The Importance of Empathy for a Successful Business

There are many skills required to help you be better at your job.

16:21 12 August 2020

You would be forgiven for thinking that the most important ones you need would be communication and the ability to multitask. And whilst you might be correct to a certain degree the most important business skill that you should have in your arsenal is, according to any change management expert, empathy.

 

What is empathy?

 

Empathy is having the capacity to feel or understand what other people are experiencing, from a position that is within their frame of reference. In other words, you need to be able to put yourself in another person’s shoes to understand how a situation may make them feel. Empathy is something that encompasses a range of emotions that is quite broad.

 

Possibility to increase your sales

 

A great salesperson will understand just how important it is to anticipate the needs of the customer and best tailor the product or service that you are offering to meet those needs. To truly meet the requirements that your customer might have then it is very important to empathise with any desires or fears that they might be experiencing. If you cannot understand your customer completely then you truly cannot explain effectively how your product will be the best one when it comes to meeting their needs. Understanding that this is how empathy in business works is the key to opening better client relationships and generating more meaningful sales.

 

Accelerate innovation and productivity

 

If your customers believe that your company is empathic then you should see a rise in sales. This rise in sales is not however the only change that you should witness. It is widely accepted that those employees who have stronger empathy skills are more likely to not only be more productive but also more innovative and better at dealing with change. Those employers who are looking for a stronger workforce that will show increased efficiency would do well to consider looking for more empathic employees.

 

Engagement and collaboration

 

In a company where most team members and managers express empathy and the ability to act in a compassionate way towards each other then you are far more likely to attract the sort of employees who are more engaged. This kind of engagement also means that the company is more likely to have a better retention rate; if people feel valued and listened to, they will be happy in their job and will stay. This higher retention is good for companies because lower staff turnover is very appealing to clients. After all, they like to develop a relationship with the person that they normally deal with it, as it offers them a sense of continuity and ensures that this person understands their business without the need to go other things multiple times.

 

In companies who display less empathy there is greater absenteeism and lower productivity, which is something that every company should be striving to avoid. Empathy within a business can’t be faked, but it can run through the core of a business if effective leaders strike the right example for staff to follow.