Empathy – soft skill or hard headed?

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(c) Photo copyright istockphoto . Licence purchased.

The Sunday Times of the 9th August published a letter from British Airways in response to a complaint from a Mr Rae. The passenger had purchased business class seats for himself and his wife as a special treat when flying to their son’s wedding but were disappointed by a series of menu choices that were unavailable and wines that had run out.

Now, the nature of air travel is such that not every menu choice can be stocked for every customer – there is simply not enough room on the plane, but nevertheless the passenger seemed to have a legitimate complaint so it was interesting to read B.A’s response. I am showing it here in full in order that we might learn from it. This is what they said:

“More than three-quarters of our Club World customers say they are either extremely or very satisfied with the meal services onboard. We can only apologise for the fact that, on this occasion, the food didn’t match the expectations of the customer.”

Now this seems to be a fairly typical response, it offers an apology of sorts and an answer that seeks credibility through facts, but it falls apart at a fundamental human level; it fails to demonstrate any kind of empathy for Mr Rae or his situation. And this matters. Research by Harding and Yorke has found that financial returns increase by 16.4% for every point that empathy improves as perceived by the customer. In other words, if I feel that you understand me and my point of view I am much more likely to give you my business in the future.

Let’s examine the letter a little more closely; “More than three-quarters of our Club World customers” – our interpretation- you are clearly in the whinging minority Mr Rae.

“…customers say they are either extremely or very satisfied” The fact is that according to our own research it is only those customers who award ‘top box’ scores and are extremely satisfied who have any propensity to be loyal or refer you to others. Anything less doesn’t cut it so the figure you should focus on B.A, is what percentage of your customers are extremely satisfied?

We can only apologise…” Not true B.A. You could offer to compensate Mr Rae in some way or at the very least offer him an upgrade on his next trip. At a minimum, a heartfelt apology would go a long way towards improving the situation.

“…the food didn’t match the expectations…” Well, to be more accurate, the food didn’t match the choices provided in your own menu B.A. You created Mr Rae’s expectation so you have to live with failing to meet it

“.. of the customer.” ‘The customer’not ‘you’ or ‘Mr Rae’ but some anonymous customer.

I don’t know how many thousands (or millions) of people read this letter but my guess is that, like me, they will be empathising with Mr and Mrs Rae and wondering at the mealy mouthed reply offered by B.A. The fact is that when a customer is dissatisfied enough to write a letter of complaint, first and foremost what they want is EMPATHY not an explanation. That may come later but first you have to deal with the feelings and then you can deal with the facts.

United breaks guitars


Organizations ignore this lesson at their peril as United Airlines found to their cost when they refused to acknowledge the legitimate complaint from a passenger called Dave Caroll. If you are one of the few people on the planet who hasn’t heard of Dave or his story let me give you the short version. Dave happens to be a musician and whilst travelling on United with his band observed the baggage handlers throwing his guitar around. Sure enough, when he arrived at his destination he found that it was broken. Despite many calls and letters to United, Dave found that he was unable to get anyone to listen to his complaint. So what did he do? He recorded a song about his complaint which was posted on youtube.com. In excess of FIVE MILLION people have now listened to Dave’s story.

Of course, United quickly tried to make amends but we can all recognize the difference between true empathy and damage limitation can’t we?

So, what is the learning in all of this? When a customer complains and it seems to be genuine you have a choice; you can either act like a lawyer and try to limit any liability or you can act like a human being and ask “How would I feel if I were that person and how can we make it better?” I suggest that the latter is more likely to build value for your brand.

Here’s the United Breaks Guitars YouTube video if you haven’t seen it yet:

Shaun Smith
Shaun Smith is the founder of Smith+Co the leading UK based Customer Experience consultancy. Shaun speaks and consults internationally on the subject of the brand purpose and customer experience. Shaun's latest book 'On Purpose- delivering a branded customer experience people love' was co-written with Andy Milligan.

1 COMMENT

  1. Shaun

    I’m with you all the way on your shrewd analysis of the BA letter. Heaven nows why they’d want to publish this apology for an apology in the press. I’d just add a further observation. I didn’t see the orginal signatory, by my guess is that was almost certainly written by a man (or, if not,by a woman under strict instructions and duress from a male boss). In our customer service work, we’ve found that women routinely are more empathic than men. Not all women, but the vast majority. Now you’ll check the author and tell me I’m wrong!

    Francis Buttle, PhD
    The Customer Champion
    http://www.buttleassociates.com

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