Empathy is a beautiful thing in most relationships but can get tricky in professional environments. Effective salespeople and customer service agents alike find their success in being able to show just the right amount of empathy without giving away their margins. Additionally, managers who can show empathy to their teams will be more effective in motivating them to fulfill responsibilities or accomplish goals. John Fazio explains this balancing act that allows you to be empathetic in order to understand your customers but don’t feel so sorry for their situation that you give away your product or service for free. You need to be authentic and show them that you are listening but at the same time be a professional and responsible to your company. We tend to lose control of the conversation if we let empathy take over. Before you meet with your staff as a manager or meet with your customer as a sales person, you need to leave your emotions behind. For example, if something is going on with a client or prospect where they need your solution, they are in a troubled state. The attitude is that I feel bad for you but I’m going to have a structure for my process. I am going to understand that my product or service has a value to it and costs a certain amount of money. It’s a fine line that you need my product and
John Fazio explains this balancing act that allows you to be empathetic in order to understand your customers but don’t feel so sorry for their situation that you give away your product or service for free. You need to be authentic and show them that you are listening but at the same time be a professional and responsible to your company. We tend to lose control of the conversation if we let empathy take over. Before you meet with your staff as a manager or meet with your customer as a sales person, you need to leave your emotions behind. For example, if something is going on with a client or prospect where they need your solution, they are in a troubled state. The attitude is that I feel bad for you but I’m going to have a structure for my process. I am going to understand that my product or service has a value to it and costs a certain amount of money. It’s a fine line that you need my product and
Before you meet with your staff as a manager or meet with your customer as a sales person, you need to leave your emotions behind. For example, if something is going on with a client or prospect where they need your solution, they are in a troubled state. The attitude is that I feel bad for you but I’m going to have a structure for my process. I am going to understand that my product or service has a value to it and costs a certain amount of money. It’s a fine line that you need my product and have gone on this long without it, but at the end of the day, I am a professional and have my own bills to pay and I have to make sure that you are purchasing it at a value price that I put out there. “Sandler Rule: Only the prospect should get emotionally involved in the sale” Sometimes the salesperson is in a dilemma where there is an end of period quota whereby it is easy for the emotion to take over and offer a discount just to get their business. Managers can show empathy to the salesperson’s quota quandary and still hold them accountable for their numbers. John explains that effectively bringing empathy into business relationships requires a balance of using the right attitudes,
“Sandler Rule: Only the prospect should get emotionally involved in the sale” Sometimes the salesperson is in a dilemma where there is an end of period quota whereby it is easy for the emotion to take over and offer a discount just to get their business. Managers can show empathy to the salesperson’s quota quandary and still hold them accountable for their numbers. John explains that effectively bringing empathy into business relationships requires a balance of using the right attitudes,
Sometimes the salesperson is in a dilemma where there is an end of period quota whereby it is easy for the emotion to take over and offer a discount just to get their business. Managers can show empathy to the salesperson’s quota quandary and still hold them accountable for their numbers. John explains that effectively bringing empathy into business relationships requires a balance of using the right attitudes,
John explains that effectively bringing empathy into business relationships requires a balance of using the right attitudes, behaviors, and techniques.
The How to Succeed Podcast is a public and free podcast from Sandler Training, the worldwide leader in sales, management, and customer service training for individuals all the way up to Fortune 500 companies with over 250 locations around the globe.
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