Satisfied with empathy in customer service? Does digital customer service reduce empathy? Did you know that you can experience empathy from effective digital service?
What empathy is?
In this blog post, I present the results of a consumer survey commissioned by My Customer and Genesys. The study examined how successfully organizations take care of their customers’ emotional requirements. The study also examined how the quality of service affects a company’s reputation and customer relationships (Empathy in customer service 2021, 3).
The article presenting the research results increased my understanding of empathy as well as interaction with customers online and offline. The text is relevant to my studies as it helps to develop customer experience management skills. It also strengthens the skills to use empathy in a digital service environment.
In this study, empathy is defined as follows: Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s feelings, connection on an emotional level, and the ability to imagine what the other might think or feel and why (Empathy in customer service 2021, 4). Most of us have an innate ability to empathize. In empathy the feelings are understood and not underestimated (Empathy in customer service 2021, 16). I think that the article is very relevant and supports understanding the concept of empathy, because empathy is one of the skills of the future.
Empathy in interaction situations.
In My Customer and Genesys survey aimed to map customer satisfaction with services and how important part of empathy is in customer service. Respondents were almost unanimous, as they felt empathy was important in a customer service interaction situation. 70% of respondents said compassion and empathy are very important. As expected, respondents mainly called customer service on the phone when they were emotional. (Empathy in customer service 2021, 5-7.) Probably when emotions take over, you want to talk to a real person. The real person understands dissatisfaction and bothering situation. I think it’s always better to let emotions come and go first. After that you will be able to communicate more respectfully.
Dr. Natalie Petouhoff (Empathy in customer service 2021, 7) says customers want to feel heard, understood, and valued. Genesys CEO Richard McCrossan (Empathy in customer service 2021, 7) adds that we humans need another person who knows our pain and can share it with us. According to Peter Dorrington, founder of XMplify Consulting (Empathy in customer service 2021, 7), empathy helps both the customer service and the consumer.
Solution vs. empathy in customer service.
Richard McCrossan (Empathy in customer service 2021, 9) says that a customer service employee has challenges understanding different customers because each individual explains their problem differently. According to him, even if we strive for empathy, it is not always easy to achieve because customers have different expectations.
Observing the results of the study, it was found that although the customer’s problem could not be resolved, the service was empathetic. The customer experienced more satisfaction than the customer whose problem was resolved in customer service, but did not experience understanding. (Empathy in customer service 2021, 13.) Peter Dorrington (Empathy in customer service 2021, 14) confirms that even if a customer gets a solution to their needs, he may still be dissatisfied because he did not get something he wanted. So it is important to understand that even if the customer service representative acts empathetically and according to all instructions and compensates for your loss, you may feel disappointed and dissatisfied.
Digital service as an empathic experience.
The customer can experience empathy through high-speed digital customer service (Empathy in customer service 2021, 10). Dr. Natalie Petouhoff (Empathy in customer service 2021, 10) says that using automated channels is often the most empathetic experience, as the customer does not have to wait or tell the customer service person about the course of events. According to her, the customer gets exactly the thing he wants at the moment. The customer experience can’t be great for the customer if the service is limited due to different databases and limited processing times.
Customers interact daily with their friends and families via text messaging and social media. Organizations expects the customers to interact equally with organizations using a same kind of digital channels. (Empathy in customer service 2021, 6.) So you can experience empathy when the digital platforms you use work efficiently, automatic actions respond quickly, and answers are easy to find. Many companies have deployed a variety of platforms and chat services designed to be secure and low-threshold digital channels between you and customer service.
Ignored feelings and a negative opinion of brand.
Dr. Natalie Petouhoff (Empathy in customer service 2021, 20) emphasizes that the key to service interaction is to show empathy and build trust. According to her, companies that do this get more loyal customers who repeatedly return to the service.
Customers are aware of the freedom of choice and therefore companies need to focus on taking customer feelings into account and creating a successful service experience. A study by My Customer and Genesys found that customers who felt that their feelings were ignored have a negative view of the brand and 75% of them share their experiences with friends, family, or social media (Empathy in customer service 2021, 4). Unfortunately, people are sharing the negative experiences at least as often as positive ones.
Support for empathic customer service development.
The research team listed six views to help develop customer service: (Empathy in customer service 2021, 15-19).
- Check your business mindset – does it contribute customer and employee empathy?
- Develop your organization empathetic musculoskeletal organizations to help them promote this innate empathy
- Define what empathy is for your organization
- Measure your current performance – Customer voice and employee information reveal the truth.
- Investigate how you can better support your customer service
- Make sure you build empathy for yourself for digital channels
Conclusions
My conclusions are that the research provided valuable insights into experiencing customer empathy in customer service situations and the digital environment. Without empathy, you and I would only experience a satisfying customer experience.
We should support empathy in business operations, both in the management of employee experience and customer experience. We also should take care of empathy in the digital environment. Let’s create actions which create empathy in the customer. The fact is that if you are online available the more empathic service is.
Organizations should give service personnel more time to meet customer feelings. However, we have to remember that empathy is difficult to define and everyone experiences it individually.
References:
Empathy in customer service 2021. My Customer and Genesis. Referenced 1.2.2022