Creating an Excellent First Impression

Sales with Empathy

One of my favourite quotes is from Maya Angelou who said, “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Empathy is key to ensuring you make a customer feel engaged and valued. 

I was speaking to a former associate in the independent school sector recently and she was talking about how crucial this is within the sales process. Part of the sales process, for example in schools, is the interview process and all too often staff forget that actually they are also being interviewed because they are focused on ensuring that the student is academically the right candidate over and above anything else. Now more than ever, it all hangs on the interview or visit, that one and only real life touch point with the school / College in question. Interviewers and interviewees are interchangeable in the sense that interviewers need to have empathy and engage with the interviewees, because you represent your brand and because it’s a two way process. Not only that, interviewers are the adults (in educational institutions) and need to give more in the process that is very new and daunting for many. Empathy is therefore key. Schools will lose out if staff do not practise empathy at this stage (including putting yourself in the customers shoes) and remember that the customer will choose a school or college mostly based on this interaction: how you engaged, how positive and upbeat you were, the kind of questions you asked and finally the answers you give to the questions from the interviewee. It is no good not listening, not engaging, doing most of the talking, focusing on ‘the questions’ and not expanding when you detect an additional interesting element that comes into the conversation. This is where emotional intelligence comes into play and by using this you find out more about a person. I always find talking to people so interesting and finding out information there and then. I think it comes across as more authentic than reading about a person and preparing knowing the information already which kills any kind of real conversation and engagement. Most people are not good at conversation and are worse if they know the information and feel like they do not need to ask! It’s just a conversation in the end, and do you over prepare for these in life?

How people are made to feel is therefore key in the sales process and remember, people buy from people not the organisation!

Another example of this is how a brand makes people feel because in the end, it’s our feelings towards a brand that makes us buy into that brand. If you asked Joe Public the strategic objectives, brand values and beliefs of Nike, Amazon or Apple, few could tell you what these are, but if you asked these people how each brand made them feel, you will certainly get an answer.

Let me give you a personal example: I love AGAs. I don’t know what the company’s strategic objectives are, nor their values and aims (and I have been a fan for over thirty years) but I can certainly tell you have the make me feel: warm, cosy, happy - and a picture of dogs and cats warming themselves by the fire springs to mind as a kettle boils and jam is bubbling on top whilst dinner is cooking as the rain lashes down outside. How do I get all this from an AGA if I don’t know their brand values? Seeing them in action, images across the internet and other peoples reviews, their story and narrative and marketing of the beliefs and values within their story that conjure up these feelings. That is what sells. 

Businesses and organisations must not get caught up in the process (sales and strategy) and forget about engagement and empathy to allow the customer to connect with you and ultimately win the sale and then a brand ambassador. 

Remember to be empathetic. Remember to listen and remember to engage! People over process every time!