Want your business to succeed? Start practicing Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is an essential skill in every career, and people working in the sales department need it even more than others.

• Emotional intelligence is the ability to pay attention, monitor your emotions, influence, and understand other people’s feelings.
• Those who have high emotional intelligence do not allow their emotions to dictate their decisions or actions; instead, they recognize when it is time to manage the potentially evolving feelings.
• Working on emotional intelligence skills can have a positive impact on your career, your private life, and your overall health.

There are many things that are mandatory for a specific person to be an appropriate salesperson. Confidence, motivation, passion, and drive are all necessary, and the most crucial skill is the emotional intelligence.

What Does Emotional Intelligence Mean?

Emotional Intelligence is the skill to feel and manage emotions. The value of emotional intelligence in the workplace increases as people become more educated about stress management in the workplace and about the creation of an environment that marks mental health at work. Emotional Intelligence is a crucial factor in cultivating a healthy workplace. The five critical elements of emotional intelligence are:

• Self-awareness
• Self-regulation
• Motivation
• Empathy
• Social skills

Emotional Intelligence Influence

Emotional Intelligence is a significant asset for every salesperson as it involves reading other people’s feelings and having a better understanding of sales.

Managing Feedback

Emotional Intelligence is a real deal when handling feedback. Each potential client has different needs and concerns in the first stages of the funnel. Empathizing with customers and their needs, and being aware of their unique requirements makes the process easier. Every rejection is an opportunity, and if it is handled well with a newly presented opportunity, it might provide even more significant sales results. 

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Managing Rejections

Every salesperson sees ‘no’ as an opportunity to do more or offer something better in the future and more valuable for the client. Seeing the rejections involves having a great understanding of emotional intelligence, and it is essential not to see the rejection personally but as a request for a future better proposal.

Read more about how to manage a business during Coronavirus outbreak

Building Rapport

In business, every sales approach requests a different type of procedure. When the salesperson has excellent emotional intelligence, this is way easier. The method differs based on seeing how the other person likes to be treated. Sometimes a client would prefer to be addressed by title or informally by name. It is essential to see how the lead wants to be called so the salesperson could adapt and pitch accordingly.  

Delayed Gratification

Every salesperson is into closing a deal, but what differs a right salesperson from others is that they always prefer delayed gratification instead of instant gratification.

People with High EQ are also Great Managers

Having emotional intelligence and working in sales means having a mentally and emotionally stable personality. The sales industry is an adrenaline-driven profession, and sometimes if the team feels like celebrating, the manager needs to be aware and raise the spirit of the group.

An emotionally intelligent manager will always see the need when someone needs and wants to talk and balance the positivity and team spirit, which boosts the sales team’s results. The natural ability to read emotions helps the manager to indulge in a closer relationship and creates a better working space for everyone.

For example, if Jack has strengths in conflict management, he would be skilled in giving people unpleasant feedback. And if he were more inclined to influence, he would want to provide difficult feedback to lead his direct reports and help the results grow. For example, Jack has a colleague who is overwhelmed. Rather than smoothing the interaction, with emotional intelligence balance of EI skills, he could bring up the issue to his colleague drawing on emotional self-control to keep her reactivity at bay while telling the colleague what, individually, does not work in the way he wants—discussing issues to the surface tackle he core of conflict management. Jack can also draw on influence strategy to explain to his colleague that he wants to see the colleague succeed and that if he monitored how his style improves everyone around, he will understand better how he could help them.

Similarly, if Jack has developed his managerial competence, he would be more successful at managing change. A manager with this strength can communicate a vision and mission that resonates emotionally with themselves and their teams, an essential ingredient in strategic management. Emotional Intelligence urges change and includes visionary leadership.

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Ways to Increase Emotional Intelligence (EI)

EI is an essential skill that gets improved with time and with focused development on self-perception and self-awareness. It is a conscious choice of understanding and reading people needs, and there are several tips and tricks on how you can increase your emotional Intelligence:

• Answer without reaction. It is widespread to feel anger and outbursts during conflict situations. People with higher emotional Intelligence can remain calm in the most stressful situations and do not make impulsive decisions. Emotional Intelligence helps in managing conflict and stressful situations.

• Listen before acting. Listening is way more important than hearing. Managers with high emotional Intelligence first listen actively and carefully notice body language. They have a better understanding of what is being told before they act and see the nonverbal signs during the communication. This prevents misunderstandings, shows respect for the person talking, and allows the listener to respond appropriately.

• Stay approachable and open. Be positive. Compliment your colleagues and clients. Radiate positive energy around you. Practice mindful management.

How to See if You Have Improved in Emotional Intelligence? 

There is a 360-degree assessment, which collects both a self-rating and views of others who know you well. The external feedback is particularly helpful for evaluating all areas of emotional Intelligence, including self-perception and self-awareness, which helps you see how well self-aware you are. You will see where your strengths and weaknesses lie by asking those who work with you to provide you with feedback. The more answers you get from the input, the more precise picture you will get. The more significant the gap between a person’s self-rating and how other people see them indicates how the EI status is. 

Our actions define our life, and they are mostly based on our perceptions and view of things. It makes every business excellent to hire professionals and managers that are pleasant to work with, especially in sales. Being able to influence our actions and understand our clients’ emotions is one of our key strengths. In Cosmic Development, we have 90 percent of the clients coming from referrals, and 90 percent of the clients choose to continue working with us again, thanks to this approach and communication.

Success is defined by continuous improvement, devotion, and communication with your clients.

Reach us and discuss more with our experts here.  

Sources:

• psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/emotional-intelligence
• hbr.org/2017/02/emotional-intelligence-has-12-elements-which-do-you-need-to-work-on

The post Benefits of Emotional Intelligence in Sales appeared first on Cosmic Development.

Emilija Nikoloska is the Senior Business Consultant at Cosmic Development. She has almost nine years of experience with our company and is a real expert in her field. Being a Senior Business Consultant is not an easy job for sure, but Emilija knows exactly how to handle it, regardless of the difficulty. In this interview, Emilija talks about her beginning at Cosmic, her career development and the responsibilities she has as a Senior Business Consultant. She also shares her favorite sources of information and the tools she uses on a daily basis.

As we were curious about her success, we asked her to answer several questions about her work experience and her story connected to Cosmic. We wanted to see what it takes to achieve higher goals and what you learn along the way. If you want to discover more details about her Cosmic journey from Office Manager to Senior Business Consultant, continue reading the article below.

How did your Cosmic journey begin? Could you please tell us when and how it all started? 

My Cosmic journey started back in 2011. I was one of the first six people that Cosmic hired at the time. I still remember my first day at the office, like it was yesterday. We were all new employees and it felt pretty much like the first day at school, but this time for grown-ups . We were all very excited about the new job positions and the new office environment at the beginning. Yet we felt nervous and uneasy as we all took part in a new venture that was still to be proven. From this point of view, I can only say that all of those “worries” were unnecessary as everything turned out just fine. Looking back, I can say I joined Cosmic when it was still a concept, an idea, and now I’m glad that I’ve been doing my part to make that idea a reality.  

Your path from Client and Office Manager to Senior Business Consultant is impressive. How did you manage to handle the transition?

Well, that won’t be the only transition I made in Cosmic. When I joined the company, I was working for a client at first, just like everyone else in the company. Later, I became a Team Lead and after a short while, I was given the chance to become an Office Manager. Once I proved to be hardworking enough and successful in the above, I dived into the Business Development section. Like all transitions, it comes with many unforeseen situations and requires a lot of work and enthusiasm. 

Being a Senior Business Consultant is a much more responsible position than the ones you held before. How do you cope with the demands of your job?

Every job entails a list of responsibilities that the employee must cope with. I consider myself not only a hard-working person but also as one of those employees who are thirsty for knowledge and are always on the lookout for new experiences. Moreover, I tend to learn as much as I can on a daily basis. I like to read everything that might help me with my job – from online articles to books (both hard-copy and e-versions). Apart from my personal effort, I’m lucky to have enormous support from the upper management of Cosmic Development.  

The effort you put into your work is impressive. Seems like you truly love what you do! When did you discover that you want to be a Business Consultant? 

I believe that I got it along the way. At first, it was more like a challenge and an opportunity to contribute more to the success of the company. But then, it seems like everything clicked. It’s hard to give proper reasoning, I must admit. This is probably the best explanation I can give as I believe all crucial decisions in our lives are made with the help of our subconscious minds. We just feel it’s the right thing to do, without being able to name proper reasons. 

Thank you for these thorough answers. But, if we want to summarize, what would be your advice to young people who are wondering how to make a career development like yours? 

As a summary, I would give a piece of short advice to young people who want to make career development or career change. I know that it is not easy to take a risk or to make changes overnight, but if they want to advance in their careers, they have to try. My best advice for them is just to listen to their inner self and to take challenges that are worth their time and effort. By doing so, success is guaranteed and career advancement is inevitable.

How do you stay updated with news from the industry and the latest trends? What are your favorite sources of information? 

I’ll try to be short on this one. As probably most of the employees in the IT industry do, I read all influencing tech-related sites. The websites that I tend to visit daily are the following: techcrunch.com, mashable.com, digitalagencynetwork.com, and digitaltrends.com. I would also add to the list dailyhive.com as of recent. However, this list is ever-changing and evolving. I happen to find myself exploring new sites every once in a while, in order to stay on track with the latest trends in the IT industry.

What are your favorite tools that you use as a Senior Business Consultant? Could you tell us more about your experience with your most favorite one?

As a Senior Business Consultant, I have so far used various tools that alleviated my job. The constant tool that I use at the moment is the CRM tool – Close.com. If you want to discover what it can provide as a CRM, you can read the article that I wrote by following this link. In addition, I use other tools that are only a matter of testing and finding better ones along the way. A few of the most used ones right now are Alexa, Get Prospect, Hunter, etc.  

Where do you find inspiration for your work? Who are your heroes? Who inspires you?

It may sound odd, but one of my favorite heroes is my grandfather Nikola, my father’s father. He is a truly remarkable person. Right now, he leads an active family life at the age of 87. As a retired Mechanical Engineer, he keeps his mind busy and learns something new constantly. He often says to me: “To lead a healthy lifestyle, you have to keep both your mind and body in shape”. That is where I get my inspiration from and other heroes I meet every now and then. These are people who are exceptions, extraordinary and unique in their own way.  

What is your greatest achievement outside of work?  

Not sure if it’s an achievement but having a loving family is the first thing that comes to my mind. I have a supporting husband and two cute boys, who mean the world to me and who make my life better every day. They are more than an achievement actually, they are my reason to live. They teach me how to be a better person in general, not only in the role of a mother.

What do you like to do for fun? 

Fun? Who has time for that?! Hahaha Just kidding. Honestly, I enjoy catching up with friends and being around fun people. I try to enjoy the little things in life like riding a bike to work (in spring and summer only ). I want to be drinking coffee in silence, watching a great movie once in a while, going to the theater or to a concert, etc. 

Want to join our team?

Check out our open positions on our Careers page.

The post Career Path to Becoming a Senior Business Consultant appeared first on Cosmic Development.

Vladimir Novachki is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Cosmic Development. With over ten years of experience in the IT sector, Vladimir has a lot to say when it comes to building high-performance, scalable web applications which can handle hundreds of thousands of real-time users. He is directly involved in the implementation of solutions for large enterprises, some of which are ranked in the top 5 websites in the world in their field, such as Little Things and  AFV, among others. Vladimir is also the creator of one of the first fully Macedonian mobile applications. He is genuinely passionate about hardware prototyping and blockchain technology, as well.

Curious about his success, we asked our CTO to share his story and experiences – how did he make his rags-to-riches professional dream come true, what were some of the key steps in his career to this point, and what has he learned along the way.

In this interview, Vladimir also talks about the learning process. Many young people today are keen to dive into the ocean of the IT industry, but they are unsure of how and where to start. Should they learn in computer classes or on the internet? Or should they perhaps enroll in some specialized programs? Vladimir explains what is the best combination in his opinion and advises his future colleagues to be persistent and keep going, to stay updated with the latest technologies and to try not to focus on the code alone, but also the bigger picture.

Employee Recognition Awards Ceremony 2018

Your path from intern to CTO is more than inspiring. Could you please tell us how it all started? 

Like many great things in life, this one started by chance. One of the Cosmic Development’s founders gave a speech at the university, and I remember being so inspired by what he had to say about the IT industry. I instantly recognized Cosmic as the right place for me and decided to apply for their very first internship program. It turned out there were more than 50 undergraduates who applied for that program as well, but I was fortunate enough to be one of the four chosen interns. We were given the opportunity to work on real applications used by lots of people. The whole experience was truly priceless.   

After finishing the internship program, there was mutual interest between the company and myself to continue working there as a full-time employee and to keep working on those projects. Over the years of continuous learning and improvement of my skill set, I was empowered to nurture and grow my career in the company and consequently became the CTO. I guess I was lucky enough to find the perfect fit company right from the start.

Being a CTO is a much more responsible position than the ones you held before. How do you cope with the challenges of your job?

As CTO, I am responsible not only for the technological requirements and operations but also for managing and providing guidance to the rest of the programmers in our company. CTOs are required to have extensive knowledge of the technologies and processes of software development, along with a company’s strategy, and I’m doing my best to ensure that Cosmic Development is always at the top of the game. Another set of my responsibilities include regular communication with all of our clients and pretty frequent business trips.

However, all of that comes naturally, because as a software development company, the business strategy largely depends on the technology we use, and I feel confident in the choices we (my team and myself as the CTO) make in that area. We work with big clients who are in the world’s top 5 in their fields, such as Little Things, AFV, and Rumble. Together with our teams, I am directly involved in the implementation of solutions for most of our clients and make sure we deliver high-quality products that contribute to our clients’ success.

Vladimir Novachki, CTO and His Team

The openness and the ease with which you talk about work is impressive. It sounds like you truly love what you do! When did you discover your passion for programming? 

My interest in programming dates back to my elementary school years. I believe it was 2001 when I came across a book called “Introduction to Computer Programming (Computers & Electronics)” by Brian Reffin Smith. It was an illustrated children’s guide to computer programming, and I was hooked instantly. I remember learning about the basics of the programming language BASIC from it. My access to the Internet was quite limited at that time, so a “no computer needed” programming book, or in my case – “no internet needed” guideline was much appreciated.

In addition to a lack of Internet access, we didn’t have informatics at school at all. Still, we had magazines like “PC Info” and “Plugin,” so thanks to those publications, I’ve learned a lot about Linux and Visual Basic. Then I decided to enroll in high school specialized in computer science and learned about the architecture of computer systems, how to code in Pascal, how to use the environment of Delphi, etc. I also dedicated much of my free time to study HTML on my own, and in 2002, I created my first website. I used the premises of Internet Clubs in Skopje and a bunch of floppy disks to upload and update it. The fun thing is – the website is still alive, and you can check it out here. Just make sure to enable Flash in your browser if you wish to see it.

That really sounds exciting! What happened next?

My passion for computers and computer coding had reached a whole new level when I began university studies. I took a much more serious approach to programming at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies. I learned a lot about advanced concepts – from the development of the application for the command line, web and mobile applications, some simple hardware modules, all the way to advanced hardware prototyping.

However, the process of learning and training did not end with my formal studies, but on the contrary – it gave me a sound basis for constant upgrading of knowledge and skills. I still keep learning with every new project I’m involved with. 

Thank you for these insightful answers. But, if we want to summarize, what would be your advice to young people who want to go your way? 

There is no magic wand that could make a top-notch programmer out of you (let alone CTO) if you are not a hundred percent dedicated to it. If you really want to succeed in this game, you better prepare yourself for continually expanding your knowledge and upgrading your in-depth understanding of the newest technologies. 

My best advice to young people is to stay curious and open to new things. The era of being an expert in one technology is long gone. Nowadays, everyone who wants to call him or herself a good developer must stay flexible – those who get too attached to a specific syntax or programming language are doomed to fail in this ever-changing world of the IT industry. Young developers should try and focus more on concepts, structures, and algorithms. They need to see the big picture and to know how to connect all of the dots to achieve the best possible results.

DIGIT 2018

How do you stay updated with news from the industry and the latest trends? What are your favorite sources of information? 

There are many useful websites where software developers and other IT professionals can learn about what’s going on in the industry, dig up some helpful, practical advice, post a question to the community or share their thoughts and ideas with the world. Some of my favorites are the Practical Dev, Hacker News, Reddit, among many others.

I also like to read random articles on business and other less “hardcore” work-related CTO and developers’ topics. Sometimes the change of subject or better-said focus helps us escape the vicious circle of (same old) thought and see things more clearly when solving a specific problem. My favorite go-to place for such reads is, in fact, our blog as it offers some pretty great advice on things that are quite important but less considered in the developers’ world, like breaking a daily work routine, communication tips, and other soft skills advice.  

Let’s stick to hard skills for a bit. If you have to name your favorite technology stack, what would that be and why? What tools do you find the most useful?

We should not be focused on one stack or technology. With the usage of microservices, we can break down the system into different services. Each service can be developed with the most appropriate technology for the problem that the service is solving. 

If I have to choose one stack, that would be LEMP. Although it might sound outdated, the fact is that many of the world’s biggest websites are developed on top of this stack shows how powerful LEMP truly is. We should not forget that Laravel is one of the most popular web frameworks with the most significant community. 

Web Summit 2018, Lisbon, Portugal

How do you see the future of software development and what directions should your younger colleagues take when it comes to new technologies? 

When it comes to new technologies, there are a lot of different directions. We should be focused on technologies that can solve daily life problems. 

For instance, electric scooters have completely changed the micro-mobility market. However, they are facing one big problem – the increased number of accidents on a daily basis. Technologies like IoT and machine learning can be used to solve this problem. All scooters can be equipped with GPS, accelerometer, and other IoT sensors. All collected data from these sensors could use machine learning to interpret the habits of their riders and notify the rider of dangerous practices. This is just one example where modern technologies can solve our daily life problems.

When we are talking about the future in the new technologies, we should not forget about blockchain. When I say “blockchain,” I do not mean Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Blockchain allows us to store a large amount of data safely and can be a substitute for complex software systems. It can be used in any area such as banking, education, health, government, etc.

Any last tips (from the CTO perspective) on how to stay motivated and on track with career goals?

I firmly believe that having the right work-life balance is the key. No matter what you do, always look for a balance between your professional work and your free time. Taking time for yourself to do what makes you truly happy will give your brain a chance to reboot and prepare itself for new challenges. 

If you are a programmer like I am, try not to focus on code alone, but work on your other skills as well. Those so-called soft skills or interpersonal skills will help you to deal with, let’s say, disagreements about unforeseen requirements, tight deadlines, and pressure to maximize productivity.  If you are interested in this topic, make sure to read “The Clean Coder” and “The Software Craftsman” books. It could help you immensely.

Stay connected to people and keep building relationships. Open up yourself, do the networking, attend conferences, and meet-ups. Use every chance to introduce yourself to new people and always share your knowledge, experience, and ideas with others. Give back to the community what you’ve been given, and you’ll be amazed how far that can take you. 

The post Inspirational Career Development: How to Go from Intern to CTO? appeared first on Cosmic Development.