In the battle of empathy and persistence, empathetic persistence wins
By Zion Rufus
When it comes to sales, marketers have continuously explored ways to blur the lines between empathy and persistence, as well as which supersedes the other in order of importance.
Where persistence increases a client’s confidence in the marketer’s ability, with empathy, marketers can build trust and foster a healthy relationship with their customers.
“You can’t have empathy without anyone to talk to,” said Bryan Neale, sales coach and founder of Blind Zebra.
“Without persistence, you’ll not have anyone to talk to, or at least way fewer. This isn’t a binary question, it’s a “degree” question, ‘what’s more important’; really, the only logical answer is persistence. More persistence equals more conversations. More conversations equals more places to show empathy.”
Blurring the lines between empathy and persistence in a debate, professionals have identified empathetic and purposeful persistence as a common ground, by placing empathy, expertise, and problem-solving at the forefront of sales efforts and communication.
“If you have an empathetic approach, you can be persistent with it; the proper empathetic approach might be welcomed and open a door sooner than you expect,” shared Jonathan Racis, a client success expert.
“I see empathy as an approach that puts the spotlight on the prospect.”
Although leading communications strategies with empathy helps marketers to prioritise their customers’ emotions, secure trustworthy positions in the eyes of prospects, and drive customer retention, Danny Eller, a business development professional believes empathy is “useless” without persistence.
He pointed in his submission: “Persistence can be negatively perceived if lacking empathy. Both rely on each other to be effective in solving your customers’ challenges.”
Sales and marketing director, Thomas O. agrees, but also believes that standing alone, being empathetic gets way more mileage.
“While I believe persistence is needed, its greatest impact will come when combined with other factors, like empathy. However, persistence can easily be negative; I have never encountered empathy as a negative,” he noted.
Also validating the submitted premise, Josh Gainey, Director, Sales Development, Authentic8 noted that It takes empathy to know when to push or pull.
“It takes empathy to understand your prospect which opens the door to personalise that persistence on pain points that matter, not just following up,” he shared.
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