I’ve just returned from an extended business trip to the Twin Cities of Minnesota where I enjoyed a healthy dose of Minnesota Nice. If you’re unfamiliar with this, it’s a way of being in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The cordiality and devotion that Minnesotans extend to one another, and guests like myself and my wife, is so commonplace that someone just had to give it a name.

Minnesota Nice isn’t just about opening doors or waving people into traffic, it goes much further with their concern, caring, and compassion. People take the time to listen, to understand, and to empathize. I’m not saying that people in other states or countries do not do this; I am acknowledging the degree to which it pervades Minnesotan culture.

How people sell could benefit from the empathizing present in Minnesota Nice, rather than the typical peddling and pushing of products and services. By taking the time to not just hear, but fully understand what buyers are thinking and feeling, salespeople more quickly build rapport while comprehending needs more fully. Acknowledging buyers’ thoughts and feelings, during the course of a conversation, demonstrates caring and concern, setting the stage for sharing solutions that address what they feel and think they need.

Logic makes people think while emotion makes them act. When you empathize and then solutionize, you engage buyers in the collaborative style of selling we practice inSales Yoga that enrolls buyers in the emotion of buying. People talk themselves in to buying because they feel it’s the right thing to do.

Is that a better way to sell? As they would say in Minnesota, “You Betcha!”