Empathy is a highly valuable skill in all aspects of life, including business.This global pandemic has meant that people from all walks of life, all types of career and all parts of society have been faced with new difficulties, whether they’ve lost their job, lost a sense of security or even lost a family member from the virus.To me, empathy is more important than ever.By definition, empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.Morally speaking, we should all be practising empathy on a daily basis. It is good for society and for our own mental health.If one good thing has come from the pandemic, its that people are now making more of a conscious effort to be kind to each other. We are trying harder to put ourselves in another person’s shoes and really think about their situation.But what if I told you that being empathetic isn’t just good for society? In fact, it can help you grow your business.Here’s how…

1. It Builds Trust

Demonstrating empathy when talking to a prospect reinforces that you actually care about what they’re saying, and this helps to build a relationship of trust. Genuine trust can take a long time to build, particularly with strangers so once it is established, it is invaluable. Without trust, people are not likely to speak openly, and this makes it a lot harder to identify how you might be able to help them. The best ways to build trust through empathy are through active listening, asking questions and sharing your own experiences.

2. Allows you to Problem Solve

By genuinely listening to someone and understanding their situation, you can identify the problems they are facing. Having this knowledge means you are able to offer a tailored solution and make a positive difference. Let’s say that you start speaking to someone while you’re queuing for your local supermarket, a new experience we’ve all been forced to adapt to! By actively listening to this person and engaging fully in the conversation, you’ll soon learn more about them. You might discover that they live alone and have been experiencing loneliness during lockdown, they could have recently become unemployed or they could be working from home and have been having broadband issues. By empathising with someone’s personal circumstances, you can begin to think about ways in which you can help them.

3. Increases Loyalty and Referrals

Loyalty and referrals are both essential parts of our business but neither would happen if there wasn’t trust from our customers or partners. Being empathetic means you genuinely know your customer and what their needs are and in turn you are able to give them a more personal level of service. Receiving this level of service will make them more inclined to refer you to their friends and family and so the cycle continues. Furthermore, you will understand what drives their loyalty towards your brand and its offering and can continue to meet their needs, resulting in longstanding business relationships.

4. Greater job satisfaction

Making a positive difference to someone’s life is a great feeling and this can’t be done without being empathetic. Knowing that you’ve listened, identified a problem and helped solve it adds a new dimension to the work we do and will make you love your job even more. From an employer’s perspective, if a business has a culture of empathy not just to their customers, but among staff and management, this organisation will be a much more positive environment to work in and employee satisfaction will increase. Being empathetic in business benefits both the customer and employee – a win win.Showing compassion and empathy might seem like the opposite to the traditional idea of corporate business but I for one believe it’s the future. Businesses who embrace these fundamental values will not only start attracting the top talent, they’ll also grow their customer base.