Listen to Your Customers
The first place to deploy empathy is with your customers. When you listen to your customers, it will have an effect on the rest of your business. They will rate you higher in reviews, become loyal fans, and pay your company with repeat business and referrals.
Make sure you are training your customer service agents to approach every situation from a place of empathy. They should not judge the customer. Instead, seek to understand where they are coming from rather than make them wrong.
Assure and Then Solve
The customer is not always right. However, you need to assure them that their needs are right. In other words, if someone wants a product’s price quote but you cannot offer it to them right away, don’t say you can’t do it. Instead, offer to get them the quote and assure them they will have it. Then, lead them through the proper process.
Put Policies into Place
When empathy is part of your company policy, it makes it much more likely that your workers will follow through. They need to understand that there are rewards for acting the right way and consequences for not going with the directions of the company. Consider awards every quarter for the person who showed the most kindness and compassion in your company.
Track Your Results
While it might feel like you need to be cold to get ahead, having empathy is even more powerful. This affects your bottom line too. Track your results after you have made empathy a stronger part of your company culture. Then, share your increased profits with the company so they understand just how powerful it is.
When it comes to strategies that help drive growth in your business, empathy is near the top. By understanding people on a human level, you can help them more and feel better about your effect on society. This will always improve the business side of things too. So use the tips above to make sure your work culture values empathy.