Harnessing customer empathy during business uncertainty

by Vinod Chandramouli, Head ASEAN Business, Freshworks

Source: Freshworks. Chandramouli.

While the effects of the current pandemic will continue to ripple through in the next year or so, business organisations remain to pursue many and different ways to survive these dark times. Most companies resort to stellar customer experience in winning over competition. After all, customers are king. Some companies have even made customer empathy an organisational ask.

Customers are changing

Consumers have shifted from purchasing from offline to online as a result of the pandemic, allowing experts to predict that this shift will be long lasting. In Singapore, for example, 37% of consumers surveyed are now shopping more online because of the outbreak.

According to the data analytics firm Nielsen, winning in omnichannel will be the best strategy. The acceleration of digital transformation in the past months also magnifies the consumer behaviour that has changed in the last few years with the advent of social media and access to platforms that make businesses accountable. Customers now reward those that succeed with tweets, posts, and ratings. Those that don’t adapt, do so at their own peril.

Online presence needed

Across sectors, from tertiary healthcare to the local mom-and-pop store, an online identity has become more important than ever. Thanks to all things going remote, the gap between businesses and consumers has been greatly reduced. A strong online presence is required for every business to stay relevant and also reach a larger, younger audience.

Companies no longer can get away with dictating channels that work for them but inconvenience customers. They have to be on channels where customers are and must ensure that business transactions are frictionless. The best example is customer support. What once existed only through telephone lines is quickly becoming passe. Live chats, support on social channels and even support on WhatsApp and Apple Business Chat are becoming mainstream.

Customers want to be as close to the business as possible and want to get the quickest possible response and businesses are adapting with the availability of business tools that make it possible.

Offer value

Given throttled cash flows in the post-COVID world, customers may look closely at return on investments, product lifecycles, and feature enhancements before they commit funds. On top of all that, there will be a question on their minds: Is there a cheaper alternative in the market? In a world order where there are overall constraints on spending, companies that come to the market with a diversified product portfolio would be seen as offering more value. People who have thought about multiple products, multiple leverage points in their platforms, multiple TAMs (total addressable markets) would be able to bounce back stronger.

What wins over the kings

Clichéd as it may sound, businesses need to invest in technology that helps them scale into the future, especially during these times, to harness the new opportunities that await. They need to be customer-focused and invest in customer experience solutions to win ahead the digital wave. While customer preferences could irrevocably change because of the pandemic, highly empathetic customer support is a winning force, especially when cultivated well in the new digital setting.

Though customer service chatbots are built to collect data and assist accordingly, humans on the other side are trying to relate emotionally. Designing chatbots that converse with empathy helps with overall satisfaction with your customer support. Understanding human emotions to deliver better customer service wins over the customers, or kings. Empathy for customers may just be key in the future as companies begin to see its value.