Most businesses still treat this invisible force as a soft skill — when, in truth, it has become the most powerful competitive advantage.

In an age where artificial intelligence writes emails, predicts consumer behavior and even paints portraits, the one advantage still exclusively human is emotional intelligence. Yet most businesses still treat it as a soft skill — when, in truth, it has become the most powerful form of competitive intelligence.

There is nothing more exciting, or more dangerous, than a sales professional who can attack the game of selling with the strategic mind of a golfer. I am a lifer in sales who, somewhere along the way, fell in love with golf. These may seem like two unconnected occurrences in anyone’s life, but with time I realized that there are too many similarities between the game of golf and the game of sales to ignore.

Determined, intelligent and unafraid of knockbacks – all traits of great sellers.

Salespeople are also having to adapt to new technology, buyer behavior and other factors outside their control, while still striving to hit targets.