The Power of Empathy to Boost Sales

By Max Cates, Author of the sales management book, Serve, Lead Succeed! https://booklocker.com/11051??

Empathy is one of the sales manager's most valuable assets. The ability to understand and identify with others can amplify a leader's ability to lead while also increasing the sales team's productivity by improving customer alignment. Some have empathy naturally, some don't. The important thing is this: Empathy can be learned. Here's a synopsis of how to teach it to your reps.

1. First, as a sales leader, be a role model of empathy to your reps. Empathetic leaders create empathetic sales people. Don't underestimate your influence on your reps. They watch how you behave and in many ways reflect you in their interactions with customers.

2. Encourage your reps to mirror their customers' body language, verbal pace, and overall demeanor. This sets the stage for developing rapport, putting the customer at ease, but also gets sales reps to think outside themselves.

3. Urge reps to be a body language detective. Watch customers' body language, facial expressions and pay attention to verbal cues that may telegraph how they are feeling and what they are thinking. Even if they misread these signals, at least your reps are benefitting from the exercise of getting outside themselves and making the attempt at interpreting others. When they can’t read someone’s gestures or expressions, don’t hesitate to ask them what they’re thinking or feeling at the time.

3. Demonstrate how to listen intently, without interrupting, and paraphrase what the customer is saying to insure two way understanding. It's all about the customer's needs, not the sales person's objectives. Good listening is the key to meeting needs and better sales.

4. Teach them to spot commonalities and points of customers' interest such as pictures and memorabilia in the customer's office...Looking for such environmental cues, again, helps reps get outside themselves to understand their customers.

5. Help them imagine being in the customer's shoes, the challenges they face, the pressures, their motivation. Take care here not to project their thoughts and feelings into the customer. Just try to understand the customer without personal bias or judgment.

6. Affirm others’ feelings with statements like, “I would be angry about it too.” Or “I know how frustrating that is.” Validating customers' sentiments can turn potentially unpleasant situations into a bonding experience with the customer.?

For more on innovative sales management, go to the non-profit association, Servant Leaders in Sales at: www.thesalesresourcecenter.com/servant-leaders-sales