One of my clients says that sympathy costs his company money and he's right.  When salespeople feel sorry for customers, they tend to give price concessions, acquiesce on terms and bend protocol. 

This usually subtracts from sales commissions as well as the bottom line.

It's better to practice empathy than sympathy.  When you have sympathy for a customer, you understand their pain, whereas when you have sympathy for someone, you actually feel their pain.  Pain is a negative emotion that will not serve you when selling.

If you sympathize with a customer who is having cash flow problems, you might feel sorry enough to give him a discount–and then you will have cash flow  problems.  Listen for a few minutes and then say things like, "I hear what you're saying" and "It sounds like you've been giving this some thought." 

There are probably dozens of ways to handle a give situation that don't involve a price discount.  Only agree to a price concesssion as a final strategy. 

If you're in sales, sympathy costs you money, but empathy earns you money.

This is Tip #7 from Michael Angelo Caruso's 52 Weekly Selling Tips.