3. Premiums. Try rousing sleepy customers with bonuses -- spend more than $100 and receive a free whooziwhatsit, which isn't available any other way. One mail-order company offered a free booklet with any order from that catalog, and received 13 percent more orders from that catalog than previously. Similarly, frequent-buyer programs have now spread far beyond airlines, because they work. If convenience-store patrons have a card to buy nine cups of coffee and get tenth free, they're more likely to consolidate their coffee buying rather than buying sometimes here and sometimes there.

4. Payment terms. When you let clients know they can spread payments out over two or four months, you'll snag some wavering over money issue. But changing payment terms doesn't necessarily mean you get your money later. I know speakers and consultants who offered a 2 or 5 percent discount for payment in advance, and received their money a whole year before they would have otherwise!

With any new offer, test, test, test. You can't know any other way whether "Buy one, get second one free" works better or worse than "Buy two and each is half price." Human beings are illogical creatures, and unexpected offers can turn this fact to your advantage.

7. When you increase your self-awareness, which is cornerstone of emotional intelligence, you are able to control automatic reactions and be more conscious. What we don’t know, controls us.

8. Emotions motivate us. When you have your own emotions managed, and understand emotions of others, you are better able to influence growth and change, and motivate.

9. Resilience, an EQ competency, means how well you bounce back from setbacks and adverse events. Not only do you need this for yourself, you need to be modeling this for your reports.

10. In today’s information-dense and rapidly changing work climate, IQ, skills, and technical expertise are not enough. Studies show that higher up you go, more emotional intelligence matters.