Join Helga and Elise Slotte for an engaging conversation about how understanding basic human needs drives motivation in selling, buying, and communication.

Elise, Founder and Leadership Development Specialist at Evolspiration, will share insights on how this awareness can revolutionise your approach, bringing sales back to what truly matters: building genuine connections with the people behind every decision.

Facts, the latest thinking, chat, and banter about the world of sales.

Come and join us for some lively discussion and debate.

This week's Guest was -

• Elise Slotte, Founder and Leadership Development Specialist at Evolspiration

This week's Host was -

• Helga Saraiva-Stewart, Founder of SalesShaker

Transcript of SalesTV.live Early Edition 2024-12-03

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:00:02]:

And we are live. Are you kidding me? Hi, everybody. This is your host, Helga Saraiva-Stewart, founder of Lead Results. I am so excited to be here today with Elisa Slote. Elisa is a motivational leadership expert and employee performance. She's founder of Evolspiration, and she's working with this incredible motivational and leadership tool called an even better place to work. Let me just very quickly thank you for you out there joining us, whether it's live or later in your own time. Thank you for being with us.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:00:47]:

Elisa, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do and the impact that you have in the world and the audience that you serve.

Elise Slotte [00:00:57]:

Yeah. Well, thank you so much for having me, and thank you for, listening to this, podcast, everyone out there. I have always tried to work with something that I have a passion for. And communication and what you can do with communication has always been one of my passions. I'm coming from sales. I turned into marketing. I turned into leadership. And during that journey, I realized that we are human beings.

Elise Slotte [00:01:35]:

Aren't we, Hilda? And that could seem quite obvious, but it's also something that I think we have started to forgotten about when we are chasing efficiency, time, money, and our communication, either if it's, leadership communication or sales communication. We have forgotten the human perspective of it. And that is my passion to to continue to work with. And when it comes to my company name, Evolspiration, it comes from evolutionary inspiration. Because, yes, I want to be inspirational. I want to be inspired by other, but only inspiration doesn't take you anywhere. It has to be evolutionary. It has to to bring development, and that is what my inspiration should be about.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:02:39]:

Wow. Well, guys, brace yourselves because this is what, you've got coming your way. Absolutely, Elisa. I know you've been blowing my mind from the very first moment I started talking with you. And it's so bizarre because our conversation has always started with being a human being. I mean, I'm a human being, and I communicate with others. Others communicate with me. I mean, what could we be doing wrong?

Elise Slotte [00:03:15]:

Yeah. Let let's let's just put out the basics out there. And for you to know who knows about Maslov, you you know about this. But it's one thing to know about it, and it's another thing to actually understand it and how it affects us. All human beings, doesn't matter where you live, what you work with, what economy you have, or whatever. We all have our basic human needs. The first one is that we need safety. We need to feel that we have, you know, food on our table.

Elise Slotte [00:03:48]:

We have a roof over your head. We have some people that loves us, around us. And when we have all that, we also need another kind of safety, Safety at work, for example. We need to be able to go to the job without knowing that everyone, is gonna be bullying me or connecting to stress or whatever. So we need safety. We also need to be loved. We need to be loved for who we are. And it doesn't mean that everyone needs to love you.

Elise Slotte [00:04:22]:

And it doesn't mean that you need to love everyone you work with, for example. You don't need to love your whole team. You don't need to love your manager. But you need to make an effort to find so much positive things to like about this person so that the person feel loved, so to speak. You understand what I mean?

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:04:46]:

I do. Oh my gosh. Absolutely. So is that the ultimate level?

Elise Slotte [00:04:53]:

That is the ultimate level. That is the very basic. And then we come also back to how leadership can work with this and also in sales that we want to feel unique. We want to feel that I make a difference. I'm not just a part of a big group that do something together. That is also important to feel that you're a part of something bigger and that you have, an impact on it. But you also need to hear that you are unique. So safety, love, feeling unique, and feeling that you have a purpose.

Elise Slotte [00:05:32]:

That is what I call our basic human needs, that we're gonna talk about today. So I have a question for you.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:05:41]:

Oh, I love this. Okay. I'm gonna brace myself. Go for it.

Elise Slotte [00:05:46]:

How often do you wake up in the morning and the first thing you think about is, oh my god. I need to turn my phone on because I hope there is a salesman calling me today trying to tell me something.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:06:00]:

All the time. No. No. I think I think I wish sometimes that I would get a phone call from someone, from a salesperson that sounded like they care about me. And I do still look forward to that call, and that is the honest truth. I would love to have a phone call from somebody that gives me the kindest script script that makes me feel like they care about me, and they're trying to help me to achieve some kind of a result.

Elise Slotte [00:06:34]:

Exactly. And I think whoever I would have asked that question, no one will say, yes. That is how I feel every morning. Doesn't happen. We have completely destroyed the sales communication because we are trying to sell something instead of trying to make the persing person want to buy. That is a huge difference. So if we connect that part into leadership, it's the same thing. If you're a leader, you should wake up in the morning thinking, today, I really want to motivate my team to do the effort and participate in work and do their very best.

Elise Slotte [00:07:26]:

Instead of waking up in the morning as a leader and feel, oh my god. Today, I need to try to make the team do as they should do. It's a huge difference. Right? And when you understand and actually start to see people in your team or the client you have in front of you as a human being instead of just a client or a salesperson or an accountant or whatever it is, it changes the mindset. Because when you understand that you need to make this person feel safe, first of all. In management, if you call someone for a 1 to 1 meeting, you need to know that this person feel, oh, that's nice. My manager want me to, you know, develop something or maybe I get a new, task to do. You don't want your team to feel, oh my god.

Elise Slotte [00:08:33]:

My boss needs to talk to me. I wonder what I've done now. It comes down to the basic human needs of safety. It's just as simple as that. And you need to think about how can I, as a manager, communicate in a way that my team actually feels safe? Stress is a huge bomb that destroys this most of the time. I am I am a very, you know, out speaking Swede. And we are not as polite as British people, for example. And, sometimes when I talk and I'm stressed, I'm just telling people, you know, to do stuff.

Elise Slotte [00:09:18]:

That is not a good way to do it because maybe they receive it a little bit harder than I want them to do. So we need to we need to you need we need to feel, safe ourselves, and we need to create safety. So that is the first thing. And when you are want to sell something, the the reason why you don't want salespeople to call you is most of the time because you don't feel safe with it. You directly feel, oh my god. Maybe I'm gonna be scammed here or I'm gonna buy something I don't need or, you know. They they have forgotten to make people feel safe. It's just that simple.

Elise Slotte [00:10:07]:

It's just to understand that basic human need.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:10:12]:

So, I mean, there so many things come to mind that I wanna ask you now. But, let's just start with, you know, especially in big corporate companies, which I know that a lot of your experience is connected, with that. You've got, if you are lucky to have a board of employees which is diverse, from different cultures, with different levels of sensitivity, and with a big corporate, you're really steering a huge organization of people. And we have I think it's fair to say that we have seen the world evolve where people have become resources and commodities that you kind of manipulate to drive your goals, the goals of the organization. AI is now coming in to help strengthen that point, right, and that positioning that, look, you know, we have to work with machines because we need to be productive. And so, you know, it feels like the world has tried very hard to take sensitivity out so that employees care more than anything about the well-being of the organization and contributing. But now we're saying that, look, the organization can work better and be more productive if we stop start treating people more like humans. So where does leadership stand and how can leadership be effective?

Elise Slotte [00:11:48]:

Yeah. It's very interesting, and it's gonna be very interesting to see in 10, 15 years where we are and how AI have, changed, our way of working and everything. And I think AI is is something good in many ways, but I do believe that it's even more important now when we have AI to understand the human factor in communication. Because AI will be developed in a way so they can understand a little bit. But still, we need to be a human to understand another human and to read other people's reactions, in a good way and communicate in a way that people are feeling unique, for example. So, yes, AI should be a tool, but we need to remember that it's still about human beings. And that is what scares me a little bit with AI because as you said, it takes us even further away from understanding how we are working. And AI itself could be scary, which makes people feeling unsafe again.

Elise Slotte [00:13:15]:

And what happens then? They say, mm-mm. I don't think so. So it all comes back to this. Another thing, when we are talking about leadership and connecting to the team and also maybe to want them use AI, If we want them to use that, we need to make it into the tool it should be and not, as a tool to replace them. Because that is also something that many people are, afraid of now, to be replaced. And once again, then we come back to basic human needs of feeling unique, feeling that I matter, my experience, my knowledge, what I can contribute with matters. They can't just replace me with a machine. And this is nothing new.

Elise Slotte [00:14:18]:

We have had this this kind of changes in the world for 100 and 100 of years. In when the when the industrial era came, everyone was afraid back in the 18 100 century to be replaced by machines. We know we still need a human. When Internet came, everyone said, oh my god. Now we don't need humans anymore. Yes. We did. But maybe we need them in another way.

Elise Slotte [00:14:47]:

And, yeah, I think it's the same with AI. We need to use it in a way, together with the human perspective.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:14:55]:

I I've been reading some fascinating stuff about that because I can see 2 perspectives to this argument, 2 other perspectives to this argument. 1 is that if you as a person are not doing what you need today to requalify, upskill, cross skill, so that you are still relevant in the workplace, and, you know, we're talking about sales, if you're not contributing, with impact, And if, frankly, AI can replace you because all you were doing has very low cognitive value. Right? So you're doing things in sales and selling, which frankly can really replace you better by by machine because the machine can write more empathetic messages, more client centric message. The machine is learning better than you are. Yeah. Right? So you are not you are not in a you're you're not able to compete. Right? So why should the company not replace you? Because, frankly, if you can actually engage with other human beings as a machine, better when with more empathy than an actual human being because you haven't caught up with your skills, then that's gonna mean you're gonna be in trouble. Right? Then the other perspective which I found very interesting, and I've been reading about this, Elisa.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:16:27]:

I'm sorry I can't tell you the name of the study, but there were some studies that showed, the use of AI, in certain types of dolls, robots. They were able to bring human connection and satisfaction to the people that bought them. So they were they were personal tools that people used to to kind of get the love that they needed in their lives that they were missing from other humans. Right? And so the interesting, conclusion of that was really to debate, to challenge, and I'm not saying I agree with it, I'm just saying that study came on to challenge the the voices that said that human that machines really weren't helping humans with the with the emotional side of things. Right? And a lot of people have been talking with, AI in sales situations very often without only realizing at the very last end of the conversation that they're actually been talking with AI. So that's that's that's, you know, that's gonna be a threat. No? A real threat there is.

Elise Slotte [00:17:42]:

Yes. It could be. But if you listen to what you just said, several times, you said the person got what they needed. The person used the robot. The person bought. There is always a person in the other end. Right? And this is why we still need human beings in the equation of this. Because we can teach computers to, write articles, to talk about stuff, to do whatever we want them to do.

Elise Slotte [00:18:23]:

But the receiver needs to be human being. Right? Yeah. Because if if humans doesn't buy and everything. And this is this is how it how we all need to remember how it works. If we only create computers and no one is, able to earn money to actually buy something or whatever it is, it's it's no use. Right?

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:18:49]:

Right. I mean, here's the argument. The argument is that and when I was reading about this, the argument was, and I I thought it was a really strong argument, that any any human being that can be replaced because of their low cognitive contribution, value contribution, is gonna be replaced by a machine that can do way better because it can process way more information, you know, that we can, you know, physically handle, at any one specific period of time. Right? So it's the machine selling to us. We are we are just the receiving. We're just at the the human being is at the receiving end of that relationship. And so we as sellers and, you know, these are the people, the wonderful people, hearing us, the ones that it it becomes then a world where the ones that survive are the ones that can teach AI the human side of relationships. So AI can learn it and give it to us, the to the others, the one the the buyers.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:19:58]:

Yeah. So sellers are replaced by people like us that can teach AI that stuff.

Elise Slotte [00:20:06]:

Yeah. It could be like that. I still don't believe that is our our future, because human interacting, will always also be a human basic need, actually. So and and we could have a a a long discussion about this, but we don't have have the time to to solve that problem. But yes. But I and this is why I believe if we are going to save the human interaction and save this, that we can actually read another person. We can touch another person when we are talking to them. We can work with the body language if we are a leader, for example.

Elise Slotte [00:20:50]:

We need to continue to teach people how human peep how human works. Not to just to teach the machines because we have forgotten ourselves. We need to remember it. And what I'm doing when I'm working with a company, with the management team or an organization, I actually help them to see each other as as people and and share information, about how they want to be communicated with, for example. Instead of that, I'm always communicate with people as I want to be communicated with. And how if if you're, as a leader, have a problem in the team. Let's say you have one person that is always grumpy. And whatever you say, it's just negative.

Elise Slotte [00:21:45]:

And if you say the world is round, they will say, nope. I think it's flat. I saw that yesterday. I'm sure. And as a manager, you can you can do like this forever, and you will never change that. But if you start to think about, okay. What is the reason why is he like that? Could it be that simple that he doesn't feel appreciated enough and feeling that his unique skills and knowledge or whatever it is are taken care of. So he needs to manifest his part in the team in another way.

Elise Slotte [00:22:28]:

There is always a reason why people are jerks, to be honest. Because it's very few people that wakes up in the morning and and think, oh, today, I'm gonna be an idiot. That's my goal today. There is a reason. And as leaders, it's so easy to forget about this, to actually try to see beyond, try to understand why is a person like this. And if you go back to the basic human needs of feeling loved, feeling unique, feeling safe, more or less all the time, if you dig deep, you will see that is the answer. And that is also the the tool I'm working with, because I wish I could, be, in all management teams all the time, but it it doesn't really work. So I'm helping people to introduce a leadership tool that is, also a tool to motivate the team and working with the team and see how you can, meet their needs in a good way.

Elise Slotte [00:23:37]:

And that is an even better place to work. And that is also in that tool. It's included knowledge about this. So it's very easy to implement. So I can see that as a tool that I like to to give to my clients afterwards when I have left, so they can continue to remember themselves and the team about these things.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:24:04]:

So thank you for bringing me back to what's actually really important because whether the company whether a company, by adopting AI and dwindling the number of employees, whatever way the company grows into, or the opposite. The reality is, is that the people who are in it, more than any other time, need to have certain types of safety. And for leadership, they need to understand how that works and how it's connected to motivation. Because like you said at the very beginning, if you have an unmotivated workforce, really, the company is in grave danger. Yep. Because it's very easy for them to quietly leave, to not really speak very highly of the company and their employer. And retention is such a big issue. Right? Especially in an area with as big a rotation as as selling and sales.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:25:11]:

So, you know, thank you for bringing us back to that. Are there any other thoughts that you'd like to leave, you know, anybody here in a leadership position about communication and their role as leaders and frankly, what they need to really They have to remember this every day. If they want to secure the future sustainability of their work force, ensuring that they're happy and motivated at work?

Elise Slotte [00:25:39]:

Yeah. I think my my absolute headline message to everyone is that ask yourself whatever you want to do as a leader, ask yourself, how can I make my team want to do this instead of just doing as they are told? No one likes to do what they are told. That is also a very human basic. We don't like to do what we are told. We like to do things because we want to do it. And to make people motivated to do things because they want to, you need to understand how they work.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:26:28]:

Oh, man. I I can't believe we got to 26 minutes already.

Elise Slotte [00:26:33]:

I know. Time flies.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:26:34]:

This is so quick. It's not fair. Thank you, everyone, who's joined us and who's joining us. You know what to do. The only right thing to do is to connect with this amazing lady, Elisa Slaughter. It's been so wonderful to have you here in our show. Please come back again. You all connect with this lady on LinkedIn.

Helga Saraiva-Stewart [00:26:59]:

She's amazing. And we can't wait to see you again. Join us again soon. And I've been your host, and I look forward to speaking with you again. See you for now. Thanks, Yolanda. Thank

Elise Slotte [00:27:11]:

you. Thank you, Noga. Cheerio.

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