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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Sales EQ summary
How Ultra High Performers Leverage Sales-Specific Emotional Intelligence to Close the Complex Deal
18 mins
Brief summary
Sales EQ by Jeb Blount is a sales guidebook that emphasizes emotional intelligence as the key to sales success. It teaches how to optimize sales conversations, read and respond to buyers’ emotions, and create winning experiences for them.
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Sales EQ
Summary of 7 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 7
The best salespeople think creatively to disrupt role expectations and score the deal.
Art was a young salesman in a tough spot. He was trying to sell his company’s truck leasing services to an artisanal baker. But the baker balked at the price, which he claimed to be much higher than that of his competitors. Art didn’t know how to move forward.
Frustrated, Art invited his sales mentor Joe to their next meeting. To Art’s surprise, they sealed the deal – all thanks to a brown paper bag.
How did a humble paper bag save the day? Let’s start by looking at the baker’s – the buyer’s – behavior. By arguing that Art’s prices were too high, the baker was engaging in typical buyer behavior. But instead of responding along the same lines, Joe flipped the script toward success.
The key message here is: The best salespeople think creatively to disrupt role expectations and score the deal.
After listening to the baker’s arguments about Art’s prices, Joe took out a brown paper bag containing two loaves of bread. One was a 60-cent loaf from the local supermarket, and the other was the baker’s own, much more expensive, artisanal loaf. By displaying the bread, Joe immediately disrupted the baker’s expectations of how a salesperson should behave. And with this disruption, Joe gained the baker’s full attention.
Then Joe asked the baker what made his bread worth three times as much as the supermarket loaf. The baker launched into a passionate ten-minute sermon about why the superior taste and ingredients of his loaf were worth the price.
Why did Joe ask him this simple question?
Well, when we talk about ourselves, we experience a rush of dopamine, which makes us feel good about ourselves. So, by getting the baker to talk about his bread, Joe activated a pleasant surge of dopamine in the baker’s brain. Subconsciously, the baker then wanted to reciprocate by making Joe feel good about himself, too.
When the baker finished talking, Joe explained that they’d been trying to tell him the same thing about Art’s truck leasing company. It was also more expensive than the competition because it was higher quality. In fact, they were the artisanal bread of truck companies!
In making this comparison, Joe was using the baker’s language and logic. And by speaking the same language as his buyer, he made the baker feel understood – and gained his trust in the process.
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What is Sales EQ about?
Sales EQ (2017) explores how sales professionals can leverage the power of human emotion to boost their performance. It outlines the feelings that potential buyers experience and explains how sellers can learn to keep their own emotions in check during the sales process.
Sales EQ Review
Sales EQ (2017) by Jeb Blount is a valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their sales skills and succeed in the competitive business world. Here's why this book is worth reading:
- It offers practical strategies and techniques that can be immediately applied to enhance sales performance and build better relationships with clients.
- The book delves into the importance of emotional intelligence in sales, showing how understanding and managing emotions can lead to increased sales and customer satisfaction.
- Backed by research and real-life examples, Sales EQ is an engaging and insightful read that keeps readers captivated and motivated to apply its principles.
Who should read Sales EQ?
- Sales professionals seeking fresh insights
- Entrepreneurs who want to get their business off the ground
- Business students looking for a new perspective
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Sales EQ FAQs
What is the main message of Sales EQ?
Sales EQ teaches us that emotional intelligence is a crucial factor for sales success.
How long does it take to read Sales EQ?
Sales EQ can be read in several hours, but the Blinkist summary offers a quick overview in just 15 minutes.
Is Sales EQ a good book? Is it worth reading?
Sales EQ is worth reading for its insights on emotional intelligence and its impact on sales effectiveness.
Who is the author of Sales EQ?
Sales EQ is written by Jeb Blount.
What to read after Sales EQ?
If you're wondering what to read next after Sales EQ, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- New Sales. Simplified. by Mike Weinberg
- The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
- The Science of Selling by David Hoffeld
- Sales Management. Simplified. by Mike Weinberg
- Gap Selling by Keenan
- How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins
- Every Job Is a Sales Job by Cindy McGovern
- Winning at Sales by Taylor A. Welch
- 80/20 Sales and Marketing by Perry Marshall
- The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss