Page 69 - Lighting Magazine September 2018

The perfect score is; no, no, yes. Being de cient in one of these areas will not cause an immediate closure, but when le una ended the results of the drip, drip, drip of complacency will rear up ag- gressively, more so than ever before in the history of commerce.
The non-sleeping AI (Arti cial Intelligence) that all digital commerce is built around competes head to head with showroom and sales team members 24/7-365. This past June at the AI expo in Amster- dam, the conversation that dominated the show was about the inclusion of Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Quotient (EI/EQ) into AI. The collec- tive thought is that it is time for the machines to become emotionally intelligent.
If you’re not familiar with EQ, the three com- ponents are explained simply by author and inspirational speaker Mastin Kipp:
“You need emotional awareness: How do I want to feel? You need emotional intelligence; how do I produce that feeling? And you need emotional tness; doing it.”
ei: PeOPle vs. Machine
Emotional intelligence once only belonged to humans; now it has been synthesized into an algo- rithm that is being applied to all types of business activities. For lighting showrooms, AI is forcing us to embrace and enhance the skills that cannot be replicated by machines — the ability to use empa- thy, persuasion, and the understanding of how to present to the four various social styles.
Empathy: The way to provide the level of service clients seek today when they walk into a showroom is through understanding.
In selling, empathy means having the skill set to understand how clients feel about their shopping experience. Shi ing the sales mindset from the process alone to include insight will give you the ability to be a more signi cant in uence on the clients’ decision-making process by o ering the correct solutions for them.
To create a genuine and authentic connection with customers, validate their expressed emo- tional struggles. A relationship can only occur when a salesperson is present in the moment. The way we demonstrate presence is by slowing down the sales process and focusing on the goal of un- derstanding the customer. This authentic desire to help your clients becomes an emotional telegraph
that is silently telling them that what they feel is important is also important to you.
We may think the only goal the client has is to get lighting; a er all, why else would they have come in? Yet, if that were the case, they would have bought the lights online during the discovery phase of their shopping experience. They are in the showroom for a speci c reason. Perhaps it’s to nd a certain color or size veri cation. Or it might be they are more comfortable buying from a local source known for professional service. No ma er the reason, your store needs to become a true showroom that o ers “high-touch” experiences that extend from the displays to human-to-human interaction or else the customer will leave with li le or no intent on purchasing from you. Empathy is one of the reasons why people will buy from you.
eMOTiOnal PersuasiOn
We know if we want to succeed in business – and life – we must have the ability to persuade others to accept an idea or recommendation we make. In the typical sales interaction, the salesperson will provide rational arguments – known as features and bene ts – to persuade the client to purchase an item. While this is a good tactic for a product demonstration, it does li le to convince the cus- tomer to buy.
There are a few key actions that salespeople must embrace to be able to persuade clients emotionally and successfully. Whether you are a showroom owner, manager, or salesperson, before you can persuade and in uence others, you must be personally commi ed to the process. Without that, the process is doomed.
Selling is described as the ability to transfer emotion. That being the case, to be a positive in uencer, projecting optimistic energy is a require- ment. This is done by creating an image in your mind of the positive outcome you want. When a “can do” a itude is projected, it is associated with being optimistic — and that is the power the client will feel if you share it.
You have certainly experienced that feeling when interacting with a person; you felt intuitively that they were going to guide you properly and had your best interests at heart. The way we make the client feel important is by consciously and sincerely listening to them. This one activity, when mastered, will always provide the client with a feel- ing of importance.
on the mark “When you
show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That’s when
you can get more creative
in solving problems.”
— Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly E ective People
SepteMber 2018 | enLIGHTenment Magazine 67