These days, a brand that operates with empathy is a brand that stands out.
There has been a long list of marketing buzzwords over the years, but in 2020, no buzzword is quite as important for a brand’s online reputation than “empathy.”
Empathy — not to be confused with sympathy, which is a feeling of passion — is the feeling you have when you truly put yourself in someone else’s shoes, allowing you to identify with their situation on a whole new level.
It’s easy to see how people operate with empathy in their personal lives, but what does it look like in marketing and brand management?
Empathy in marketing means putting yourself in your customers’ shoes so that you can figure out what they actually value instead of just what sells. It also means creating content that helps to evoke empathy in your customers and promote change within the community.
4 Ways Operating With Empathy Benefits Your Brand
#1. It increases productivity and innovation.
When you operate with empathy, you give your employees a reason to do what they do every day that goes beyond just making a sale or getting through a transaction. When your employees can understand the why behind what they’re doing, and they can see how it impacts the people they serve, it will not only help to fuel the fire of productivity, but it will also lead to greater innovation within your organization.
However, in order to see the benefits of empathy in productivity and innovation, you first need to have the right kind of staff in place. Unlike being technical savvy or having years of experience, empathy is a soft skill that not many businesses hire for, but in 2017 Google did a study that showed just how important soft skills are to a business’ success.
Google’s study, Project Aristotle, found that its most valuable new ideas didn’t come from their top software engineers or computer scientists — they came from B-teams that consisted of employees who had soft skills, including generosity, curiosity, and, yes, empathy.
Employees who operate with empathy are always working to do what’s best for their customers, which often means finding ways to be more productive and innovative.
#2. It leads to more sales and loyalty.
It’s easy to see how empathy plays a role in an effective sales process. After all, everyone knows that the key to making a sale is the ability to understand and anticipate the customer’s needs, and to be able to demonstrate how the product or service in question can meet those needs.
Not only can operating with empathy help you increase sales within your organization, it also leads to increased customer loyalty. That’s because customers and clients who are treated with empathy don’t feel like you’re trying to pull the wool over their eyes in order to make a sale. Instead, they feel like you truly care about finding the best option for their needs, and for most people, that’s the kind of business they want to work with.
Empathy is a proven sales strategy, and its power in turning one-time customers into lifelong customers is undeniable, but too often, it’s overlooked. Instead of really putting themselves in their customers’ shoes to find a solution that works for them, too many businesses are focused on how to get the biggest sale.
That’s because operating with empathy is the long game. Instead of figuring out how to get the most money out of your customers now, operating with empathy is about building loyal, long-term relationships with customers.
#3. It creates greater job satisfaction and decreases employee turnover.
These days, your employees have a lot of options when it comes to their careers. Not only is the unemployment rate low and the demand for quality workers high, but with the “gig economy,” fewer and fewer people are going the traditional route of working for an established business. Nowadays, more people than ever are freelancing, consulting, or are otherwise self-employed.
Every business knows that success is dependent on the people out there doing the job day in and day out, and how do you ensure that your employees stick around and continue to want to do a good job for you? By operating with empathy!
When a business operates with empathy and encourages its employees to do the same, it leads to greater job satisfaction, as well as a decrease in employee turnover. The simple fact of the matter is that people need a reason beyond just making a sale or helping the business to be profitable in order to be their most engaged, and when you operate with empathy, you’re giving them that reason.
#4. It makes you stand out online and off.
A lot of people think that the companies that are the most successful are the ones that were willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead and to win at any cost. And, while a can-do spirit and a willingness to whatever it takes is essential to success, successful businesses know the importance of operating with empathy.
A business that’s operating with empathy will do whatever it takes to meet their customers’ needs; while a business that’s not operating with empathy will do whatever it takes to make a sale. It’s that difference that will make that business stand out online and offline.
In this day and age, a business’ online reputation is everything. Whether someone is looking for a local painter or a friendly neighborhood barber shop, they’re going to start that search online. And, when you operate with empathy, your online reviews and reputation will reflect that.
Operating with empathy may seem like the fastest or most efficient way to do things, but as you can see, it pays off. There are so many reasons to operate with empathy in your business. Your online reputation — and your bottom line — will thank you for it!
