have breakfast at a local pancake house. While a waitress position is often thought of as a service, it is important to remember that part of her job is selling a return visit. Our waitress met us with a pleasant attitude and projected friendliness. She seemed to immediately pick up on the individual mood of the person she was addressing and adjust her responses accordingly. This was done verbally as well as non-verbally through the use of expression and body movement. I felt welcome, familiar, and comfortable. Her level of service was excellent and she seemed to have a sense of what was needed and when it was needed. She refilled the coffee in a timely fashion at various points in the meal and checked at the appropriate times to see if we needed anything else. She also inquired shortly after we began to eat whether everything was all right. The order was correct and the food was on the same high level as the waitress. By observing this waitress and evaluating her service it became clear that she had a high degree of EI. This trait enabled her to anticipate our needs and follow the three golden rules of sales. She could adjust her communication to make you feel familiar. This was accomplished through slight verbal variations and facial expressions that felt warm and non-threatening. In addition, she had fulfilled her responsibility to the restaurant by selling a return visit and creating a repeat customer. The Tire Salesmen I had accompanied a friend of mine to a Wal-Mart store to get new tires installed on his car. Before we left the house, we gathered all the information we needed regarding the tire size and style that he wanted to purchase. At the store, there were two employees behind the counter that were simply standing there while we looked over the inventory. My friend had decided to get a tire one size larger than the tires that were on the car, which had come with minimum tires as a cost saving measure. We inquired about the location of the tires and the employee motioned in the area and said 'all the tires are over there'. He offered no assistance in explaining the various prices, styles, and applications for the tires. We finally located the tires we were looking for at an acceptable price. However, when we brought the car inside he said he couldn't sell them because Wal-Mart has a store policy of only selling and mounting the manufacturer's original size. They showed little if any compassion or emotions about our dilemma. His attitude was one of neglect and uncaring. His level of emotional intelligence was very low, and he was subsequently forced to violate the golden rules of selling. While we understood that he was following store policy, he didn't seem to care about the trouble we had gone through. The Carpet Installer I recently helped an acquaintance of mine move some furniture when she was having some new carpet installed in her home. She was having the whole house carpeted and it required shuffling furniture around as the installers worked. The installer had the foresight to make a visit to the home prior to installation to advise my friend on the sequence of rooms and where the furniture could be moved to as he progressed. This simple step was extremely helpful and