Short Summary

Across industries, products are converging in quality, features, and price. What differentiates market leaders today is not the product—it is the human delivering the message. Decades of research in social psychology show that people instinctively evaluate others on two fundamental dimensions: Warmth (“Do you have good intentions toward me?”) and Competence (“Can you deliver on what you promise?”). These judgments occur within seconds and shape trust, influence, and buying decisions.

Retorio’s analysis of more than 10,000 sales interactions confirms this effect: salespeople who score high in Warmth and Competence outperform peers by up to 10% in revenue contribution, information sharing, and customer loyalty. Warmth drives trust and openness; Competence drives confidence and perceived low risk. Together, they form the psychological foundation of effective sales behavior.

Because these behaviors can be measured, trained, and improved, organizations can systematically build sales cultures that outperform the market. This post outlines the scientific foundation behind Warmth & Competence, how the mechanism works in real interactions, and how organizations can apply the model at scale using AI-based coaching.

Key Takeaways

• Warmth and Competence are the universal dimensions of human judgment.
• Salespeople high in Warmth + Competence outperform peers by up to 10%, validated across industries.
• Warmth + Competence behaviors are measurable and trainable, enabling predictable, science-backed sales excellence.

Introduction: When Products Converge, People Differentiate

Products and services are becoming interchangeable. Features are visible, pricing is transparent, and differentiation is fleeting. This shifts competitive advantage from product specifications to human behavior—specifically how salespeople are perceived in the first seconds of an interaction.

Scientific research and Retorio’s industry data point to one clear conclusion: Top-performing salespeople excel in both Warmth and Competence.

1. The Psychology Behind Every Customer Interaction

Warmth and Competence: The Two-Factor Model of Human Perception

Across decades of scientific research, two traits consistently explain how we judge other people: Warmth and Competence. According to research by Fiske, Cuddy, and Glick (2002), these traits form the core of human social evaluation.

The Warmth–Competence model simplifies human judgment into two fundamental questions:

• Warmth: “Do you intend to help me or harm me?”
• Competence: “Are you capable of following through?”

These judgments are rapid and influenced by subtle behavioral cues—tone, posture, emotional expression, and conversational style.

Warmth signals

• Honest, transparent communication - they say what they mean without hidden agendas
• Collaborative language - they use "we" instead of "I" and include others
• Empathetic responses - they show they understand and care about your perspective
  
  

Competence signals

• Clear, articulate communication - they explain things well and show they know their stuff
• Quick problem-solving - they can think through challenges and find solutions
• Decisive action - they follow through on what they say they'll do

High Warmth + High Competence = Trusted Advisor

2. Why Customers Buy From Warm and Competent Salespeople

2.1 Warmth: The Gateway to Trust

“Warmth gives us the indication if we can trust this person and whether the person has good intentions.”

Warmth opens the relationship. It drives:

• Information sharing
• Customer loyalty
• Forgiveness after mistakes

In sales, information sharing is the foundation for diagnosis and solution quality. Warmth creates the psychological safety that allows customers to open up.

2.2 Competence: The Signal of Capability

“Competence gives us the indication whether someone seems capable and skilled.”

Competence drives:

• Perceived low risk
• Confidence in the solution
• Trust in expertise

2.3 The Combined Effect: Up to 10% Revenue Uplift

Across industries, Retorio’s data shows:

• High W + High C → +10% above average performance
• High W / Lower C → +5%
• High C / Lower W → +5%
• Low W + Low C → –15%

Warmth opens the door; Competence closes the deal.

"As products and services get more interchangeable and value props more similar your salesforce will become the differentiator and thus your people” Dr. Christoph Hohenberger

3. The Science Behind Warmth & Competence: Evidence From Psychology

Think about the last time you met someone new in a business setting. Within seconds, your brain was unconsciously asking two critical questions:

• "Can I trust this person?" and
• "Are they capable of delivering results?"

These instant judgments form the foundation of all human interactions and business relationships.

This isn't just modern psychology - it's actually how human brains evolved to work. Thousands of years ago, quickly figuring out "friend or foe?" and "strong or weak?" could mean the difference between life and death (Fiske et al., 2002).

Scientists have studied this phenomenon extensively. In 2002, researchers proposed what they call the "stereotype content model" - essentially proving that all our judgments about people boil down to just two main factors: (1) warmth and (2) competence (Fiske et al., 2002). Earlier research by Wojciszke's team found that these two dimensions explained 82% of how people judge others in everyday situations.

4. How Retorio has cracked Warmth & Competence

We use science to increase sales performance by 10% and more

Retorio has pioneered sales coaching, powered by its proprietary Behavioral Intelligence, built on cutting-edge research at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and fueled by expertise from MIT and the University of Tokyo. We even have published in scientific journals demonstrating how perceptions of effect of warmth and competence on 

Retorio brings over seven years of experience delivering AI-driven sales coaching to enterprise clients worldwide—spanning B2C sectors such as telecommunications, fashion, automotive, and insurance, as well as B2B industries including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, medical technology, and logistics.

4.1 Behavioral cues—not personality—drive perception

Warmth and Competence are not fixed traits. They are expressed through behavior—how someone speaks, listens, explains, empathizes, and structures a conversation. Because they are behavioral, they are learnable.

4.2 Retorio’s AI makes Warmth & Competence measurable and can report on it

Retorio’s platform:

• Assesses Warmth and Competence
• Simulates realistic customer conversations
• Delivers personalized coaching
• Tracks behavioral improvement over time

4.3 Retorio coaches and trains salespeople along warmth and competence

5. Applying Warmth & Competence in Sales Organizations

5.1 Assess the Current State

Identify:

• Who are the trusted advisors?
• Who leans too much on empathy without expertise?
• Who is technically strong but emotionally flat?
  
  

5.2 Train Using Realistic Simulations

• Evaluate tone
• Emotional response
• Information clarity
• Conversational structure
• Objection handling
  
  

5.3 Verify and Track Progress

This enables leaders to:

• Identify skill gaps
• Detect improvement over time
• Ensure consistent messaging across teams
  
  
  

6. Further Practical Examples

Healthcare

Healthcare providers must balance demonstrating deep medical knowledge (competence) with genuine concern for patient outcomes (warmth). Research in healthcare contexts shows that provider warmth significantly impacts patient satisfaction, treatment adherence, and health outcomes (Howe, et al. 2019).

Service Excellence

People who exercise genuine warmth exhibit a willingness to respond sincerely to their customers' needs, even at their own short-term expense. The most-admired ones tend to be those that establish trusting, long-term relationships with their customers by making it a point to put customers first and themselves second (Yang, et al. 2014).

Insurance Sales

Insurance transactions inherently involve vulnerability and trust. Customers must believe that agents both care about their wellbeing (warmth) and possess the expertise to recommend appropriate coverage (competence). Successful professionals balance technical expertise with empathetic communication, helping clients navigate complex decisions while demonstrating genuine concern for their protection needs (Bateman, et al. 2015).

7. Conclusion

Warmth and Competence are the core mechanisms through which humans judge intention, trustworthiness, and capability. Scientific research and Retorio’s data converge on the same conclusion: Salespeople who master Warmth + Competence outperform others.

These behaviors are measurable, improvable, and repeatable. Organizations that operationalize Warmth & Competence will build salesforces capable of outperforming competitors—even when products no longer differ.

8. Scientific References

• Abele, A. E., & Wojciszke, B. (2014). Communal and agentic content in social cognition: A dual perspective model. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 50, 195-255.
  
  
• Bateman, C., & Valentine, S. (2015). The impact of salesperson customer orientation on the evaluation of a salesperson’s ethical treatment, trust in the salesperson, and intentions to purchase. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 35(2), 125-142.
  
  
• Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878-902.
  
  
• Fiske, S. T. (2018). Stereotype content: Warmth and competence endure. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(2), 67-73.
  
  
• Gignac, G. E., Harmer, R. J., Jennings, S., & Palmer, B. R. (2012). EI training and sales performance during a corporate merger. Cross cultural management: An international journal, 19(1), 104-116.
  
  
• Hohenberger, C., & Grohs, R. (2019). Old and exciting? Sport sponsorship effects on brand age and brand personality. Sport Management Review, 22(4), 567-580.
  
  
• Howe, L. C., Leibowitz, K. A., & Crum, A. J. (2019). When your doctor “gets it” and “gets you”: The critical role of competence and warmth in the patient–provider interaction. Frontiers in psychiatry, 10, 475.
  
  
• Huang, Y., Zhang, M., Gursoy, D., & Shi, S. (2020). An examination of interactive effects of employees’ warmth and competence and service failure types on customer’s service recovery cooperation intention. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(7), 2429-2451.
  
  
• Kraft-Todd, G. T., Reinero, D. A., Kelley, J. M., Heberlein, A. S., Baer, L., & Riess, H. (2017). Empathic nonverbal behavior increases ratings of both warmth and competence in a medical context. PloS one, 12(5), e0177758.
  
  
• Yang, D. J., & Wu, M. J. (2014). Does customer trust play a mediating role between salesperson competence and performance?. International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, 3(2), 100-121.
  
  
• Wojciszke, B., Bazinska, R. & Jaworski, M. (1998). On the dominance of moral categories in impression formation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 1251-1263.