Sellers good at "Mentalizing" are 2.9 x as likely to hit quota. New research highlights how critical this EQ skill set is for sales effectiveness
Reading between the lines is to critical sales effectiveness.
Inferring & uncovering underlying, yet often unstated & even unrealised buyer needs, motivations and objections is a higher skill that is often not talked about.
Gartner call it “Mentalizing” (terrible descriptor) in their recently published ebook called "The High Performing Seller"
I prefer sense-making (actually caring / serving?)
But call it whatever you want...
Their research shows how vital it is that your sellers leverage these skills
a) in 2025 for sales effectiveness
b) and beyond for sales career insurance
“It is a purely human skill that plays a crucial role in successful sales interactions”?Gartner
This quantifies what we have all always known: customer-oriented selling and adaptive selling improves sales performance.
"Adaptive selling enhances sales outcomes" - "Don’t put all the eggs in one basket: examining adaptive selling behavior in salespeople’s performance" Open access Published: 22 October 2024
To maintain long-term relationships with customers and achieve optimal sales performance, salespeople must adjust their selling strategies to meet diverse customer needs and circumstances (Agnihotri et al., 2017; Chen & Jaramillo, 2014; Ogilvie et al., 2017).
Interestingly there is a correlation between Mentalizing and adaptive selling and trust building, and as I have said before: trust is the ultimate currency in sales
Bateman, C., & Valentine, S. (2015). The impact of salesperson customer orientation on the evaluation of a salesperson’s ethical treatment, trust in the salesperson, and intentions to purchase. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 35(2), 125–142.
The higher skills of Mentalizing are especially important today because
- > 70% of reps missed quota in 2024
- Drunken sailor adoption of sales AI and automation have meant volume is up but quality of communication is down
- buyer's are at peak information overload
- 40-60% of winnable opportunities are list due to buyer's inability to make a decision as per The JOLT Effect.
How to get better at Mentalizing
Where you play largely determines how you win
It is virtually impossible to be effective at Mentalizing via
Email, SMS, WhatsApp, or Linkedin text communication.
Let alone effectively and reliably.
These channels are most often the illusion of communication.
And afford you little opportunity for reading between the lines (ironically)
1-2-1 real time conversations truly matter.
"?????????????????????????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ?? ?????? ???? ????????????? ??????????????????????; ??????? ???????????????? ?????????????? ??????????????? ?????? ?????????????????? ????????????? ???? ????? ??????????" Psychology Today
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"???? ??????????'?? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ????? ?????????????? ???? ???????????? ???? ???????? ??????? ?????????????? ???? ???????????? ????? ???????????? [?????????????] ???? ???????????????? ???? ??????"- Chaiken & Maheswaran 1994, Kumkale & Albarracin, 2004
?? Phone conversations = moneyball
Surprisingly: "??????????-???????? ?????????????????????????? ?????????????? ?????????????? ?????????????, ?????????????????? ???????????????????? ?????? ?????????? ??????? ?? ?????????? ????????" Yale University
How you sell is why you win: the buyer experience you provide is a major differentiator
Jeb Blount puts it beautifully
"???????? ??????????’?? ?????????????????? ???????????????????? ??????? ?????? ????, ???????? ?????????? ??????? ??????, ????? ???????????????? ???????????? ??????? ???????????? ????? ????????"
Master the skills of Mentalizing - Levelling up your Seller EQ
? Active listening
- key skill that enables sellers to fully engage with what buyers are saying and respond accordingly
? Perspective-taking
- putting oneself in the buyer’s shoes and imagining how the situation appears to them
? Empathising
- when sellers showcase emotional intelligence by considering how the buyer’s journey makes the buyer feel
? Cognitive decoding
- synthesising all available information to predict the buyer’s behavior. This helps anticipate needs and determine what will resonate most with the buyer, but also helps the buyer in their sense-making and de-risking of the decision making process
I believe the skill of mentalising is natural byproduct of actually being curious about your prospects and wanting to understand them and their scenario because you actually care and want to truly help them...
But like any skill it can be improved and refined.
Do you believe such human skills are important in sales today?
How are you ensuring that your sellers are human-first in their selling?
Enable Tactical Flexibility
Mentalising opens up the ability to think outside the box.
Following a playbook is important, but it’s just as important for sellers to be agile and adapt to the unique needs of each buyer
? Learning agility allows the seller to experiment with different sales approaches to solve customer problems based on the specific situation.
? Situational versatility is the ability to shift strategy for sharing content with customers based on their changing needs and requirements.
By mastering these skills, sellers can swiftly adjust their approach to meet the evolving needs of clients and maximize their sales effectiveness.
Relationships are new GTM ● Co-founder Extrovert ● GP @ INNORETAIL VC
2 周In 25 years of building tech, I've noticed something funny - the more AI we add to sales, the more human skills matter. Deals with genuine human engagement convert 3-5x better, even with full tech automation in place.
Helping Sales Teams & Reps Master Cold Calling | Outbound Sales Specialist | Sales Coach & Consultant | Outbound SDR Performance Manager at Employment Hero
1 个月This is a great read! Part of the reason why I despise the idea of a sales script. Being able to infer pain and its impact based on information either given or found is crucial.
Process Simulation Twin for Future-Proof Decisions.
1 个月Balancing inbound and outbound is such a powerful approach. This is the kind of strategy every business needs.
Global Outbound Sales Team Manager | Sales Development
1 个月Very true! A quality that is extremely useful when it comes to Outbound Sales however becomes that much harder to master.
in the age of information overload, and defined sales and indeed buyer processes, the ability to see the wood from the trees and read between the lines to have proper conversations is so vital. So much sales effectiveness is lost with misguided pre-occupation on just doing what is more efficient / leveraging sales tech