Is Customer Empathy All Talk or a Difference Maker?

Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird states, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view … until you climb into their skin and walk around in it.” Elvis Pressley sang, “Before you abuse, criticize and accuse, walk a mile in my shoes.” In this conversation, we unpack the big ideas and linkages between business success and customer empathy with Dr. Natalie Petouhoff, the co-author of Empathy in Action.

Interview Highlights

• The best definition of customer empathy
• How does a Ph.D. map her way to customer empathy?
• The great delusion and disconnect between saying we’re customer-centric as opposed to walking the walk
• The power of customer- and employee-centricity
• The lack of customer loyalty does not show up on the financials directly
• The Jobs to Be Done framework
• Empathy in action through listening, understanding, acting, and learning
• The five levels of organizational commitment
• Overcoming indifference
• More than common sense
• The flaw of NPS

More Big Ideas in Empathy in Action

If you like frameworks and mental models backed by both research and anecdotes, there are more concepts we didn’t address in the interview. Here is a partial list of the other key concepts in Empathy in Action:

1. The Lee Scott leadership list (excellent)
2. The 4 Empathy Pillars™
3. A deeper dive into the four industrial eras
4. The Empathy in Action Flywheel
5. The OODA Loop revisited
6. Business blind spots
7. The remaining vestiges of Taylorism and the paradigm of efficiency

71 percent of companies cite overall customer experience as their top strategic performance measure, only 13 percent of those same organizations self-rate their customer experience delivery as scoring a 9 out of 10 or better.

Empathy in Action

Favorite Books Mentioned by Natalie

• Cluetrain Manifesto
• The Innovator’s Dilemma
• The Experience Economy
• The Ultimate Question 2.0
• Bold
• Any book by Hemingway
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Pride and Prejudice

Where to Find Dr. Natalie Petouhoff

1. Author Website
2. Amazon Author Page
3. LinkedIn Profile
4. Twitter (nearly 50k followers)