Emotional Intelligence in Cruise Sales: The Hidden KPI Behind Revenue, Retention and Guest Wow How regional and onboard leaders use Emotional Intelligence (EQ) to close more, de‑escalate faster, and create guests for life. Cruise sales is one of the few commercial environments where revenue, culture, and emotion collide: shoreside, onboard, and across continents.

We all know reference checks are part of the hiring process, but very few organizations use them in a way that predicts real success. In my experience leading sales teams, I’ve seen the same blind spot over and over, reference checks almost always go upward, meaning, references are provided by people the candidate reported to. But what about the people who reported to them?