One of the most important foundations for providing the best customer service is empathy. That basic understanding of what it’s like to be in the customer’s shoes and understand his or her journey can make a genuine difference for your business.
There are many ways to look at empathy when it comes to a business transaction. Finding the right approach can become a best practice for your customer-facing employees and lead to some potential lifelong relationships.
We’re sharing some helpful insights from business leaders on what to think about when truly integrating empathy into your contact with customers. According to an article from Inc. magazine, it starts with an understanding of the three domains of empathy: emotional, cognitive and compassionate.
The different types of empathy
The first type is emotional empathy, and it mostly has to do with being in tune with the customer. Maybe there’s a tone in a phone conversation or in an email that can lead to supportive conversations that need to take place. Training staff to listen or watch for these cues is an important boost to your communication style.
Next is cognitive empathy. This is considered the most important, in that it encourages active listening and less use of scripted material in order to serve the customer’s needs. A balance of factual information and speaking with an understanding of the customer’s vantage point is key to help de-escalate potentially fraught conversations.
The final empathy domain is compassion. This is where understanding the customer’s needs — including asking questions if you don’t understand — can come into play the most. Communicating that the customer is being truly heard, but in a way that brings compassion into play, can be a turning point toward a positive relationship and inspire loyalty.
Beware of the empathy gap
An article in Forbes magazine also covers empathy in the business world, and it makes some valid points on its use. One of the biggest takeaways is the empathy gap, the notion that a customer’s situation or lifestyle may be drastically different than the person who is serving the customer.
“The economic and lifestyle realities of high net worth customers may be light-years removed from those of your employees, causing an empathy and practicality gap in service conversations and recommendations,” notes the author. Watching for these gaps and responding to the customer’s reality are important traits to hone.
It also talks about not only picking up on a customer’s cues, it’s finding the cues that mean the most to the customer. A telling example is when a customer service agent for an online retailer talks to a customer about shoes for a wedding that aren’t fitting. As it happens, the agent’s aunt also has issues with shoes that aren’t wide, and she shares that information directly with the client while trying to find that elusive pair of shoes. This leads to a connection beyond just sales recovery.
Treating everyone with compassion and understanding is something every business owner should practice. It’s also a major part of our approach at ARO, making it our goal to not only reconcile debt but also provide a personal touch that speaks to the importance of your customers. Find out more about what we have to offer businesses at our website.
