I’ll admit it. I love watching late night Shark Tank reruns.
My Inner Critic tells me I should be reading profound books on leadership, or wellness, or work culture, or parenting. But there’s something about watching entrepreneurs’ dreams be fueled or foiled in fifteen minutes that has me like…
A few weeks ago, though, something profound indeed occurred to me as I watched a rerun from Season 12. It was this:
The most effective salespeople are often the most compassionate salespeople.
Let me explain.
Boogie Boards, Compassion, and Winning Sales Pitches
On March 12, 2021, Mayna and John Clark appeared on Shark Tank with their three daughters—Alleanna, Juliette, and Lyla. Like all Shark Tank guests, they were creators and small business owners seeking angel investor support to carry their invention and business to the next level.
Their product? A tandem surf/boogie board that “allows you to share the joy of outdoor adventures with family and friends.” (See their site, TandmSurf.com)
Their story? As a coastal family, they love riding the waves. And they noticed a painful problem among wave-loving people: Sometimes water is scary!
Their pitch? Let’s say you’re a child, or a first-time ocean-swimmer, or just someone who’s always been intimidated by water. What’s the one thing that would alleviate your fear of getting on the board and in the water? Having a trusted, experienced “someone” on the board with you!
Think about a time when fear or insecurity kept you from having fun and feeling included. It hurt, right? This family of inventors saw and empathized with that pain. Then, they created (and crafted the perfect sales pitch to promote) a practical solution to make your pain go away.
And that, my friends, is the very definition of compassion. Notice pain. Empathize with pain. Act to alleviate pain.
The Research Speaks
It’s a fact: Compassion fuels sales success. But don’t just take my word for it—especially when it’s based on anecdotal wisdom gleaned from late-night TV-watching and popcorn-munching! Check out these research findings (full references below):
👉 A salesperson’s ability to see the world from another’s perspective increases salesperson quality, volume, and sales prices (Prabhu, 2008/2020).
👉 A salesperson’s ability to feel what another person is feeling, and respond to it, is positively correlated with a buyer’s trust in and satisfaction with the salesperson (Aggarwal, Castleberry, Ridnour, and Shepherd 2005).
👉 A salesperson’s ability to not just evaluate a customer, but genuinely empathizeand care, increases seller effectiveness and buyer loyalty (Pryor and Malsche, 2014).
Bottom line: Becoming a more compassionate human can help you become a more effective, trustworthy purveyor of goods/services that truly help people.
Want a deeper dive into this very topic? Check out my recent appearance on the podcast, Winning at Selling with Bill Hellkamp and Scott Plum. We delved into the question, “Can Compassion Fuel Sales Success?” It was such fun!
A holiday survival side note…
By the way, this holiday, can we all please just give ourselves permission to glean wisdom wherever we freakin’ can? Even if it’s late-night reruns?
After all, this is a busy and stressful season for many of us. Also? Seems to me it’s not always the heady books and renowned sages that teach us how to live and lead well. Wisdom has a way of showing up in unexpected places — that is, when our eyes and ears are open to it.
Let’s keep them open.
References:
Aggarwal, Praveen, Stephen B. Castleberry, Rick Ridnour &David Shepherd, “Salesperson Empathy and Listening: Impact on RelationshipOutcomes,” Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice 13, no. 3 (2005):16-31. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10696679.2005.11658547
Prabhu, Jaideep. “Does Empathy Improve Marketing Performance?The Role of Cognitive versus Emotional Empathy in High Autonomy SalesEnvironments,” Cambridge Judge Business Journal (2008/2020). https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/currentresearch-empathy-prabhu.pdf
Pryor, Susie and Avaniash Malshe, “Listening Empathy andSales Effectiveness,” Hankamer School of Business, Keller Center forResearch (Sept. 1, 2014). https://kellercenter.hankamer.baylor.edu/news/story/2014/listening-empathy-and-sales-effectiveness
