I love that your manager stressed that the solution for each customer may be a product you don’t sell but you should still help them anyway as so often the focus can seem to be on meeting targets instead.
As someone who’s worked in the financial sector for a few years now, public trust in those of us working in the sector is often low, but my experience is that you are exactly right - if the customer feels heard and understood it can really help to earn their trust.
Thank you, Char! I think that was part of the lesson my manager was trying to teach, that earning the customers trust is more important than earning their sale. As the first leads to the last.
And I forgot to mention, but he and I had the top weekly sales in the nation twice over that summer, so his method definitely worked!
Electrifying article, Mack! This one genuinely moved me. Good customer service is beautiful, yet rare these days. I really valued reading your personal examples of great customer service in the article. Well done!
This is a bit off-topic, but I use the same approach in my day-to-day job; maybe that is the reason I am south out manager amongst many. I focus on solving the problems of individuals first because, somehow, there is always a solution where both sides can be happy with the outcome.
Thank you for the mention! Also, there's never a time and place I would not have enough cups of coffee 😂
Jana we definitely think alike. When ever I advise companies on customer e engagement/marketing strategies, I always structure recommendations so there’s a clear benefit to both the client and their customers. It’s a rewarding challenge to find a true win-win solution that will keep both sides engaged because both sides benefit. Thanks so much for reading and sharing!
Solid article Mack! And some great stories and examples of the practice of empathy as part of building great experiences for people.
Speaking for myself and the information spheres I see, I think some of the challenge with empathy as it's spoken about in today's online spheres is that it's often tied to an emotional state of being (and the connotations therein), whereas what I've always thought was that empathy was one of deeply understanding other people.
I tried to drive this point home at a leadership talk I gave once, where someone who worked as a policewoman asked how to manage emotional burnout as they're often trained to be empathetic towards challenging personalities, and the point I tried to make was that empathy can simply be a practice of understanding others, to see the world from their eyes. But that doesn't mean we need to shoulder the emotional burden either.
I loved how you demonstrated your practice of empathy in your examples!
Exactly, Scott. At its essence, I’ve always viewed empathy as simply seeing the other persons point of view. You don’t have to agree with it and definitely don’t have the same level of emotional investment as they do. Just understand ‘where they are coming from’. I don’t think there should be emotional attachment when dealing with empathy, although having empathy seems to mean having emotional sympathy to many people.
Brilliant article Mack and a powerful reminder to all of us! I’m currently reading Tribes by Seth Godin which also has some similar points even if it’s more about leadership ✨
Yes! Preach, sister. What's the ROI of giving a damn? We focus all our time and energy on understanding the numbers, and so little on understanding the people who create those numbers.
And yes, it totally applies to Substack. Will have an article about this later this month.
This is spot on Mack! The focus should always be on providing the customer with what they need. Unfortunately, many businesses and organizations get caught up in selling and making a profit, which leads them to focus more on themselves and less on their customers.
But, once you establish trust with a client or customer, you become their go-to. And the best part about empathy is that studies show it can be learned. It’s not a skill that you’re either born with or you’re not—it can be taught.
Yes, Bette! Marketing is so expensive because so much of it is spent on trying to sell to people that either aren’t ready or who don’t want to be sold to.
Listening and understanding your customers has a far better ROI. But it’s ‘squishy’ and hard to measure, so rarely gets managed. Thanks for reading and sharing!
I love that your manager stressed that the solution for each customer may be a product you don’t sell but you should still help them anyway as so often the focus can seem to be on meeting targets instead.
As someone who’s worked in the financial sector for a few years now, public trust in those of us working in the sector is often low, but my experience is that you are exactly right - if the customer feels heard and understood it can really help to earn their trust.
Thank you, Char! I think that was part of the lesson my manager was trying to teach, that earning the customers trust is more important than earning their sale. As the first leads to the last.
And I forgot to mention, but he and I had the top weekly sales in the nation twice over that summer, so his method definitely worked!
Electrifying article, Mack! This one genuinely moved me. Good customer service is beautiful, yet rare these days. I really valued reading your personal examples of great customer service in the article. Well done!
Wow, thank you Jens! That’s very kind of you! I agree completely, good customer service is a thing of beauty!
Great article, Mack, as always.
This is a bit off-topic, but I use the same approach in my day-to-day job; maybe that is the reason I am south out manager amongst many. I focus on solving the problems of individuals first because, somehow, there is always a solution where both sides can be happy with the outcome.
Thank you for the mention! Also, there's never a time and place I would not have enough cups of coffee 😂
Jana we definitely think alike. When ever I advise companies on customer e engagement/marketing strategies, I always structure recommendations so there’s a clear benefit to both the client and their customers. It’s a rewarding challenge to find a true win-win solution that will keep both sides engaged because both sides benefit. Thanks so much for reading and sharing!
Solid article Mack! And some great stories and examples of the practice of empathy as part of building great experiences for people.
Speaking for myself and the information spheres I see, I think some of the challenge with empathy as it's spoken about in today's online spheres is that it's often tied to an emotional state of being (and the connotations therein), whereas what I've always thought was that empathy was one of deeply understanding other people.
I tried to drive this point home at a leadership talk I gave once, where someone who worked as a policewoman asked how to manage emotional burnout as they're often trained to be empathetic towards challenging personalities, and the point I tried to make was that empathy can simply be a practice of understanding others, to see the world from their eyes. But that doesn't mean we need to shoulder the emotional burden either.
I loved how you demonstrated your practice of empathy in your examples!
Exactly, Scott. At its essence, I’ve always viewed empathy as simply seeing the other persons point of view. You don’t have to agree with it and definitely don’t have the same level of emotional investment as they do. Just understand ‘where they are coming from’. I don’t think there should be emotional attachment when dealing with empathy, although having empathy seems to mean having emotional sympathy to many people.
Brilliant article Mack and a powerful reminder to all of us! I’m currently reading Tribes by Seth Godin which also has some similar points even if it’s more about leadership ✨
Mack, I’ve already had 5.5 cups of coffee today, and guess what? It’s still not enough. But you know what is enough? This post.
Customer service and empathy? This is my favorite topic of all time. I could talk about it over a pot of coffee (or TEN).
Empathy is the secret sauce of customer service. It’s not about scripts, metrics, or upselling. It’s about making people feel seen, heard, and valued.
When you do that, you don’t just earn a customer - you earn a freaking advocate.
PS This applies to Substack, too.
I will always be your advocate, bro.
Thank you for the mention.
Yes! Preach, sister. What's the ROI of giving a damn? We focus all our time and energy on understanding the numbers, and so little on understanding the people who create those numbers.
And yes, it totally applies to Substack. Will have an article about this later this month.
I will look out for it :)
Oh and Sarah McLachlan article next week 🤗
I listened to her on Sunday :)
This is spot on Mack! The focus should always be on providing the customer with what they need. Unfortunately, many businesses and organizations get caught up in selling and making a profit, which leads them to focus more on themselves and less on their customers.
But, once you establish trust with a client or customer, you become their go-to. And the best part about empathy is that studies show it can be learned. It’s not a skill that you’re either born with or you’re not—it can be taught.
Yes, Bette! Marketing is so expensive because so much of it is spent on trying to sell to people that either aren’t ready or who don’t want to be sold to.
Listening and understanding your customers has a far better ROI. But it’s ‘squishy’ and hard to measure, so rarely gets managed. Thanks for reading and sharing!
I totally get that but it's those gray areas that are so important!