Successful salespeople possess many skills. They need the confidence to present sales pitches, the motivation to increase sales for their organization, and the passion and knowledge to promote your product or service. However, their most essential skill may be emotional intelligence. High-level sales involve emotionally connecting with customers. Creating genuine connections means understanding and harnessing your own emotions as well as your prospects’ and customers’ emotions.

Last week, I posted an article on the Impact of Relationship Building Challenges in Sales. The article explored what happens to salespeople who are skilled at selling, but aren’t very good at building relationships, as well as those who are great at building relationships but aren’t very skilled at selling. While there were some terrific insights, the one thing that was missing from the article was what great relationship builders do that everyone else fails to do.

Many companies focus their sales training on the nuts and bolts, such as technical skills and selling strategies, often overlooking what could be the most crucial aspect of sales development: empathy. Empathy is an important skill for all levels of the sales organization. It is particularly important in helping front-line sellers in relationship-building. For sales leaders, empathy is critical in their effort to lead and inspire. But can empathy really be learned?