We understand the importance of customer service for the success of any business. The customers spend their money on your product or services to find some solution to their problem. And it is frustrating for them if the product itself is a problem to increase the troubles.
Now, the customer will contact your representative with an unknown mood to find a solution. Your representative must understand the emotions of customers to manage the situation efficiently. However, the lack of empathy makes it extremely difficult to calm down their anger or clear their doubts.
Why Is Empathy Important?
There are multiple reasons to use empathy while dealing with customers. The main reason remains the increase in retention rate because of the positive experience of the existing customers. Now, the other reasons include a long list of positive feedback on your social media handlers.
The customers will feel valued and the brand is taking their concerns seriously. They will feel the assurance to find the solution and calm their mind. Therefore, the investment in your customer service is worth every penny even if it requires small loans in Ireland.
You should avoid conversation with angry customers if you are not good at showing empathy. Let someone else from the management handle their concerns to avoid a disastrous situation. Meanwhile, try to become more empathetic with practice and patience.
Tips to Make Your Customer Service More Empathetic
It may confuse people when we speak of training the employees to show empathy to the customers. Some people are not even aware of the lessons or training modules to create an empathetic environment. Therefore, you should use the following tips to add the element of empathy to your customer service and increase the retention rate.
Carefully Read and Listen
The customers will try their best to explain the entire situation to you. It will include their experience and the problem with the product. However, the focus may remain on the inconvenience the problem is causing them.
Therefore, you must listen to every part of the conversation or read every line to understand their situation. It will help to visualise yourself in their situation and imagine their level of frustration. Thus, allowing yourself to feel empathy towards them to give a suitable response.
Repeat
It is okay to misunderstand some facts or situations after listening to the customer’s side of the story. However, it will create problems while providing the solution for them while trying to understand their experience. Repeat their version of the story to make sure you’re on the same page.
The chances of missing an important point will substantially decrease. Moreover, the customers will feel you are listening and understanding the problem. Thus, it will help calm them down to accept the solution at hand.
Use the Right Phrases
Customer service is about using the right words while providing the solution to your customers. If you have the right vocabulary, you can easily end the conversation on a positive note without even sharing the exact solution. It gets important to start with some empathetic phrases to assure the customer.
These phrases will make them feel cared to put some trust in your business. Otherwise, they may spend another hour trying to display their anger because of the problem. Start your sentence with “I understand” while trying to come up with the right phrase.
Let Them Display the Dissatisfaction
Never cut the angry customer between their sentence to take control of the conversation. Let them take their frustration out by explaining the entire conversation. It may take some time, but it will surely open them for reasons and solutions.
Remind them of the language if they are taking the vent out to an extreme. Warn them of disconnecting the line if they continue to use unacceptable language. Until then, let them speak their heart out to eliminate the growing frustration.
- Show Politeness
They may use a few cuss words while explaining the experience to you. But you must remain calm throughout the conversation to avoid further damage to your brand reputation. The customer may not have a reasonable reason to be angry, but they don’t expect any problem after paying money.
Continue to assure them of a solution while they try to paint a picture of their anger. Remember, the polite tone can calm them down and repair the damage because of the problem. The main motive to invest in customer service is a healthy relationship that you can achieve only with a polite tone.
- Let Them Feel Valued
In the end, you must understand their situation to make them feel valued. It is more important than providing an instant solution to their problem. Even the unreasonable customers will know if the situation is not in your hand to solve.
Remain transparent with them while accepting the problem. They deserve to know the reason for the inconvenience if the situation is not available. Also, it will help keep calm them down to wait until a proper solution is available for their problem.
Conclusion
To sum up, showing empathy is about understanding the situation of your customers by listening to their problems. It is an essential aspect of customer service where the human touch is currently irreplaceable. Also, do not expect to become a master of showing empathy overnight, as it will take time and effort.