5 Ways to Cultivate Empathy in Your Sales Process
Empathy is the ability to imagine what someone else may be feeling. In the world of sales where professionals are so focused on meeting their quotas or trying to remember pieces of a sales script, employing empathy may just be the “secret sauce” in making authentic connections with prospects and converting your sale. Beyond understanding the prospect’s needs, empathy encourages the salesperson to connect deeper with clients, allowing them to provide better, more customized solutions. This understanding lays the foundation for a long-term sales partnership based on honesty and trust.
Empathy in Action
In an article he wrote for Forbes, CEO of Sales Readiness Group (SRG) Ray Makela talked about the importance of empathy as businesses emerged from the COVID 19 pandemic. Buyers were more cautious and more isolated than usual, so Makela and his team focused on applying empathy in their sales conversations with prospects. He says, “There was little promise of immediate sales, but the team invested more time than ever to build relationships through empathy.” What a brave approach! So often we as sales professionals are driven by deadlines and goals (through no fault of our own) but during this fragile time in 2020, Makela’s team was expressly instructed to lead with empathy when having conversations with their customers and prospects. The innovative approach paid off. SRG followed Q2 of that year with the best quarter in the company’s history
5 Ways to Cultivate Empathy
Thinking with empathy is a capacity everyone has, but it often takes practice to employ the emotion with intentionality. Most people are concerned when they see someone in peril, but few have practiced intentional empathy enough to be moved to action. So, what are some things we can do to cultivate and strengthen our sense of empathy? The American Psychological Association has a few suggestions:
1. Have a growth mindset.
Believing you can improve your feeling of empathy is the first step to developing it. Dr. Erika Weisz says, “People who believe that empathy can grow try harder to empathize when it doesn’t come naturally to them.”
2. Expose yourself to differences.
It’s much easier to adopt an empathetic mindset when you are in the minority or feel unfamiliar with your surroundings. Consider watching movies where the main characters don’t look like you or traveling to new places where you don’t know anyone.
3. Read fiction.
For our brain to understand the story, it naturally must think about things from the protagonist’s perspective. Professor of psychology at York University in Toronto Dr. Raymond Mar says, “It’s possible that while understanding stories, we can improve our ability to understand real people in the real world at the same time.”
4. Ask questions.
This helps build empathy in addition allowing you to learn about your prospect’s needs and desires. As you listen actively you train your brain to consider things from your prospect’s perspective, considering the options alongside them and searching for the best solution together.
5. Avoid Assumptions.
Clear your mind of any preconceived ideas about what your prospect needs or wants and create a space where they can communicate openly with you. Assuming what they want may cause you to miss the mark, and miss the sale.
Conclusion
Humans are hardwired for community and cooperation, but for many people, empathy requires patience and practice. Cultivating your sense of empathy and employing it in your sales process will lead to stronger customer relationships, more meaningful solutions for your prospects and higher customer satisfaction.
Let’s Connect
Are you a sales professional looking for support in your quest to reach the next level of your career? Connect with Rebecca Kilday on Linked In or Instagram for information on all things “sales” including practical advice from seasoned professionals, hard lessons learned, and what it truly means to Sell INSPIRED.
Prospects recognize a leading question from miles away, and they are immediately turned off when they hear one. A leading question is any question that leads someone to answer in the affirmative. As an example “Wouldn’t it be better if all your projects came in on time and on budget? If so, you need our revolutionary scheduling software!” The answer to the question is obviously “yes” but the asker is more concerned about presenting a solution to a general problem. Successful sales professionals know true value lies in offering a specialized solution to a specific problem, and the only way to get to the root of a specific problem, is to ask the right questions.
