Customer Satisfaction, sales and health
There is a personal skill that can be acquired and refined that is increasingly important in so many ways: empathy. As a design principle, empathy differentiates Apple, and has made its products so successful. When Apple was first incorporated in 1977 the company published three marketing principles, the first of which was empathy. This attribute has received a lot of attention but all too often remains lacking. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. This is much different than sympathy which is about the feeling of pity or sorrow for someone’s misfortune. This video does a great job of comparing the two!
Many companies understand the link between customer satisfaction and sales. Part of that distinction is viewed in terms of excellent customer experience. What’s interesting is that in our measurement of customer satisfaction one particular variable seems to be very influential for a store/hotel/hospital/etc – the level that the customer feels appreciated. Many customer satisfaction surveys measure the customer’s perspective on their experience. A person feels appreciated when they feel like they are being understood or that you can relate with their situation. This is the essence of empathy. A tremendous example of this was displayed earlier this year when a customer Megan, blogged about her experience in a Safeway store where she received empathy. The result was transformative for both the individual who worked at that store who showed Megan empathy, but also to Megan as a person who entered that store with unspoken emotional pain.
We know that empathy is linked to customer satisfaction which in turn is a key point of differentiation that helps drive sales. But did we also know that it is just plain healthy? There is an expanding research library that links empathy and its companion, compassion, with improved health. Have any doubts? When I was in the military I worked at spent some time at Walter Reed Army Hospital. One of the neurosurgeons was James Doty. It’s a small world…he left the military and is now the founder of the Stanford Medical School Center for Compassion Research and Education. They are a national leader in highlighting the health promoting power of compassion and empathy in our lives. Their website is full of an expanding base of research that highlights the physiologic responses to compassion that are health promoting. I have heard Dr. Doty speak and he lays out a persuasive case that links compassion and empathy with health.
Empathy is the link between customer satisfaction, sales, and health. I believe that all companies, in essence, can be in the health business as well. To illustrate this let me share with you the story of a mess hall cook who was famous for the wonderful meals he could make with such limited ingredients at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. I know because I visited this mess hall to see what all the fuss was about. When asked what his secret was the cook simply shared that he is not in the mess hall business but in the morale business. The food he provided and the atmosphere in the mess hall was a morale booster. He was right. He was in the morale business. I guess, by that logic, we can all be in the health business.
There are specific skills...specific in listening, reflecting, and appreciating that can be cultivated through awareness and practice that can improve your empathy. If you truly want to grow both sales and overall health than investing in developing these skills for both yourself and your organization may just be the ticket to improve both your top and bottomline.
May you give and receive health today through the empathy you demonstrate for those who walk through the doors of your workplace – coworker and customer alike.