There are so many different skills and traits that deserve attention in the business world, especially sales. 

However, empathy is the one skill that is underrated, overlooked, and undervalued.

Empathy in sales is hardly ever mentioned, but it has the power to take your business to levels of success that you never believed were possible and blow your competitors out of the water.

It also helps to form a human connection that is often non-existent otherwise.

When sales are made personal by your sales team, the best interests of the customer are taken into account and there is a much higher chance of a sale being successful.

If you are interested in learning more about empathy in sales, keep reading.

Selling with Empathy: Strategies You Should Know

Now that you’re familiar with what empathy is and how it can help you, let’s take a look at a few empathy selling strategies.

#1: Identify Potential Pain Points and Express Empathy

When you empathize with another individual, you have the ability to understand their problems in a way that is not possible otherwise. 

When connecting with a buyer, it is imperative that you try to identify their potential pain points and then show empathy for their situation.

In doing so, you are showing the customer you care about them and understand where they’re coming from. 

You are showing them that they are not just another number on the list and that they are indeed a person to you who has real feelings and real problems.

Just make sure that you use the right wording — you need to know the proper way to express empathy.

Here are some phrases that can prove to be helpful when used at the right time in a conversation:

• “I understand how you’re feeling.”
• “That must be really hard.”
• “I completely understand. So, how can I help you get past this?”
• “Okay, I understand. You’re saying…”

#2: Be Present and Listen

While it is always great to be a few steps ahead, this means that you are not present and focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Unfortunately, buyers can sense this. They don’t like to be pushed into a sale, regardless of whether you are intending to do that or not.

It’s funny, but sometimes the fastest way to lose a deal is to look like you’re in a rush to win it. Most people don’t realize how transparent that kind of energy is—you can hear it in someone’s tone, see it in how they cut off questions. Buyers notice all of that, even if they don’t call it out. It shows up in subtle ways, but the effect is real. So, honestly, slowing down and letting the conversation breathe makes a big difference.

Therefore, as a salesperson, it is imperative that you slow down and simply be present in the moment. 

Focus on what is going on presently. This allows you to better identify your customer’s emotions and steer the conversation in the most natural direction.

Being present in the moment and conversation also means that you must be actively listening to your customer. 

This means you can’t turn on your selective hearing like you used to with your parents when they talked to you.

You need to truly listen to your customers at all times to hear everything they’re saying to you. Further, you need to hear how they’re saying it to you and what they aren’t saying to you.

If you’re speaking to them in person, pay special attention to their body language. More often than not, body language says so much more than words.

#3: Ask the Right Questions

You must be willing to do more than just listen. 

You must also be able to ask the right questions. Otherwise, being an empathetic salesperson doesn’t go as far as it should.

On top of that, asking questions signals respect. People want to feel like their thoughts matter and aren’t just boxes on a checklist. You ever had someone steamroll through a conversation, barely letting you finish a sentence? It’s not great. A gentle pause, a real question, can shift things entirely and make someone drop their guard. That openness is where the real sales magic happens—because people buy from people, not just from flashy decks or slick pitches.

So, once you have made a connection with a buyer, you must start asking thoughtful, genuine questions that correspond to what your buyer has been saying to you throughout the entire conversation.

By asking questions while showing your concern for your customer’s situation, you will be able to learn more about your customer and what they’re going through, which will help you figure out how to help them.

With clarifying questions, you can potentially uncover the entire story of the situation that they’re experiencing. 

Of course, if you haven’t already established a connection with your customer, don’t expect detailed or even immediate answers.

If you are able to frame your questions in a way that reflects a sincere interest in helping (hence empathize with them), you will instill a sense of trust in your customer and give them the confidence they need to share information with you that is beneficial.

#4: Always Be Relatable

A lot of people don’t like to open up. 

However, when you’re closed off as a salesperson, the customer can sense this and doesn’t want to open up themselves.

While it is not necessary to tell them about your entire childhood growing up or the problems you faced after high school, you do need to figure out a way to be relatable to the customer.

By becoming vulnerable on a personal level with the customer, you are showing them that you are able to empathize with them. 

You are revealing that you aren’t just pretending and putting on an act. You are who you are on the inside, which is a real person just like them.

Wrap Up

Empathy instills trust, which is the bottom-level foundation to any solid customer-company relationship.

But you must ensure that you are consistently showing empathy towards customers and that the empathy being shown is genuine each and every time. 

Your sales team needs to put themselves in the shoes of their customers, actively listen to them, ask the right questions, and be relatable.

By empathizing with customers, your sales team can truly understand their customers and more effectively close a sale.

If you are interested in further improving the human touch to your business beyond empathy in sales, then don’t overlook the importance of human-to-human marketing in your overall business strategy!

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