We hear the word empathy a lot in today’s culture, in a variety of fields and disciplines. But what is it exactly? Dictionary.com, an online reference site, defines empathy as “the intellectual identification with the thoughts and feelings of others.” With this definition in mind, it’s easy to see why having empathy is absolutely important to delivering an exceptional customer experience. Let’s take a closer look at empathy and the role it plays in customer service.
At some point, every customer service representative is going to deal with a customer complaint. Most of the time these complaints will be reasonable in nature, and the customer won’t exactly be foaming at the mouth angry as some images present. They’re still going to be upset, and you need to defuse the situation. By employing empathy, you can do this. Start by putting yourself in their shoes—why are they angry? Try to get to the bottom of the issue. By understanding where they’re coming from, you can better address their complaint. The trick is: you must genuinely be showing empathy with the customer—not faking it. They will catch on to fake empathy really quick. Like active listening, empathy is a skill that must be developed over time, yet once it has been developed, the rewards are great.
Yonyx enables organizations to create decision tree driven interactive guides for troubleshooting & how-to information for customer self service.
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