What’s Really Compromising Empathy in Customer Service?

Are your agents struggling to show customers true empathy? Does none of your training stick – despite your best efforts? Then it’s very likely something is getting in the way! But what?

To help you get to the bottom of it, our Editor – Megan Jones – spoke to contact centre experts Dan Pratt, Fatemeh Fasihi, Katie Stabler, Marco Jetmir Ndrecaj, and Pier Ragone to uncover the most common mistakes that compromise empathy in the contact centre.

So… Are any of them happening inside your operation?

Assuming All Agents Have the Same High Levels of Emotional Intelligence When You Hire Them

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is assuming everyone joining your team comes with the same high levels of emotional intelligence.

Even if this has been part of the interview and screening process, no two agents will be the same, so make sure there’s compulsory training in your onboarding – for everyone – to help bring them all up to the same baseline, at the very least!

After all, this assumed emotional intelligence can set everyone up to fail and have a serious impact on the customer experience, as agents may (for example) interrupt customers, jump to conclusions, or simply overlook the need to adjust their tone to appear more sensitive – without appreciating the damage they are doing.

If you are looking for advice to help develop your agents’ emotional intelligence, read our article: 15 Tips for Building Emotional Intelligence in Customer Service

Overloading Agents With Too Many Tasks, Channels, and Targets

Your agents cannot be empathetic if they’re stretched too thinly!

“When agents are expected to work across too many channels, the focus on speed over sincerity becomes a problem – fast! You lose the personalization, you lose the human touch, and worst of all… Customers feel it!

For example, when they’re sat waiting forever for a live chat response, and then, even when the response comes through, it’s not a clear or complete response. And all because the agent felt rushed!” – Katie Stabler, CULTIVATE Customer Experience by Design and author of CX-Ism: Re-Defining Business Success

Being too target driven also backfires here!

Let’s compare these two examples…

These examples showcase two very different experiences for the customer on the other end of the call, don’t they?

And yet, it’s not the individual agent who’s typically responsible for these patterns of behaviour. They might be the most naturally empathetic person in the world, but if the pressure is on to meet their targets, something’s got to give!

Quite simply, the buck stops at the top! If you, as a leader, prioritize numbers over empathy, then that’s exactly what your customers are going to get!

For advice on how to spot if your team leaders are chasing metrics, and how to hit the reset button, read our article: Are Your Team Leaders Too Busy Chasing Metrics?

Trying to Give All Customers the Same Blanket Service – From Every Agent in Your Team

Not every agent is going to be an empathy superstar, so why hand them calls that set them up to disappoint?

“Problems arise when you expect all agents to handle every query type. That’s why it makes such a difference to know your team well, play to individual strengths, and triage customers accordingly!

This way, you can route complex queries that need that bit more emotional support to your agents with stronger empathy skills, whilst fast-tracking simpler queries to other less-experienced members of the team.” – Dan Pratt, Founder & Director of DAP Consultancy

Making Your Policies So Rigid That Agents Have No Chance to Be Flexible and Empathetic

When your policies are too rigid, what chance do your agents have to be empathetic? For example, when “the computer says no”, and agents are forced to say things such as “we can’t track your order”, or “you still have to pay for that” – no matter what the underlying circumstances may be.

To turn this around, review your policies and make sure there’s room for flexibility and opportunity for deeper empathy wherever possible.

The same can happen with your compliance scripting, when there’s just no wiggle room for agents to show any flair or personality.

“The focus can be so much on meeting compliance needs that agents lose any opportunity to show empathy to customers, especially when they are forced to read out a script or follow a strict step-by-step process.

As leaders, it’s so important to explore ways to give agents the freedom to truly express themselves in an emotive way and pave the way for more genuine human-to-human conversations.” – Marco Jetmir Ndrecaj, Director of Customer Experience Management at Shared Services Connected Ltd

There’s also opportunity for AI to do some of the heavy lifting here, so ask yourself where the latest technology may be able to take away some of the burden – either before or after the call – so agents have more time and freedom to show empathy and build rapport in the moment.

Expecting Agents to Just “Get on With It” Despite the Rise in Call Complexity

Don’t forget to look after your agents’ wellbeing either.

It’s no secret that, in the age of AI and self-service, human-to-human calls are getting ever more complex… And that it is taking its toll on agents! So, make sure to take good care of them, so they are in the best possible mindset to support your customers with care and empathy.

From a mental health perspective, this comes down to thinking about what they really need to succeed – not only through the wellbeing resources you put in place, but the support and training you give them to handle complex calls with confidence.

Treating Empathy Training as a “One and Done” Exercise

And, last but not least, don’t just put empathy training into your onboarding as a tick-box exercise and forget about it. Be sure to revisit it regularly in formal training sessions, celebrate ongoing success, and help agents learn from one another about what good really looks like.

“Empathy doesn’t disappear because agents don’t care – it disappears because the system teaches them not to.

Some of the biggest mistakes include training for scripts, not human conversation; rewarding resolution, not connection; and skipping the emotional context behind the problem.

Worst of all, we treat empathy like a personality trait, not something that can be learned and reinforced. But empathy is a muscle! If your culture doesn’t exercise it, it weakens.” – Pier Ragone, Principal Consultant, CX Operations & Strategy

What’s Been Compromising Empathy in Your Contact Centre?

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With thanks to the following people for sharing their thoughts for this article:

• Dan Pratt, Founder & Director of DAP Consultancy
• Fatemeh Fasihi, Contact Centre Supervisor at Snappfood
• Katie Stabler, CULTIVATE Customer Experience by Design and author of CX-Ism: Re-Defining Business Success
• Marco Jetmir Ndrecaj, Director of Customer Experience Management at Shared Services Connected Ltd
• Pier Ragone, Principal Consultant, CX Operations & Strategy

If you are looking for more information on developing empathy in your contact centre, read these articles next:

• How to Limit Agent Burnout With Empathy-Led Leadership
• How to Develop Empathy as a Skill in Your Frontline Teams
• 5 Soft Skills Every Agent Needs Before Taking Their First Call

Reviewed by: Jo Robinson