Tuesday afternoon I was sitting in my Johnson City home office on a hot, muggy Tennessee day. It was about 87°F and probably around 75% humidity.
My elderly neighbor across the street, Cliffy, sent me a text saying her air conditioning wasn’t working. She’s about 80 years old. On top of it all, she was ill.
My immediate thought was it’s not good for an elderly person to not have AC in the middle of a hot, humid summer.
She asked if I could come over and put some freon in her HVAC unit.
In the spirit of Bones (Dr. McCoy) on Star Trek, I wanted to say, “I’m a PR pro, not an HVAC technician!”
But I didn’t. I kindly explained that service typically requires a licensed technician.
She then texted asking if I could give her a few phone numbers of HVAC companies to call.
Instead, I got my folder out of local HVAC contacts that we’ve called over the years, and I quickly made a few calls to see who might be able to come over and help her out.
This is where it got interesting.
Would they be able to provide emergency service for an elderly woman in the dead of summer who lives all by herself and a house that’s turning into a sauna?
The real question is, would they even show empathy?
I called the company that installed our new HVAC two years ago. The receptionist came across stone cold and completely empathetic.
She said in the most matter-of-fact, uncaring voice you can imagine, “we’re booked up until Friday.“
There was no, “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I wish we could help but…“
Maybe if I had mentioned I was a customer of theirs, she might have cared a little bit more?
But that shouldn’t matter. Every call should be treated with respect, care and empathy.
Call number two went better. Although this company wasn’t able to send a technician until later the next day, the woman who answered communicated through her tone of voice that she cared and wished she could send help sooner. I told her I would let her know if we’re not able to find somebody who can come over before that. She said she was sorry they couldn’t help in a more timely manner.
Call number three was gold. I spoke with Toby of TNT Heating & Air. He said he was on his way to a call in Kingsport, but could then head straight over after to see what the issue was. Kingsport is a city about 20 minutes north of Johnson City, and he would be able to be here in about 90 minutes.
Toby easily won the customer service gold medal. If somebody asks me to recommend an HVAC service company, that will be the one.
Genuine Empathy Matters
Here’s why Toby’s empathy matters: only 34 percent of customers feel they’re consistently treated with empathy when they call a company’s customer support. And 73 percent will bolt to a competitor after multiple bad experiences — half leave after just one.
The stakes aren’t limited to HVAC.
The Comcast Disaster
Comcast became a meme for its 2014 “please-don’t-cancel” phone fiasco, a master class in how not to treat people.
When tech journalist Ryan Block called his internet provider Comcast to cancel his subscription, the Comcast representative had other ideas. During this 10-minute call, the rep had become “straight up belligerent” and demanded to know why he would want to cancel. All the while Block repeatedly attempted to request to disconnect the service, but the Comcast representative refused to let him go.
Block ended up recording most of this conversation. You can listen to the call here. After posting it on Soundcloud, word got out and many news outlets worldwide covered this story, leading to quite the PR fiasco for Comcast.
Compare that with Zappos, whose reps once spent eight hours on the phone making sure a shopper got wedding shoes on time — and helped build a billion-dollar brand in the process.
Empathy Rules
Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with a Comcast-like call.
But anytime a customer calls — especially with a dire situation — whether for themselves or for neighbors, empathy should always be present.
Who wants to do business with a heartless company?
The same advice transfers to all aspects of a business, especially when it comes to employees.
If you want to win employees’ hearts and minds, you have to show them that you truly care about them.
In fact, that philosophy would make the world a much better place.
The 3 Big Takeaways
- Lead with empathy. Only 34 percent of customers say they receive consistent empathy from support reps — so a little heart goes a long way.
- Respond fast or risk churn. Seventy-three percent of consumers will jump to a competitor after multiple bad experiences, and more than half bail after just one. Speed plus sincerity keeps them loyal.
- Care is contagious. The warmth you show customers should echo inside your walls. Employees who feel valued pass that empathy on, creating gold-medal moments like Toby’s — and forging loyalty that money can’t buy.
Have you had an exchange with a business over the years that was impressive or unimpressive?. Do share!
In the meantime, stay authentically emphatic in all your relations.
Jeffery E. Pizzino, APR (seen here in a vintage photo circa 1983 serendipitously doing a Clash impersonation in a since-forgotten location) is a spin-free public relations pro who is passionate about telling the why of your story with clarity, impact and authenticity. He began his PR career in 1987 at Ketchum Public Relations in New York City but has spent the majority of his career as a solopreneur. He’s the Chief Authentic Officer of the Johnson City, TN-based public relations firm, AuthenticityPR. He also functions as the fractional CCO for technology startup Converus.
Jeff has an MBA in Management from Western International University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications — with an emphasis in PR — from Brigham Young University (rise and shout!). He’s a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but also holds an Italian citizenship. Jeff and his storyteller wife Leticia have four children and four grandchildren. In his extremely limited nonwork hours, he studies italiano, practices guitar, write songs, gardens, disc golfs, reads, listens to New Wave music, serves in his church, watches BYU football, and plays Dominion and Seven Wonders. Email Jeff.
