Bridging The Empathy Gap in Business
What the heck is an “empathy gap?” And how does it pertain to business?
We all know about empathy, that ability to understand how another person is feeling. We “feel” for another person in a bad situation, and “feel” with that same person when things are great.
But do we really….?
Let’s look at our ego for a second.
There’s a common human behavior called “egocentric bias.” We all have it. Primarily because throughout our lives the only constant has been ourselves. We constantly see, hear, feel, and remember through our own personal point of view. (1)
Soooo, this is how that pertains to business. You have a bias that your product or service is the best thing since sliced bread (or since the discovery of yeast) and you want everyone else to feel the same way you do.
You want everyone else to EMPATHIZE with you. But you’re super hyped about how you can solve all the world’s problems (maybe not all at once) and you’re hot…burning hot.
How many other people do you think are just burning up with the fever you’ve got? To be generous, let’s say 5 more people. That’s not enough to keep your business afloat.
Enter the Hot-to-Cold Empathy Gap
You’re hot and you need to figure out how to give everyone else that fever. Because they’re all cold to the idea. In fact, most people don't even know your solution exists let alone that it would make their lives better and benefit our planet.
Remember that empathy is feeling for or with another person. How do you do that on a personal basis, with your spouse, friend, or child? Do you try to see the situation from their point of view? To get into their head, metaphorically? (2)
If you can visualize how that other person sees, hears, feels, or experiences that situation you can sometimes understand their reactions. And because they trust you, your relationship is saved.
Let’s look at how this works in a business situation.
For example; your biological pest control is environmentally friendly, efficient, and cost-effective but you can’t understand why the big conventional farmer down the road isn’t high-tailing it to your door. Let’s look at the reasons why she isn’t getting in the pickup right now!
All but #5 have nothing to do with you. They are all about what she perceives your product is and how it will affect her and her farm. So, how to gain her trust and change that perception?
The Remedy is in Your Head
Literally. And you have to get out of your head and into hers. If it works with coming to an understanding with your spouse surely, it’ll work with a business client.
And that’s the truth.
We tend to think our business is, well, a business, and the private side of us doesn’t apply. But it does. The same mental maneuvers we make in our personal lives work in business. And just like you don’t want to manipulate your spouse you want to be authentic with your prospect. We all can feel a con.
Very seldom do we consciously go over all the thoughts that get us out of our own head and into “feeling” another’s concerns. But unconsciously we’re doing some serious mental gymnastics.
PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE AND EMPATHY
All those times you were wrong about how another person would act, were you looking at how you’d predict they’d act in the future or analyzing how they’d acted in the past? I’d guess you were predicting.
To be accurate more often we need to look at what a person has done in the past in a similar situation. It’s one thing to do this with your child, quite another to do this with a prospect. Really?
In marketing we call this analytics. I know, I’ve just gone from warm and fuzzy to cold and dreary. (statistics, for goodness sake!) But we do this analysis all the time. And I mean ALL. THE. TIME.
What’s the probability your spouse will be pleased you’ve just bought a new car without talking it over with them? Zero, zilch, nada??? That’s a statistical probability of 0. Maybe you’d get away with a 1-5 % probability. Higher % and you’ve got to be single.
ANALYTICS AND THE EMPATHY GAP
Empathy in business is about figuring out what your target market is Feeling (note the F word) and how they’re satisfying it. It’s NOT about what they’re thinking. And it’s about wanting to help them solve a problem.
When you look at data about past buying behaviors, look at the why behind them, not just the what. That will give you a glimpse into how your prospects felt.
Now let’s go back and look at the why of our farmer’s reasons for not buying your biological pest control.
Solving a problem means understanding why the person has a problem in the first place. And how they feel about it. Part of our farmer’s problem is how she feels about how other farmers would think about using your solution. Of course, you understand all farmers are business people and stewards of their land.
If you can show her your solution will be economically beneficial and environmentally friendly and a benefit to her community you have a chance to change her mind. Farmers live in tight-knit communities, so the influences each has over the other are strong. The really exciting news is if one farmer decides to try your product and has success, they feel great and let everyone else know. The relationship you’ve developed blossoms into a romance, metaphorically speaking.
Your first step is making folks aware of your solution. Then bridging the empathy gap to be aware of how to turn that farmer from cold to burning hot. To give them the benefit of the fever burning in you.
Ready? Cold-to-hot in [what’s your timeframe?].
There’s more where this came from. 3pillarsmarketing.net
#eldernyounger #ego #empathy