The COVID-19 pandemic has affected lives and businesses across the globe. It is an unprecedented event, the likes of which have not been witnessed in recent memory. The pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn, with nations around the world struggling to contain its disruptive economic impact. Industries have been affected in different ways, depending on what they do and where they are.
It is especially in times like this that businesses need to double-down on their focus on customer service with empathy in order to maintain customer relationships. Customer centricity and empathy are not just supposed to be nice-to-have added benefits that companies offer. Rather, they have become fundamental prerequisites.
One major focus area to enable new as well as to retain existing businesses and also accelerate revenue is institutionalizing the quality of empathy that many companies successfully deployed as a crisis management measure; that is, making an effort to understand the customer’s changed circumstances and working toward seeing how the company’s solutions could fit into their new reality. The building or deepening of such a customer service mindset can go a long way in helping companies emerge from the current downturn.
In simple terms, empathy is the ability to understand emotional experiences by putting yourself in another person’s shoes. It allows customer service reps to understand the buyer’s thoughts, feelings and motivations. It helps understand their changed circumstances and see how the company's solutions could fit into the buyer’s new reality.
Customer service teams must operate from a place of empathy. Showing empathy, however, cannot just be a tactical effort to gain a competitive edge, but must come from a desire to show support, find common ground with customers and help them achieve their goals. One significant way empathy can be demonstrated is through flexibility and innovatively redesigning payment terms and product offering bundles in response to immediate customer needs. This shouldn’t just mean discounted prices; it should demonstrate care while reaffirming the value of the product or service.
Speaking to Regalix about the importance of empathy in customer service operations, Liliana Montijo, Head of Customer Service and Direct Marketing at Uline, says, “Conversations have become more personal. There is a greater need to address difficult situations and our customers now have needs that there were not there before.
“I can say that our customers want us to listen to them more than ever before and, at the same time, are more sensitive. We understand that social isolation is one of the causes of this change in behavior,” she adds.
José Pérez, a customer service leader from Latin America, also echoes Liliana’s views on empathy, saying, “The COVID-19 situation has led to companies dealing with their customers with more empathy. The customer service aspect of our operations is even more relevant nowadays and the value we provide through our customer service reps is a major focus area for us.”
He further observes, “We can find the solutions to multiple problems, the keys to success, the potential for new opportunities and a whole lot more when we listen to our customers. They have the answers that we are looking for and can help solve multiple issues on both sides.”
In conclusion, customer service expectations in terms of both experience and outcomes have risen. Customers are not satisfied with just buying a good product; they further demand comprehensive services and sustained engagement across the entire customer lifecycle. When companies fail to provide this, customers can switch to an alternative solution provider with ease.
A robust customer service function is, therefore, a key revenue engine, and must be treated as such. Organizations must work to build granular knowledge of customers and ensure the right mix of people, technology and processes to be able to provide the optimum customer service experience. The need for such data-driven and structured service engagement is only growing with the rapid digitization of business processes. And they must do all of this and more with empathy. Companies that do not make the strategic shifts and put the necessary processes in place are at risk of being left behind in the new normal.
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