A refresher course in empathy • Hacker News Board

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#11

Post by positivejam » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 8:35 PM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #9

What possible worth would we get from being empathetic with people who can't even understand the difference between ours and somebodyelse website? They are unlikely to become customers, and each support incident cost the company money. Yeah I am sure there is an emotional reason for it, but I am asking for a cold hearted logic reason.

>They are unlikely to become customers

My reading of the original post was that she already was a customer but couldn't understand that her current problem wasn't actually with Basecamp. And I'm sure you know the stats about the difference in cost between acquiring new vs. retaining existing customers...

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#12

Post by nedwin » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 8:42 PM UTC

mlwarren wrote: post #7

For a customer that just doesn't get it, I don't see why the dishwasher/vacuum cleaner analogy is bad as long as it's delivered nicely.

I think part of the reason it's bad is that the customer still won't get why you won't get them.

It's also bad because the solution was actually pretty straight forward send them the support docs (or the support contact) for their website. At least then you're pointing them in the right direction.

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#13

Post by nedwin » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 8:44 PM UTC

Great post. Shared it with our support team and everyone appreciated it so thank you!

Proud to say one of the guys came back with this: "she should have just written her the first time: here write [to] these guys instead" :)

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#14

Post by davidw » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 8:52 PM UTC

Speaking of customer support... I'd love to read some good information about how to successfully set it up in a somewhat organized fashion. Tricks, tips, do's and don'ts... as well as some advice on trying to make the proper tradeoffs.

Anyone got good books or other resources they can recommend?

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#15

Post by KeliNorth » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 8:56 PM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #9

What possible worth would we get from being empathetic with people who can't even understand the difference between ours and somebodyelse website? They are unlikely to become customers, and each support incident cost the company money. Yeah I am sure there is an emotional reason for it, but I am asking for a cold hearted logic reason.

It's quite logical to practice one of the most important human communication skills at every opportunity possible. Practice makes perfect, and will hone the skill for use in situations where it will lead to direct benefits. If something isn't practiced, it can backfire when employed incorrectly.

It also very much feels like it'd go against the point of being empathetic if the only time it's employed is in beneficial situations.

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#16

Post by bryans » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 8:58 PM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #9

What possible worth would we get from being empathetic with people who can't even understand the difference between ours and somebodyelse website? They are unlikely to become customers, and each support incident cost the company money. Yeah I am sure there is an emotional reason for it, but I am asking for a cold hearted logic reason.

A good, logical reason to be empathetic in all situations would be to help yourself. If you needlessly act negative toward another person, you will be more inclined to be negative about similar situations in the future. You are essentially training yourself to be negative which, I can assure you, bleeds into the rest of your life.

It's important to recognize that even if you don't see value in being empathetic toward a particularly difficult individual, under different circumstances you are someone else's difficult individual. The paraphrased idiom "treat others as you want to be treated" has existed for thousands of years, for a lot of good reasons.

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#17

Post by krmmalik » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 9:21 PM UTC

I ran an outsourced IT helpdesk company for many years, as well as online products. We used to get clients like this all the time. Here's how my staff were trained to handle this situation - the support staff would have asked the lady the name of her site, and the background story. Then patiently gotten to the bottom of the issue. After that would then either submit a support ticket on her behalf, or would call the company and put her in touch with them.

Clients like this are very costly, especially if your business model isn't equipped to deal well with this, but all that said, empathy is about feeling what the other person feels. She clearly wanted a fix, so go fix it.

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#18

Post by bcoates » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 9:28 PM UTC

mlwarren wrote: post #7

For a customer that just doesn't get it, I don't see why the dishwasher/vacuum cleaner analogy is bad as long as it's delivered nicely.

I doubt the customer failed to understand that the customer support rep thought that the issue wasn't their fault; the customer was getting angry because they thought the rep was wrong.

Analogies don't convince and are often seen as condescending or evasive: "I asked for help, and I get word games"

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#19

Post by mercer » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 9:30 PM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #9

What possible worth would we get from being empathetic with people who can't even understand the difference between ours and somebodyelse website? They are unlikely to become customers, and each support incident cost the company money. Yeah I am sure there is an emotional reason for it, but I am asking for a cold hearted logic reason.

I suppose there's a lot we wouldn't do if we apply cold hearted logical reasons. Sometimes it's nice to not apply cold hearted logical reasons (even though I do see your point).

That said, one 'cold' reason could be being able to write a post about it that puts the writer and 37 signals in a good light. Another could be for the author to just want to feel better about herself, because she helped someone else and/or because she constructed a nice story (and we humans like stories)...

Re: A refresher course in empathy

#20

Post by mwetzler » Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 9:56 PM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #9

What possible worth would we get from being empathetic with people who can't even understand the difference between ours and somebodyelse website? They are unlikely to become customers, and each support incident cost the company money. Yeah I am sure there is an emotional reason for it, but I am asking for a cold hearted logic reason.

Support requests should be treated as opportunities to make a positive brand experience. Even if this person doesn't become a high paying customer, they might become an advocate. Perhaps they overhear a conversation about your product and say - oh I know - they are so friendly and helpful!

If your support is good enough, people will even tweet about how amazing you are. It's hard to pay for advertising that effective!

If you're looking for a case study, checkout Zappos history!