Customer Experience Management | | Published July 16, 2015

Empathy in Customer Service Drives Growth

For many companies, the “if we build it, they will come” philosophy has been the extent of their growth strategy. However, more successful companies have learned that the best way to grow is to build a stronger relationship with their target customer base. 

One way to build a better relationship with your customers is to first understand that both the customer and the company own the brand experience. Additionally, both should have equal importance in the decision-making process. By taking the time to understand why and how your customers interact with your company, you can be more proactive in meeting their needs. In other words, learn to empathize with them.

Don’t mistake sympathy with empathy. Whereas sympathy is a feeling of compassion towards another, empathy is the act of putting yourself into another person’s thoughts, feelings, circumstances, and personality to better understand and meet their specific needs. When cultivating customer relationships, empathy will always win.

When you empathize with your customers, everyone wins. You will win your target customers’ loyalty and create a lasting relationship with them because you will have a better understanding of their needs and wants. By actively listening and engaging with customers, companies will see a greater ROI all around. In turn, customers will feel that their needs are important and validated by your brand experience.

InMoment has created an empathy map exercise to assist you to better identify with your customer. Take a moment to download the empathy map to gain insight into how to provide your customer with the best experience. 

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About the Author: InMoment helps businesses improve customer retention and increase profits through listening, understanding, and sharing customer stories. Our Voice of Customer (VoC) solutions arm brands with real-time, actionable insights for customer experience (CX) improvement at all organizational levels. InMoment works with more than 350 brands across 25  industries in 128 countries.