How empathy makes business better

For people to do business with you, they need to understand 3 things:

What you do, How you do it, and Why you do it.

Simple enough, yet, when articulated in that order it won’t work. Order matters a lot.

Why - How - What

In the age of instant access to information literally at our fingertips, showing off the features of your products or services, no matter how great they are, is just not enough. You must express the ‘Why’ of your business first. If you don’t know the purpose, or if your business never really established it - you may find yourself in big trouble. Sooner or later, the quality and uniqueness of your offering will not be valid anymore - and your customers will move towards brands which advocate their own internal belief system, through a clear expression of their values and mission.

Why do you do what you do?

Everyone is doing business for profit, but that’s never a reason why you attract your customers. For businesses being in the game for a while it’s sometimes hard to iterate the ‘Why’. But there’s an easy to understand method that comes handy. It’s called empathy.

Empathy-driven businesses

The more you understand the people dealing with a problem, the better position you are in to sell your solution. The more empathetic they see you are, the more likely they are to listen to you, and eventually buy from you.

This approach is nothing new. You can see this becoming a movement and a backbone of digital transformation for well-known brands. Transforming your business using empathy for your customers often requires help from external specialists - agencies, consultants, strategists. The best ones will not only “open your eyes”, but will also guide you through the rocky road of implementation, involving the introduction of new methods of working, reporting and most importantly - cultural change within your organisation.

We aren’t trying to be the cool kid or the cool company [...] Our sole purpose is to build technology so that others can create more technology. -- Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

“There was a lot of antagonism between Ryanair and its customers that didn’t need to be there. In the past year we’ve just absolutely taken that away.” -- Kenny Jacobs, Chief Marketing Officer at Ryanair

After implementing their “Always Getting Better” program, which uncovered many customer annoyances like hidden charges, un-allocated seating and carry-on baggage restrictions, Ryanair saw a net profit increase from €867 million to €1.24 billion

Tell your story, your way

If the purpose of your business is not communicated to the world, it will die and be forgotten quickly. Make sure your story is heard. Your website content, adverts, packaging, social media and PR messaging are the perfect vehicle to tell your story.

You want your brand to be memorable and easily identifiable with certain values. Your brand should bring something into your customers lives. Solve a problem, make something better, ease the process. Empathy comes handy once again.

You've got it right if you manage to tell your story the way your customers can familiarise with the problem. When they can actually feel the struggle or emotion attached to the matter of your business. People buy emotions, not things.

We want to use our stories as a way to provoke other people to not only take action but to inspire others to act as well. -- Joy Howard, Patagonia CEO (2013-2015)

To achieve the most remarkable results, try to embed the empathetic approach and your story in your product. When your target audience converts into your customers, it becomes the most valuable touch point and a common ground for conversation. When the experience of using the product is at least as good as the marketing activity luring them to get it, they will spread the good word.

No matter what medium you decide to invest in first - make sure your story gets heard. People want to know why they should interact with your brand. When your brand tells a story with good empathy driven content, people will invest in the narrative.

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If you enjoyed this article, you can read the full Human Guide to Tech written by Greenwood Campbell which highlights what trends are going to be impacting the world around us in 2019/20, and how we can understand, challenge and embrace them to stay relevant, create empathy and lead the way within our industries.

To download, please follow this link: https://www.greenwoodcampbell.com/downloads/the-human-guide-to-tech/