When Sales Isn’t About Selling Anymore
Yesterday my team and I ran a program for the elite sales team of a leading global pharmaceutical company. Their challenge? They’re being asked to evolve beyond simply presenting products and data. Their role now is to step up and into a new function. They are to build deeper relationships with senior leaders and help solve complex client problems. It involves strengthening trust and investing in long-term conversations.
What stood out to us was this: the team leaned heavily on the content of their materials. They had the data. They had the competence. They knew how to make a case for anything and back it up with 3 nicely-packaged facts. What was missing were the human elements —emotion, passion, warmth, and being fully present.
Now, in most training programs, these qualities get discussed in theory. They're easy to rattle off and add to a Power Point slide. But they are much harder to implement than even the most impressive salespeople realize. In self-assessments, they like most of the teams we work with, always rate themselves highly in these areas. Yet when put to the test in real conversations, it becomes clear: confidence doesn’t equal connection.
That’s where outside, unbiased feedback is so valuable. Even the most seasoned, top-performing professionals benefit from a mirror held up to their habits by people who specialize in areas that round out what charisma and trustworthiness actually require. Our job is to help teams unleash their authentic qualities that help clients feel cared for, heard and supported.
When sales teams are moving into expanded roles, it's important to expand their capacities as well, not just the data they need to memorize. Preparation and knowledge are essential, yes. And so is the ability to pivot in unplanned territory, read emotional cues, carry a conversation with curiosity, and maintain a no-problem perspective.
One common hesitation we hear: “If I add more warmth or enthusiasm, won’t I come across as fake?” Fair question. However, the research shows that the opposite happens. In our group sessions, peers observing their colleagues adding warmth and emotion to how they communicate consistently report that nothing is lost — authenticity comes through more clearly because it’s not about replacing what already works; it’s about adding more of your natural superpowers that may be sitting underutilized.
There was one participant in the training that stuck with us all. A tall, commanding man, he prided himself on being calm, steady, and logical. He had been coached all these years not to intimidate or overwhelm his customers, so he doubled-down on the content of his conversations. It worked well — but there was now a ceiling he was up against. In order to grow into this new role, his clients needed to feel what he truly cared about. By overcorrecting, he had kept passion and enthusiasm under wraps. When he allowed those qualities to come through, everything shifted. His presence became magnetic and he became the "Most Improved" person of the training as a result!
Actors know this secret well: to evoke emotion, you must first feel it yourself. Great actors are able to go into their role and feel the feelings of that person so the rest of us can as well. The ones who aren't as great can't do it as well. Thanks to evolution's gift of mirroring neurons, we’re wired with the ability to experience an emotion as we witness it in others. Which means if a sales professional wants their clients to feel enthusiasm, confidence, or curiosity, they need to connect to that emotion themselves. Without it, the message falls flat — and ironically, risks coming across as less authentic.
Who doesn't love stats!
Salespeople who build trust and show emotional intelligence earn 47% more share-of-wallet (HBR).
Engaged employees with energy and enthusiasm deliver 23% higher profitability (Gallup).
93% of communication impact comes from tone and nonverbal cues—not words alone (Mehrabian).
The real growth edge for leaders and sales professionals isn’t just in knowing more. It’s in embodying more. Competence opens the door. Warmth, enthusiasm, and emotional intelligence invite people to walk through it with you. Corporate improv workshops will help get you there.
“Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
