Empathy is an underrated superpower: Here's why

Hey folks,

Last weekend, I was out having breakfast and mentioned to my server that I was moving to Dublin from Chicago. The restaurant manager overheard, came over to wish me luck, and said something that really struck me: “I’m sure many people have said you can always come back if it doesn’t work out, but I’m telling you it’s going to be great. Don’t worry about a backup plan, and just enjoy the moment!”

It was a small but very meaningful statement because she was the first person – despite being a complete stranger – to say that to me.

Genuinely caring and instilling confidence and joy into a total stranger is a uniquely human thing. It's why I believe people will always want to connect with humans, even as AI becomes a bigger and more sophisticated part of customer service.

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Sure, not every transaction needs to be deep and meaningful. But moments where you can connect on a deeper level are always what create the most memorable customer experiences. This is so powerful! And something we should actively prioritize as customer service leaders.

More than any website or advert, customer experiences are what shape people's opinion of a brand. They remember someone going out of their way to fix their problem, making them laugh even when they were frustrated, or reassuring them about moving their life to an entirely new country(!) They’re more loyal to companies that they feel a connection with, so let’s lean into this and champion being empathetic.

Here are a few ways I try to foster this approach among my team.

Let people be themselves

I encourage my teammates to be themselves and communicate as “people” with customers. We’ve hired folks who genuinely care and want to help, so why not let them do that in ways that come naturally to them? Of course we have guidelines in place, but for the most part, everyone has autonomy to handle conversations as individuals.

We keep track of positive feedback teammates get from customers, and every week we share a few of these shout-outs in an internal newsletter that goes out to the company. It’s a nice way to let people know that we recognize and appreciate their contributions.  

Make empathy part of your business

We don’t measure success on numbers alone. Don’t get me wrong, metrics are vital to track progress, but they often don’t paint the full picture. A great experience is as important as a quick resolution to us, so we’ve made measuring how we engage with customers a dedicated part of our enablement plan.

When we review support tickets with our new hires, for example, we check in on how empathetic they were, and emphasize that being kind is as important as sharing the right information and responding quickly. We figure it’s one thing to “talk the talk,” but actually measuring how we show up as humans with our customers signals to everyone how important we believe this is. 

Use frameworks for guidance

Some situations can be trickier to navigate than others, so we’ve developed frameworks that I encourage my team to fall back on when they’re stuck. Something like our PREACH guidelines, a customer-focused tone of voice framework, provides a useful reminder of our values as a support team and how we ideally want to engage with customers. It’s not a prescriptive set of instructions, but rather something the team can reference when crafting their own response. 

Of course, AI can also be incredibly useful in understanding customer sentiment, striking the right tone in your messaging, or probing deeper into queries and providing more in-depth solutions. The future of customer service is AI and humans – so don’t be afraid to lean on the technology and use it to maximize your team’s impact. 

The exchange I had with that restaurant manager has stayed with me because of how positive it made me feel – both about my big move across the Atlantic and about customer service in general. Each of us in this industry has the incredible opportunity every day to make someone else’s day, which I think is pretty special.

Keep being awesome!

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