888.813.7873 Monday–Friday: 7AM–9PM ET Saturday: 8AM–8PM ET Home Newsroom Training for Customer Service Empathy: How to Bring Its Power to Your Organization Training for Customer Service Empathy: How to Bring Its Power to Your Organization What is customer service-specific empathy and how do you train for it? Forbes By Micah Solomon Summary of the Article Customer service-specific empathy is a powerful tool for any customer-facing company. While empathy is often thought of as a personality trait, it is also a skill that can be learned using what psychologists call “situational empathy.” Training employees in this simpler and just as effective form of empathy can go a long way for both a company and its customers. According to Micah Soloman of Forbes, there are three points you’ll want to get across when teaching employees about situational empathy: Take cues from customers but focus especially on those which have meaning to them. For example, a Zappos team member took a call from a customer who was struggling to find comfortable, dressy shoes for her narrow feet. The team member commiserated with the customer about the difficulties of having narrow feet and, while on the call, found a dressy and pain-free solution for the customer. Be wary of the “empathy gap” when employees are serving customers with very different lifestyles than their own. There is often a sizeable difference between an employee’s and a customer’s lifestyle when serving high net worth individuals. Ross Buchmueller, CEO of the PURE Group of Insurance Companies, once overheard an employee at a different company advising a high net worth client that they’d never recommend taking a $10,000 deductible, because the employee would never be able to pay that much himself. While the comment was valid for the employee, it likely was not accurate for the client who could easily self-insure for that amount. Know how to translate empathy into action. An employee at the Hyatt House turned empathy into action when a guest who had just sold her home of 40 years checked in with her dog. To help the two keep some sense of normalcy during their stay, the employee tossed the dog the newspaper each morning to carry back to its owner’s room—a new form of a daily ritual from their old home. READ THE ARTICLE ON FORBES Many PURE employees are trained in empathy as part of the onboarding process when joining the company, especially those who work directly with members every day such as PURE Member Advocates® and Risk Managers. Related Articles Home Insurers Take on Home Repairs 2020 Report to Members New Tools for Home Buyers as the Pandemic Upends Real Estate FOR MEMBERS FOR POTENTIAL MEMBERS FOR BROKERS ABOUT US COVERAGES SERVICES CONTACT US CONTACT US AGREEMENTS LEGAL NOTICES PRIVACY POLICY SITEMAP *Based on the rate per million dollars of Personal Excess Liability coverage, for limits greater than $10 million, as filed by other high net worth carriers. PURE Insurance is the marketing name used to refer to Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), a Florida domiciled reciprocal insurer, as well as other entities in the PURE Group of Insurance Companies. This material is descriptive only. The precise coverage offered is subject to the terms and conditions of the policies issued. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions. Average annual savings on homeowners insurance for members nationwide who reported prior carrier premiums from Aug 2018 through Aug 2019. Actual savings, if any, may vary. Referral rate based on 2018 Bain study and 2017 PURE annual member survey. While future SSA allocations are not guaranteed, PURE has made an allocation in each of the past six consecutive years. Please see our legal notices for terms of service relating to intellectual property, copyright and trademarks. Copyright © 2021 PURE Risk Management, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Important Cookie Policy Information PURE uses cookies to make our website easier to use and deliver relevant ads to prospective members. These cookies are small text files that contain a string of alphanumeric characters. They are generated and stored on a user’s computer when an Internet browser (i.e. Chrome or Firefox) visits the PURE website or views one of PURE’s online ads. These cookies do not collect any personally identifiable information. For more information about our cookie usage, please click here. By using this site, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device. If you choose to change your cookie settings, you will be presented with this message the next time you visit. Accept All Cookies