Customer Empathy in one sentence

The definition of empathy is: "the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person."

That ability often manifests in HOW, WHAT, and WHEN you use specific words or phrases. 

I recently experienced an empathy high and an empathy low in a 24-hour span. And just like your own customers, what was said (or not said) to me impacts my relationship with those brands.

We were quite late arriving at Tequilas el Viejito in Cienega, Jalisco. We'd been delayed on a lengthy tour of a different distillery that morning. 

As we apologized for our tardiness, proprietor Juan Eduardo Nuñez cut us off, "It is not a problem, amigos. You can never be late in your own home."

He understood we felt bad and he took that unease away with one sentence. That's empathy in action.

I will forever be a fan of Juan Eduardo and his tequilas (look for El Bandido Yankee, and Santo).

The next day, I knew from the Delta app that I would imminently cross the "million-miler" threshold. That's a LOT of time on a Delta plane over 10+ years.

I don't know what I expected when I hit one million miles....

Confetti cannon? 

Second biscoff cookie?

Get to land the plane myself?

Hug from the captain?

But what I received was....bupkis. Nada. Zilch.

Until...

A few hours after landing, Delta sent me a text message asking me to press 1 or 2 based on whether I felt recognized for my milestone. 

It's the hardest I've ever pressed 2 on a phone. 

Indeed, to that point, my only recognition whatsoever was a survey. 

On the day I hit one million miles, Delta managed to make me feel worse about the brand than I ever have. That's reverse empathy. 

Ultimately, I received a perfunctory email of congratulations, with a link to a special Million-Miler gift redemption store. Each "gift" was a trinket plastered with Delta logos. 

The only other option was a $1,000 gift card for...Delta. I hoovered that right up, as the only item of any actual value. 

Every day - maybe every hour - in your business, people are choosing HOW, WHAT, and WHEN to say a key sentence to your customers and prospects. 

Do you know what's being said? 

Do you know whether those sentences are building goodwill or erasing it?

Do you know whether they emulate Juan Eduardo, or a Delta robot?

You need to know. 

The Books Report

It's pretty safe to say that my friend Chad White may know as much about email marketing as anyone in the world. 

Here's what I said about the brand-new, 4th-edition of his incredible book - Email Marketing Rules:

"This is the only guide to email success you'll ever need. Don't press send without reading!"

Such a cool concept. Wynter is a marketing and positioning market research and testing platform. You sign up (you should!). 

Then, you participate in a 5-minute survey to help real companies make better marketing. Wynter pays you $10-$100. 

Totally worth doing! 

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