Empathy is a necessary skill that any support agent should have to better handle different customer situations. When you are empathetic with the problems customers face, they will feel understood and heard.
However, it is tough to master this skill as it is associated with emotion which you have to deal with numerous customers to gain. No worries, this article will provide you 3 empathy exercises for customer service that you can try
Table of Contents
What is an empathy exercise in customer service?
Empathy is the ability to understand others’ feelings and what they suffer from. In customer service, empathetic support agents are people who can put themselves in customers’ shoes and help them solve issues.
An empathy exercise is an activity exclusively designed to help people increase empathy and develop empathic skills. The majority of empathy exercises for customer service teams are group activities that allow teams to learn from various viewpoints and grow empathy together.
How to show empathy in customer service
We all know the importance of empathy in customer service. However, understanding and practicing empathy are two different things.
Some of the resources listed below can provide you with a better understanding of how to apply empathy in customer service.
Use the time to read and listen carefully
Anyone who has ever worked in customer service will be familiar with supporting customers over the phone or in person. In these cases, it is critical to pay great attention and maintain eye contact when talking with customers. This way, you will not only better understand their challenges but also know how they feel about your customer service based on their tone of voice and body language.
Paraphrase and confirm your customer requests
You don’t always have a complete view of your customer’s difficulties. Paraphrasing their requirements would be an excellent approach to determining whether or not you both are on the same page. In fact, paraphrasing the request is so powerful that it is used by customer service teams as an empathic strategy to gratify clients.
Stay positive and be patient
It’s simple to empathize with the first customer of the day. However, in order to treat the final customer in the same manner as the first, you must remain happy and motivated.
Steer clear of judgment and remember to treat customers well.
Find ways to keep your head throughout the day, whether by taking a little break or doing small stretches. Believe me! Treating yourself nicely would be a way to show empathy for customers.
Make customers feel respected
There are a lot of ways for customer service teams to show respect to customers. Greeting people by their name is definitely the best way to get off on the right foot. It is also an opportunity for you to introduce yourself and what you can deliver for them as a helpful resource.
Respect is also derived from the act of expressing empathy. You could never meet all of your consumers’ needs, no matter how hard you tried. As such, using sympathetic words when talking with customers could be a terrific method to lessen this unpleasant scenario.
3 Empathy exercises for customer service you should know:
Active listening
Establishing improvisation sessions like customer role-playing can help employees cultivate a number of skills that convey empathy.
Active listening is one of the integral skills related to empathy. Active listening helps to create rapport and trust by displaying that you are paying attention to what customers are saying.
How to Perform the Exercise
You can team employees up in pairs, and let them role-play a random customer service scenario that calls for empathy.
One will act as a customer with a complaint or special request, and the other member will be the support agent. Take it, in turn, to make sure that all employees can immerse in the improvisation.
By doing this, you can create a great environment for employees to force themselves to listen to what customers might complain about and be proactive in the conversation.
Defending unreasonable requests
Dealing with irritable and unreasonable customers is an unavoidable thing for any support agent. Sometimes, customers give you unreasonable demands, but stay calm and handle the situation in a professional manner.
You might not be able to fulfill all the requests, but you don’t want the customer to go away and have a bad experience with your brand.
How to do the exercise
Have employees recalled a time they had to deal with unusual customer requests? One person tells the story about the situation, and the other person will listen closely and, simultaneously, make mental notes of the key details.
The person who acts as the employee would try to understand the customer’s position by:
- Why did customers make these requests?
- How did they feel?
- What would affect them?
Sharing our own stories
One of the best ways to hone empathic skills that most businesses overlook is to share personal stories. By sharing personal stories with your teammates, employees can know more about unusual situations, hence, self-equip with unfamiliar requests.
Establishing the sharing sessions. Let all employees participate in and allow them to express their stories and emotion:
- Sharing session in which you discuss some typical customer complaints. Then, encourage everyone to share similar situations they’re gone through. Asking for a different perspective and personal approach for the typical request. This can help everyone have a better understanding of customer experience.
- Team meetings have both positive and negative outcomes. These crucial meetings keep staff motivated and provide an opportunity to get real with each other.
Conclusion
Empathy is a critical skill that your customer service agents should have to deliver a better customer service experience and build long-term relationships with customers.
Hope that you find some simple exercises for customer service above helpful and easy to follow. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us via live chat or email at [email protected]
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