The word and the premise of empathy have become quite the buzzword in business and marketing. Especially so since the advent of and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There is widespread consensus that having empathy is a good thing. A must-have to connect with buyers and customers.
A place to start for most organizations and individuals is by having a common definition of empathy.
Empathy is at its most basic level the ability for one to walk in another’s shoes. To experience their world from another’s point of view. Essentially, to have a deeper understanding of what another is experiencing.
Often what is missed is that empathy, as defined above, is something that is gained. When it comes to buyers and customers, this can be especially challenging. It is fair to surmise that empathy, in this challenging state, is something to be earned.
To have a deeper understanding of what buyers and customers are experiencing, you must at first gain a deeper understanding of what they are experiencing. From this perspective then, businesses and their functions of marketing and sales must first earn the right to gain this deeper understanding.
Businesses should invest in earning the right to empathize. Many view empathy as a vague, feel-good idea, believing it’s something people should naturally possess. However, it should be seen as a key skill to be cultivated. This investment is essential for gaining the deeper understanding needed from buyers and customers to truly be empathetic.
When businesses invest in such talent development, they empower their teams to understand, as well as experience, what buyers and customers go through as they pursue reaching goals and solving solutions. Which can involve a range of emotions such as frustration, fear, anxiety, helplessness, etc.
To first earn the right and then gain a deeper understanding, businesses need to conduct qualitative buyer insights research. You can’t simply ask someone to run a data report and expect to uncover empathy. Companies earn the right to understand their buyers and customers by actively showing their commitment to investing in this process.
One of the key outcomes of investing in buyer insights research and developing buyer personas is you are developing a key critical skill amongst your teams. Buyer personas, when researched and developed correctly, empower your teams with a critical tool to gain the deeper understanding they need to be empathetic.
My experience over two decades has led me to believe that the more you can demonstrate understanding what buyers and customers experience, the more you earn the right to gain an even deeper understanding.