If you work in customer service, it’s inevitable you will have to deal with a customer who is upset. It’s the nature of the beast.
But if you have the right skills, you can turn that beast into a fluffy, purring kitten.
One of those skills is called empathy.
For those of you that may sometimes confuse empathy with sympathy, they are not the same thing.
Sympathy is not just understanding and identifying with another’s feelings, but you are also standing on their side with their feelings.
Empathy, on the other hand, is simply identifying, acknowledging, and understanding another’s feelings, but you are not necessarily agreeing those feelings are right or wrong.
In other words; you are putting yourself in their shoes.
Why is empathy important to show to a customer? For several reasons.
When a customer comes to you with a problem, especially if they are upset about said problem; they are generally looking for someone to acknowledge it and help them. They want someone who understands and will fix it for them.
If you come back to the customer with an attitude of “so what?” or “I don’t care”, you’ve already lost that customer’s chance at reason and possibly their business in general. Not to mention you’ll have a customer that will now become even more upset because you failed to empathize with their situation.
Think of it this way; when you’re upset and want to vent to your friends or family, would you want them looking at you with a blank stare that clearly states, “I don’t care”? Of course not.
Empathizing with a customer does not mean you’re agreeing with them. In fact, you may not even be able to help them in the way they want to be helped. But by simply saying you understand them, you hear their concerns and you want to help them however you can, then you’re giving them the empathy they need. This will in turn show them you care and you want to help.
Here are some examples of empathy statements:
“Wow, that’s a really tough situation sir. I’m sorry to hear that happened to you.”
“I’m sure that must have been very frustrating. I can understand your being so upset. Let’s see what I can do to help with your situation.”
“I completely understand how you feel inconvenienced. If something similar happened to me, I probably would be too. Let me see what I can do to help you.”
Never ignore a customer’s feelings. Simply empathizing with your customer can go a long way in gaining your customer’s trust and loyalty. And with that trust and loyalty means longevity in business.
