Technology has completely transformed the call center … but is it for the better? In some ways, yes. But as we’ve embraced more and more technology, we’ve lost sight of arguably the most important aspect of customer service: empathy.
Most U.S. consumers — 83% of them, to be precise — would rather interact with live agents over digital channels to solve customer service issues, according to research from Accenture. In today’s digital world, people want real, genuine, human-to-human connection. Companies that build customer empathy by actively gathering insights about their customers and translating that information into meaningful actions provide helpful and meaningful experiences that drive customer loyalty.
Understanding the Customer Experience
Definition of customer experience
Customer experience refers to the overall perception and feelings that a customer has towards a company or brand, resulting from their interactions with its products, services, and employees. It encompasses every touchpoint, from the initial awareness stage to post-purchase support, and is shaped by various factors, including customer service, product quality, and overall brand reputation. A positive customer experience is not just about meeting customer expectations but exceeding them in ways that create lasting impressions and foster loyalty.
Importance of creating positive customer experiences
Creating positive customer experiences is crucial for businesses to build loyalty, drive growth, and stay competitive in today’s market. When customers have a positive experience, they are more likely to become repeat customers, recommend the brand to others, and provide positive reviews. On the other hand, negative experiences can lead to customer churn, negative word-of-mouth, and a damaged brand reputation. In a world where customer feedback can spread rapidly through social media and review sites, ensuring every customer interaction is positive is more important than ever.
Role of customer service representative in shaping customer experience
Customer service representatives play a vital role in shaping the customer experience. They are often the face of the company, and their interactions with customers can make or break the customer’s perception of the brand. Empathetic customer service representatives who actively listen to customers, understand their needs, and provide personalized solutions can create a positive experience. On the flip side, unresponsive or unhelpful representatives can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction. By practicing customer empathy and using customer service empathy statements, representatives can turn potentially negative interactions into opportunities to build customer loyalty and satisfaction.
What is empathy in customer service?
You know about empathy … but do you really know about empathy? Before we tackle empathy in customer service, it’s important to understand what exactly empathy is.
Let’s dig in.
Psychologists have defined three types of empathy:
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Emotional empathy: The ability to feel what another person is feeling.
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Cognitive empathy: The ability to understand where a person is coming from; putting yourself in the customer's shoes
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Behavioral empathy: Having compassion and taking actions to help based on your understanding of the situation
All three types of empathy can be employed in customer service. Emotional empathy can foster connection and better communication. Cognitive empathy can help customer service agents understand the customer’s situation. And behavioral empathy uses all that information to drive meaningful action that benefits the customer.
Why is empathy important in customer service?
Customer service isn’t just about making the customer happy. It’s about providing service and support that deepens the customer relationship and generates customer loyalty.
According to Forrester, companies are missing the mark when they solely focus on customer satisfaction, because satisfaction isn’t necessarily what drives customer loyalty. What has a greater impact on loyalty is making customers feel respected, understood, valued, or confident by acknowledging the customer's emotions.
Let’s zero in on that second word: understood. You can give a customer exactly what they want, but without empathy and understanding, you’re not driving customer loyalty. In fact, 70% of consumers say they are likely to shop “exclusively” with companies that understand them.
Read: 10 hard-hitting customer service stats (and what to do about them)
A chatbot can solve an issue. It can’t empathize with a customer. Empathy is what makes customer-agent interactions uniquely human. It bridges the gap between what you know about your customers (their problems your company helps solve) and what you don’t (their mood, their priorities, their sense of urgency).
Instead of serving up a one-size-fits-all solution, empathy allows agents to meet the unique and complex needs of each unique and complex customer. Because as much as we want to wrap all customers up into neat little personas determined by market research, individuals are unique.
Read: Genuine empathy will be mission-critical to CX in 2023
4 ways to demonstrate empathy in customer service
Now we know why empathy is important in customer service … but how do we get there? Here are four ways you can deliver exceptional customer service through empathy. Building customer empathy involves understanding customers' perspectives and providing practical tips for fostering empathy, such as personalizing support, listening actively, and involving all employees in customer service experiences.
1. Understand customer's needs with predictive technologies and segmentation
AI isn’t the enemy of empathy. In fact, AI and predictive technologies can provide meaningful context that allows customer service agents to understand and address customer needs more effectively.
This context could predict situations or behavior. It could use facial recognition to detect a customer’s mood. Or it could analyze text-based emotion in a chat, which sometimes can get lost in translation.
When employing any technology, it’s important to ensure that it is working toward your goals and empowering your customer service agents to perform their job better — rather than be another thingamajig to add to their workload.
2. Recruit and train agents for empathetic customer service
Empathy should be a top quality you seek in customer service agents. But we all have room for improvement, and the good news is that empathy can be learned.
For example, active listening is a skill that helps agents be present and give full attention to the customer, even using body language and verbal cues to show they’re paying attention. Training agents to understand and address customer pain points can further enhance their ability to empathize with and support customers effectively.
3. Allow customer service agents to be human
Nearly 60% of U.S. consumers say companies have lost touch with the human element of customer service.
While good-intentioned, overly-canned scripts aren’t fooling today’s savvy consumers. They convert your human agents into robots. And in today’s AI-filled world, when your customer is talking to a human customer service agent, they want a human experience.
Empower your customer service agents to do their job, as themselves. If you’ve provided quality training and the right tools, you can trust that they’ll do their job well and create positive customer experiences by providing the refreshing, authentic experience your customers crave.
4. Integrate human CX
Human CX, also known as Guided CX or visual engagement, are the tools that facilitate genuine empathy and connection in digital spaces.
Glance’s screen sharing and cobrowse, for example, can help customer service agents quickly understand exactly what a customer’s frustrations are and relate to the customer's emotions. And through one-way or multi-way video, customers can actually see the person helping them — which can have a tremendous and memorable impact.
Glance takes the distance out of digital. Our Guided CX solutions enable real human connections that create next-level customer service.
Creating a Culture of Empathy
Leading by Example: Empathy from Top-Down
Creating a culture of empathy within an organization requires a top-down approach, where leaders and managers model empathetic behavior and prioritize customer satisfaction. When leaders demonstrate empathy and understanding towards customers, it sets the tone for the rest of the organization, encouraging employees to follow suit. This can be achieved by providing empathy training, recognizing and rewarding empathetic behavior, and incorporating customer feedback into decision-making processes.
By leading by example, leaders can create a culture of empathy that permeates every level of the organization, resulting in a more customer-centric approach and a better overall customer experience. When employees see that empathy is valued and rewarded, they are more likely to adopt these behaviors in their own customer interactions, ultimately leading to more personalized and meaningful support for customers.
Learn how to reflect the customer's voice in your CX strategy
Discover the latest contact center technologies that enhance the customer experience in our upcoming webinar. Join Ben Devey, Director of CX at Ollie, to learn how to develop processes, create customer journey maps, and address customer pain points to lead with empathy.
