Pump your passion for your company’s mission into your sales, and you and your clients can reap the benefits.

If you’re looking for a way to reignite your dedication as an entrepreneur, motivate your team, or boost your revenue, you might want to consider heart-centered selling. This effective sales method prioritizes creating meaningful connections with consumers and discerning their unique wants and needs. Discover the basics of using empathy in sales with this guide, including strategies for doing so and what benefits you may reap as a result.

Selling with heart

The traditional hard sell, which involves using aggressive, high-pressure techniques to get customers to buy a product or service quickly, is a time-honored method. But heart-centered sales supports the opposite approach: targeting customers who could truly benefit from your products or services and putting their needs first. In effect, it’s the practice of selling by the golden rule—treating others how you want to be treated—and making your values an integral part of the sales process.

As an entrepreneur or business professional who is passionate about what you do, this empathetic approach can be a good choice since it requires thoroughly knowing your product and understanding who can benefit from it.

How to practice it

The goal of heart-centered selling is to connect with potential customers on a human level, which requires engaging in real conversation. Avoid being overly salesy—your main motivation should be to put yourself in your customers’ shoes while relating authentically with them and fulfilling their needs. If you discover you can’t fully help them, you may be able to refer them for their benefit to another company that could; in return, that business may reciprocate by sending prospects your way. It may seem counterintuitive, but prioritizing doing right by your customer can create goodwill and encourage them to return when their needs do match your offerings. In the meantime, they may even send referrals your way.

Benefits for you

In addition to being a plus for your customers, employing this compassionate method of selling can provide you with personal pluses that can help you lean into your strengths, bolster your dedication to your business, and be yourself more fully.

Sustain your passion
Implementing a heart-centered sales philosophy can be an excellent motivator for you and your team since it can allow you to reconnect with your company’s mission and the “why” behind what you sell. As a bonus, you might gain greater confidence in your sales process by knowing you’re providing a valuable service for your customers, which, in turn, will make you feel good about your work and your ability to better the lives of others.

Foster authenticity
As an entrepreneur, selling from the heart can be especially beneficial if you don’t have a natural knack for selling because it focuses on creating genuine relationships and sharing your knowledge instead of relying on sales gimmicks. Its approach may also allow you to be your authentic self and talk about what feels natural to you, enabling you to connect with clients while concurrently promoting the product.

Benefits for your company

There are many ways your company can win by selling from the heart, including experiencing greater efficiency, customer loyalty, and longevity.

Save time
By only focusing on customers who can truly benefit from what you have to sell, you may be able to stop wasting time on clients who don’t want or need your services, allowing you to better allocate your efforts.

Sell more
While heart-centered selling may seem like a soft approach, it can be quite effective for garnering sales. Individuals choose to interact and connect with people they know, like, and trust. By being true in your approach and making it your mission to create relationships and improve lives, you can help improve your brand and entice more people to pick you over your competitors.

Retain more customers
Selling with empathy can have the opposite effect of pushy sales tactics, which can alienate prospects even if you manage to make a sale. Buyers who purchase because they truly feel a need for a product or service will be less likely than those pressured into buying to experience buyer’s remorse. Because your customers know you have their best interest at heart, they will be more motivated to do business with you and may even become ambassadors who spread the word about your company to other potential buyers.

Promote long-term success
By valuing your clients’ needs, you may also help to ensure the future of your business, as your customers may realize you have their interests at heart and aren’t merely trying to get them to buy your products and services. This, in turn, may strengthen your reputation, putting you ahead of your competition.

You have a passion for your business —so share that genuineness with your customers. Adopting a heartcentered selling approach can be your avenue for imparting your knowledge and love for what you do for everyone’s benefit.

TAKE ACTION:
Take a close look at your service or products to identify what needs they can help fill so you can better know how to serve your customers.