In my last post, I made a thought-provoking proposition: Improving inbound customer service simply by being empathetic. Many of you have replied with appreciative notes. A BIG thanks to all of them and I hope to share more of my experiences that turn out favorable to you and your business.
Empathy is about multiplying human touch in your interactions. It’s about listening and understanding what each customer expects and reach a common ground. This may sound strange, but read it again and you’ll realize WHAT a customer really wants from a communication is an exercise in reading between the lines, and delivering the desired objective. I call this customer empathy, and it has helped Open Mind serve the customers of its clients in a satisfied and valuable manner.
EMPATHY in inbound customer service
Empathy plays a crucial role in inbound customer service. It involves understanding and sharing the feelings and experiences of customers to provide a more meaningful and satisfying interaction.
When customer service representatives approach interactions with empathy, they demonstrate genuine care and concern for the customer’s situation. By actively listening, acknowledging emotions, and showing understanding, they create a supportive environment that helps customers feel heard and valued.
Empathy in customer service goes beyond simply resolving issues. It involves putting oneself in the customer’s shoes, anticipating their needs, and offering personalized solutions. This human connection builds trust, strengthens relationships, and fosters loyalty.
Empathy also helps de-escalate tense situations. When customers encounter problems, they often feel frustrated or upset. By empathizing with their emotions, representatives can diffuse tension, calm customers down, and work collaboratively towards finding solutions.
Overall, empathy enhances the customer experience by making interactions more positive, compassionate, and memorable. It creates a sense of understanding, builds trust, and leaves customers with a lasting impression of exceptional service.
These three easy tips can help in developing empathy effectively:
1. LISTEN. This will always be the most important skill to learn. Listening begins with the EARS, and should continue with the EYES to catch body language cues, the INSTINCTS to try and grasp what is not being communicated, and finally by the HEART to understand what the other person might be going through.
2. VALIDATE. Put your viewpoint aside and try to get in the other person’s shoes; only then will you be able to validate her perspective. Validating does not mean agreement- it signifies that you acknowledge their opinions and reactions to a particular problem or situation.
3. KEEP AN OPEN MIND. Your attitude should immediately reveal that you’re more inclined to find a solution rather than choosing a winner between the two communicating parties. Without an open mind, it will be difficult to even think about developing a humane skill like empathy.
Practicing these skills in your regular interactions will soon transform you into a more caring, affable and approachable person. Understanding others will almost certainly lead to people trying to understand you- the decisive first step towards collaboration and teamwork.
Keeping my commitment of my last post, here are a top few ready-to-use empathy statements we regularly use:
a. Absolutely! I would feel the same in your situation. Let me help you sort it out…
b. I’m really thankful for bringing this to my notice. I’ll help you with a solution…
a. Absolutely! I would feel the same in your situation. Let me help you sort it out…
c. Sorry for all the trouble you had to go through. I’ll suggest…
d. Your satisfaction means the world to us. Is there anything more I can do?
e. I can see where the problem is, and I promise it will be fixed within… (concrete time frame)
Along with these, we keep fabricating new statements through which we can help our customers in keeping their faith intact.
Master empathy and transform your business with loyal customers for life.