Abstract
Success of sales professionals depends on their ability to understand the need and empathize with the customers. Research has identified the attributes that play a major role in influencing the performance of sales people of which emotional intelligence is a major contributing factor. Goleman (1998) suggested that emotional intelligence facilitates sales personnel to build a strong and profitable customer relationship. The study presented here is focused on sales personnel of the life insurance sector. The rationale behind the choice of this sector is the significant contribution of this sector to the domestic economy which is growing at a rate of 10 per cent annually (Survey, 2010-11). In spite of the stiff competition from the private insurance companies, LICI has been able to top the list of actors in the insurance sector. Behind this success of LICI, the insurance advisors play a pivotal role. The researchers have tried to explore the facets of emotional intelligence influencing the performance of these advisors in different hierarchical levels spread across the Kolkata region, based on an empirical study through a structured questionnaire. Such a study may provide guidelines for the HR professionals in career management of the insurance sector sales personnel.
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