How empathy leads to a better customer experience

We have entered an experiential economy and businesses that don’t offer a high level of experience won’t compete. And the banking industry is center stage in this disruption.  

At Valley, we understand that our customers have different wants and needs, and we are consistently innovating to meet those needs. Many people ask me: what are we doing to build better experiences for our customers? The answer is easy—it starts with empathy. 

We use empathy to identify the needs of our clients and our employees. By thinking about problems from their perspective we are better able to provide the best solution.  

The empathy process is an exercise in imaginative brainstorming 

Apps, services, programs, etc., won’t make much difference if they are not valued by the customer. We can change the message or the services all we want, but it won’t bring in clients if we aren’t hitting their needs. Using empathy as a strategic tool helps us determine what they really value so we can target our services accordingly.  

To do this, we’ve embraced design thinking methodology. We have built a team dedicated to these methods to help us identify a problem that a customer might face, picture ourselves in their shoes, and design a solution for their problem. We want to know things like: 

• How would we feel in that scenario?  
• How might we react?  
• What would we wish had been done differently?  
• What could be done at that point to make us feel better?  

When we discuss these questions and answers in our organization, we can identify the human aspect of our work.   

Loyalty comes from the right products and processes 

These empathy sessions can be directed toward any problem in the company. Often, the result is a simple solution that can make a big impact on our customers and our business. When we think like the customer, we strip down the bells and whistles and identify the true essence of the problem. 

Loyalty is hard won these days. Customers are less attached to brand loyalty and are continuously reassessing their providers to ensure they are getting the best services they can. That’s why it’s so important to be constantly reassessing our products and services and making sure we are meeting our customers’ needs. With empathy, we can better understand their perspective and put ourselves in the position to be their provider of choice. 

Empathy is not just for the customer 

Using empathy can help us identify the needs of our associates as well. Part of providing the right services to our clients is having the right team on hand. That means identifying what it takes to hire, retain, and support quality team members. Engaged employees are in a better position to provide a quality customer experience.  

As Henry Ford once put it: “If I asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” At Valley, we embrace that mindset and believe that we can be different and forward thinking when we empathize with our customers and build not a just a better bank—but a banking experience they never even realized was possible.