Emotional Intelligence in Sales Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Account Managers, Business Development Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-S-041

Before you join: Participants should have prior experience of customer-facing sales, account management, business development or commercial negotiation.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Sales results often depend on what happens between the facts: whether a buyer feels heard, whether tension is handled without defensiveness, and whether the salesperson can read hesitation before it becomes a stalled deal. Emotional intelligence gives sales professionals practical ways to recognise their own reactions, interpret customer signals, establish credible rapport and influence decisions without pressure or manipulation. It is particularly valuable in complex B2B sales, account management, negotiations and customer-facing roles where trust affects access, disclosure and retention.

This course develops the emotional intelligence behaviours that support stronger sales conversations. Participants use Daniel Goleman’s four-domain model, Nonviolent Communication principles, the SCARF model and the Ladder of Inference to improve self-awareness, self-management, empathy and relationship management. They learn to prepare for emotionally charged meetings, ask questions that reveal buyer priorities, respond to objections constructively, manage conflict, negotiate under pressure and recover after rejection or difficult feedback.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with sales cases, peer discussion, group analysis, role-play simulations and structured reflection. Scenarios include procurement negotiations, dissatisfied key accounts, delayed decision-makers, price objections and internal stakeholder conflict. Participants receive feedback on observable sales behaviours rather than personality labels. Each participant leaves with a personal emotional intelligence sales action plan, conversation preparation tools, objection-response structures and a practical method for improving key customer interactions.

The course suits experienced sales professionals and sales managers who already understand their products, customers and commercial process, but want to improve the quality of their judgement, communication and relationships in demanding conversations.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess personal emotional triggers using Daniel Goleman’s four-domain emotional intelligence model
  • Prepare customer meetings using stakeholder emotions, trust factors and likely pressure points
  • Apply active listening and empathy techniques to uncover buyer concerns and decision criteria
  • Use Nonviolent Communication to respond constructively to objections, conflict and criticism
  • Manage emotional reactions during price discussions, procurement negotiations and difficult account reviews
  • Interpret verbal, vocal and behavioural customer signals without making unsupported assumptions
  • Build a personal emotional intelligence development plan linked to sales performance situations
  • Coach sales conversations using observable emotional intelligence behaviours and feedback criteria

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater composure during rejection, criticism and high-stakes customer discussions
  • More accurate reading of buyer hesitation, priorities and relationship risks
  • Stronger discovery conversations through empathy, listening and well-timed questioning
  • Practical language for responding to objections without becoming defensive
  • A targeted development plan for improving personal sales behaviours

For your organisation

  • More consistent customer experiences during difficult sales and service interactions
  • Improved qualification through clearer understanding of buyer concerns and motives
  • Reduced relationship damage from reactive objection handling and internal escalation
  • Stronger retention conversations with dissatisfied customers and at-risk accounts
  • Better manager coaching through observable emotional intelligence sales behaviours

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can identify the emotional intelligence behaviours that affect trust, access and sales outcomes.

  • Daniel Goleman’s four-domain model applied to sales conversations
  • Emotional triggers mapped across prospecting, discovery, proposal and renewal stages
  • Distinguishing emotion, mood, belief and observable customer behaviour
  • Sales outcomes affected by trust, threat perception and psychological safety
  • Baseline EI self-assessment translated into two behavioural development priorities
  • Ethical influence boundaries: rapport building without manipulation or false empathy

Participants can recognise personal emotional patterns before they impair judgement or communication.

  • Trigger mapping for rejection, silence, challenge, discount demands and criticism
  • Body cues identifying early signs of stress and defensive behaviour
  • Ladder of Inference used to separate facts from assumptions
  • Automatic thought patterns that distort customer intent and sales judgement
  • Johari Window feedback principles for reducing communication blind spots
  • Meeting debriefs structured around behaviour, emotion, interpretation and outcome

Participants can regulate emotional responses during pressured sales and negotiation situations.

  • STOP technique used before responding to provocative customer statements
  • Cognitive reappraisal for reframing setbacks, objections and perceived rejection
  • Response-delay techniques during tense calls, meetings and email exchanges
  • Emotionally neutral language replacing defensive explanations and premature concessions
  • Preparation routines for maintaining composure before high-stakes sales meetings
  • Recovery practices following lost deals, conflict and difficult performance feedback

Participants can identify customer emotional cues while avoiding unsupported interpretations.

  • Verbal, vocal and behavioural signals interpreted as hypotheses, not facts
  • Customer hesitation distinguished from disagreement, confusion and lack of authority
  • SCARF model applied to status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness
  • Stakeholder emotion maps identifying individual concerns within buying groups
  • Pattern recognition across changes in pace, tone, participation and questions
  • Clarifying questions tested before acting on inferred customer emotions

Participants can use empathy and active listening to reveal commercial and emotional buyer needs.

  • Active listening through attending, reflecting, summarising and checking meaning
  • Open questions uncovering operational pressures, risks, priorities and personal concerns
  • Empathic statements that acknowledge experience without making promises
  • Three-level listening: content, emotion and underlying customer interest
  • Silence used deliberately after difficult questions and customer disclosures
  • Discovery notes separating stated needs, inferred concerns and verified decision criteria

Participants can establish rapport and trust without relying on superficial relationship techniques.

  • Trust Equation applied to credibility, reliability, intimacy and self-orientation
  • Rapport built through pacing, relevance, consistency and accurate recall
  • Expectation-setting language for meetings, follow-ups, delays and commercial limits
  • Psychological safety created through curiosity, transparency and respectful challenge
  • Trust repair steps after errors, missed commitments and customer disappointment
  • Account contact plans balancing relationship warmth with commercial purpose

Participants can respond to objections by addressing both the stated issue and its emotional context.

  • LAER model: listen, acknowledge, explore and respond to objections
  • Nonviolent Communication for observations, feelings, needs and clear requests
  • Price objections explored for budget limits, value doubts and procurement tactics
  • Defensive customer language reframed into questions for diagnosis
  • Acknowledgement statements that validate concerns without conceding commercial position
  • Objection-response plans combining evidence, empathy, options and agreed next steps

Participants can address conflict directly while protecting the customer relationship and commercial position.

  • Interest-based negotiation distinguishes positions from underlying customer interests
  • Difficult Conversations framework separates contribution, identity and emotional issues
  • Conflict escalation signals recognised before meetings become adversarial
  • Boundary-setting language used for unreasonable requests and inappropriate behaviour
  • Repair conversations structured after service failures, misunderstandings and broken commitments
  • Internal escalation messages framed with facts, impact, options and required decisions

Participants can manage emotion strategically during negotiation while preserving value and trust.

  • BATNA preparation reduces anxiety and impulsive concession-making under pressure
  • Emotional anchors identified before discussing price, scope and contract terms
  • Concession planning links each movement to reciprocal customer commitments
  • Calibrated questions used to test constraints without creating defensiveness
  • Procurement pressure answered with curiosity, evidence and disciplined pauses
  • Closing language confirms confidence, concerns, owners and next decision steps

Participants can sustain emotional intelligence habits through feedback, reflection and targeted application.

  • SBI feedback model applied to observable sales conversation behaviours
  • After-action reviews identify emotional patterns, choices and customer responses
  • Resilience routines protect focus after rejection, delay and difficult feedback
  • Manager coaching questions strengthen reflection without prescribing every answer
  • Personal account priorities translated into emotionally intelligent communication actions
  • Ninety-day application plan with behaviour measures, support and review dates

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Emotional intelligence sales self-assessment
  2. Customer stakeholder emotion map
  3. Sales meeting emotional preparation checklist
  4. LAER objection-response planner
  5. Difficult conversation planning template
  6. Ninety-day emotional intelligence sales action plan

Who should attend

  • Account Managers — strengthen trust, retention and difficult customer conversations
  • Business Development Managers — improve discovery, rapport and influence with senior buyers
  • Sales Executives — handle objections and rejection with greater control
  • Key Account Managers — manage competing stakeholder expectations and account tensions
  • Sales Managers — coach emotional intelligence behaviours within their sales teams
  • Customer Success Managers — address dissatisfaction while protecting commercial relationships

Skills and tools covered

Emotional self-managementCustomer empathyActive listeningObjection handlingNegotiation composureRelationship management

Tools and standards

Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Model, SCARF Model, Nonviolent Communication, Ladder of Inference

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce models, followed by customer cases, group analysis, paired practice and realistic sales simulations. Participants work with situations such as guarded prospects, procurement pressure, pricing disputes, customer complaints and stalled decisions. Structured observation sheets focus feedback on listening, questioning, emotional control, empathy and influence. Individual reflection and application planning connect the methods to live accounts, upcoming meetings and recurring sales challenges.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have prior experience of customer-facing sales, account management, business development or commercial negotiation. They should be familiar with their organisation’s sales process, products or services, typical customer objections and performance expectations. The course assumes willingness to reflect on personal communication habits and receive behavioural feedback. No psychology qualification, psychometric certification or prior emotional intelligence training is required. Participants do not need advanced negotiation training, although experience of real customer discussions will make the methods more immediately applicable.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience in a customer-facing sales, account management or business development role. No psychology background, psychometric certification or prior emotional intelligence course is required.

Bring examples of real sales situations that involve objections, stalled decisions, difficult stakeholders or customer tension. Do not bring confidential customer data; anonymised details are sufficient for application planning.

It is designed for sales professionals, account managers, key account managers, customer success managers and sales managers. It is most useful for people who already conduct customer conversations and need better control in demanding interactions.

General sales courses usually focus on sales process, questioning, value propositions and closing. This course concentrates on the emotional behaviours that shape trust, listening, objection handling, conflict and influence within those activities.

You will use the methods to prepare for customer meetings, interpret hesitation, manage your reactions and respond to objections with greater discipline. The final application plan links specific behaviours to live accounts and upcoming conversations.

The five days provide approximately 32.5 contact hours, delivered from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided between instructor input, sales cases, discussion, simulations, feedback and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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