Empathy in Customer Service – Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

Empathy in Action

Now imagine that Linda is speaking to a customer service representative and they respond to her issues saying, ”Wow, tough luck, I’ll get you the right sizes and send you to the department that can fix your card.” In this statement, the issue has been addressed, but there isn’t empathy or understanding of the frustrating experience Linda is going through.

Now, Linda might be grateful that part of the problem is being fixed, but she is probably still frustrated. Hearing something such as ”tough luck” can come across as rude, and it seems like a lack of consideration for someone’s feelings.

Instead of potentially frustrating a customer, using empathy can help improve the situation, increase customer satisfaction, and improve the customer experience. Instead of saying ”tough luck,” they can show empathy by saying something like, ”I can see how frustrating this must have been and how upset you are. I can assure you that I’ll do everything I can to fix this. Let me start by getting you the correct items and then putting you in touch with the payments department.”

This statement connects with Linda by saying, ”I can see how this must have been frustrating and how upset you are.” This statement also shows understanding and has helped Linda to feel heard.

Now, why is this so important?

Importance of Empathy

Going to the whiteboard, Annie spells out customer service and reminds the team that customer service is the process of providing services to customers. In general, empathy improves the quality of customer service because it establishes a connection or bond between a customer and the employee.

You can spend all day talking with customers who have had problems with the company. Some of their problems may or may not have a resolution, but you can always show empathy. In doing so you:

• Help the customer feel heard
• Acknowledge their feelings
• Provide a good experience

Without empathy, the interaction can be cold and off-putting to customers, thus increasing the conflict.

When a customer calls, they’re already angry. Top that off with a non-empathetic statement, and the anger will continue to increase. By using an empathy statement, you can calm the customers’ feelings and assure them that you will do the best you can to help them. Because empathy helps customers to feel heard, acknowledges their feelings, and can provide a good experience, it’s extremely useful for:

• De-escalating a conflict
• Finding a feasible solution
• Increasing customer satisfaction, even after a negative experience

In short, empathy builds a relationship between the customer and the employee that can enhance customer service, increase customer satisfaction, and build loyalty. Thus, empathy is important for creating a good customer experience, especially after they have gone through something negative.

Lesson Summary

All right, let’s now take a moment or two to review. To wrap it up, Annie reminds the class that empathy is the ability to understand and connect with someone’s feelings. In customer service, empathy means that you’re able to connect with and affirm a customer’s feelings, even if you’re unable to resolve the problem. Providing empathy in customer service means that you allow the customer to feel heard by acknowledging their feelings. Doing so helps to enhance the experience. Empathy in customer service is especially important because it helps to:

• De-escalate a conflict
• Find a feasible solution
• Increase customer satisfaction, even after a negative experience

As a whole, empathy is an important and necessary component to customer service, which is the process of providing services to customers, that allows you to connect with customers, which means that they feel you understand where they’re coming from. In turn, this helps to increase customer satisfaction and build loyalty.