Emotional intelligence remains the real growth advantage

New consumer research suggests emotional intelligence is no longer just a useful workplace skill. It is something customers actively look for, particularly as businesses turn to AI to control costs, improve consistency and reshape the way sales teams communicate.

 

More than half (53%) of the public say they trust salespeople more when there is no pressure to decide immediately, while 43% value honest acknowledgement of pros and cons, 41% transparency around pricing, and 37% a clear understanding of their needs.

 

At the same time, 50% say they do not fully trust AI-driven sales tools and 45% say they value human connection, reinforcing the idea that empathy and judgement are only becoming more commercially valuable, not less. 

 

Emotional intelligence should be categorised as a commercial capability, not a soft skill. It’s worth a detour to note that ‘soft’ skills were named by the US Army in the 1960s to differentiate one category of vital skills from another set - not to imply they were lesser. Leadership, communication, and motivational skills were recognised as vital, but hard to quantify, whereas ‘hard’ skills involving technical processes and the use of machinery could be more easily measured. It feels like the widespread adoption of the term has led society to view soft skills in a dismissive sense. As the business mantra goes, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage (or improve) it.

 

Now though, in a low-trust, AI-shaped sales environment, companies that make customers feel understood, respected and unpressured - i.e. confident and happy in the process - are sure to have an edge.

 

 

The trust problem is now a growth problem

Businesses that rely on sales-team-led customer conversations face a significant trust deficit. Presently, only 21% of the UK public see business sales as trustworthy, while 43% say it is definitely untrustworthy. Within the business, sales performance can no longer be all about pipeline volume or speed or the many other metrics traditionally deployed. Given this wider context, it should also depend on whether customers believe they are being helped rather than ‘handled’ - particularly when automation is doing more of the handling.

 

The public have been clear on what will drive their trust, as given in the research quoted up top. Businesses looking for growth need to show customers that their trust is well placed.

 

Wherever there’s a role for human judgement, it will denote quality, care and attention. Where that judgement is absent, the buying experience can start to feel interchangeable. That makes it harder to defend price, protect margin or build loyalty unless the business is operating at significant scale

 

 

AI makes human judgement more valuable

It’s now well-established within business that AI is useful for removing admin, improving follow-up, and giving teams better insight. But being useful isn’t a substitute for trust. Right now, more than half of the public do not fully trust AI sales tools, while nearly half value human connection.

 

Automation is making sales more efficient, but emotional intelligence is what makes it credible. The best teams will use AI to create more time for listening, not to automate away the relationship. I believe that businesses will increasingly position themselves for more time with customers as to escape the implication of offering commoditised goods and services.

 

Emotional intelligence and judgement are not easy for everyone. Stress, rushing, and working to conflicting priorities are some of the things that kill the connection. Likewise, training and practice make for more consistent and higher quality efforts. Most businesses already invest in leadership, management and sales training. Higher quality training for all staff in all soft skills, plus critical thinking and problem solving, should rise up the agenda for organisations looking to differentiate themselves from AI-only rivals.

 

 

Emotional intelligence is how sales teams rebuild confidence

Low trust does not only affect conversion, customer preference or churn - it also affects internal performance. 67% of salespeople say that negative perceptions of the role have affected their performance, rising to 88% among 18-24-year-olds. If employees are not proud of their role or business, they are more likely to face lowered performance or leave.

 

This makes trust an element of business resilience. Leaders will want to build cultures where sales is seen as problem-solving and customer service, not persuasion at any cost. Getting there takes real ‘soft’ effort - probably why it’s not always taken seriously. The practical behaviours: active listening, transparent trade-offs, clear pricing, patience, better handover between sales and customer success, and using CRM data to avoid making customers repeat themselves - they are all relatively unglamorous, easy to rush or forget when under pressure.

 

Leaders must find acceptable metrics to make the behaviours that flow from emotional intelligence and judgement into trackable management habits that can be taught and improved on.

 

That said, the greatest feat of emotional intelligence may be simply to notice when motivation or attention is beginning to dip, or practices aren’t compatible with great service, and manage the lows.

 

 

The growth advantage is trust

I maintain that sales is not being replaced by AI but redefined by it - as every major new tech paradigm has changed the way society does business. It’s the way we use it, in line with social values expressed through regulation and responsible business practice, that matters.

 

Those businesses that treat emotional intelligence as a measurable sales and customer care discipline will inevitably win more loyalty, reduce churn and protect long-term revenue. 

 

The future of sales will belong to teams that combine data-led insight with human judgement, so that when it matters, customers can still access thoughtful, personal service - and feel it to be emotionally true.

 

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Sean Evers is VP Sales & Partner at Pipedrive

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and IvelinRadkov