Training for Empathy

According to just-released customer service research, shoppers in 2022 expect more empathy in their service interactions than in the past. Conducted by Incisiv, a New York-based research firm, in cooperation with software developer Genesys, the study finds developing empathy is important for a lot of reasons—not the least of which is that half of all customers say they would leave you after only one poor experience.

I HEAR YOU.

What exactly is empathy, and what does it mean for business? Merriam-Webster defines it as “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another...”

How important is it? More than 9 out of 10 consumers surveyed (91%) by Incisiv say the most important element of service is how well a business listens to them.

STAFF FIRST.

Optical is no exception. According to Patti Thomas, a Clarks Summit, PA-based vision care industry consultant, “You have to make sure you’re training your people to care. It all begins with empathy—from you to staff, and, only then, from staff to patients. You expect employees to reassure patients, but are you reassuring staff first?”

Bess Ogden, practice management director at Williams Group in Lincoln, NE, agrees. “Empathy in the workplace allows all team members to feel safe and comfortable communicating honestly,” she says. “It is simply the ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and relate to their perceptions of events.”

INSTILLING EMPATHY.

Ogden offers strategies for putting empathy into practice: “Most important is to work on active listening skills. This means allowing others to finish their thoughts before responding. Pay attention to what they are saying instead of composing your answer in your head while they are still talking. You can’t listen well and compose a response at the same time!”

“Ask for honest feedback and suggestions,” says Thomas. “Challenging situations will arise, and giving staff an opportunity to talk through them with co-workers and leadership is important.”

TRAINING TIPS.

“Here is a neat way to encourage active listening that a client recently shared,” says Ogden. “In the last 10 minutes of the weekly team meeting, everyone—except the designated ‘chooser’ that day—is expected to share one professional topic they’d like to discuss to close out the meeting.”

What’s a chooser’s role? “Rotate the ‘chooser’ each meeting. This person is then obligated to pick one of the topics for discussion,” she shares.

“This is a fun way to get everyone talking, listening, and taking turns contributing. Every person’s voice becomes valuable.”