71% of Buyers are Frustrated with Your Team. Here's the Solution.

Today’s buying environment is full of complexities often unaccounted for by the suppliers. Buyers face rising costs, stagnant commercial productivity, and growing buyer friction. A staggering 71% of buyer’s describe their experience with supplier representatives as frustrating, and 70% admit they aren’t sure what these reps even do. This lack of alignment across supplier teams creates friction and stalls decision making.

To address these frustrations, leading B2B selling organizations are adopting a new approach. By utilizing a Headway Selling strategy to drive bold purchase decisions, GTM teams can better align to the buyers’ goals, display genuine empathy, and overcome buyer friction.

Displaying True Customer Empathy 

Customer empathy goes beyond simply acknowledging buyer challenges or mirroring emotions. Displaying true empathy requires sellers to fully understand the buyer’s situation, goals, and obstacles, and use this understanding to build trust and move buyers toward success.

In today’s fast changing environment, buyers are grappling with uncertainty and inconsistency internally. Larger decision-making teams, increased executive oversight, and shifting priorities are making purchase decisions far more complex. Buyers need reassurance that the vendor understands their current needs and is prepared to guide them through future uncertainties.

Empathy is a competitive differentiator. As noted in the report, headway selling builds trust by demonstrating the ability to help buyers achieve success even as their needs and goals evolve. Displaying empathy forms the foundation of this trust, ensuring the buyer sees the supplier as a partner that will help them to succeed.

Three Pillars of Customer Empathy in Headway Selling 

1. Advance Customer Evolution

Buyers often hesitate to commit to a purchase decision because they are unsure how their needs will change over time. Buyers want to feel confident that the solution they chose will evolve alongside them. GTM teams that prioritize empathy by proactively guiding buyers towards their long-term goals help them adapt to this feeling of uncertainty. By aligning the offering with the buyer’s path to success, suppliers can position themselves as a partner in the buyer’s growth journey.

Action: Conduct workshops with buyers to explore how your solution aligns with their long-term goals and evolving needs

2. Anticipate Customer Roadblocks

Buyers often face internal misalignment, executive vetoes, or shifting priorities that derails decision making. An empathetic supplier can anticipate these roadblocks and address them proactively, leading to reduced friction in the buying process. Anticipating obstacles signals to buyers that their supplier has a deep understanding of their challenges and is committed to helping overcome them.

Action: Use collective journey mapping to identify potential areas of high buyer friction and prepare pre-approved solutions to navigate these challenges

3. Align GTM Teams to Customer’s Direction

Nothing frustrates buyers more than inconsistent messaging or repeated explanations across multiple touch points. Empathy-driven alignment ensures that all members of the GTM team share a unified understanding of the buyer's goals and direction. With consistent alignment, buyers see a cohesive supplier team rather than a fragmented group focused heavily on individual agendas.

Action: Standardize the handoff process between GTM roles and create a centralized library of buyer information to ensure consistency.

ROI of Implementing a Headway Selling Strategy

Embedding customer empathy into headway selling delivers measurable results. These outcomes stem from reduced friction and stronger buyer confidence.

According to the report, GTM teams that practice headway selling experience:

• 33.5% increase in win rates.
• 15% larger deals on average
• 62% increase in buyer advocacy.

Start Building Empathy Today

Customer empathy is a critical element of headway selling that drives differentiation and success. Start driving bold purchase decisions by embedding empathy into every stage of the customer lifecycle.