Investis Ltd.

06/21/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/21/2021 13:29

Forrester: Empathy Is the Key to Building Customer Trust

Empathy is the key to building customer trust. That's one of the key themes emerging from the Forrester CX North America conference, which occurred virtually June 7-9 for customer experience (CX) professionals, marketers, and analytics practitioners. They viewed 90 presentations from their peers and 44 Forrester industry analysts on the state of CX. The underlying thread of empathy appeared in a number of presentations and conversations - a theme that overlaps with the marketing and communications focus of many Investis Digital clients.

Forrester's US 2021 Customer Experience Index Shows Companies That Revamped Experiences Excelled During The Pandemic

At the outset of the conference, Forrester announced the results of its U.S. 2021 Customer Experience Index (CX) rankings. According to the rankings, rankings, 21 percent of brands saw a significant score increase compared to 2020. As the Covid-19 pandemic worsened, brands responded to evolving customer needs with digital transformation, new shopping options, and different ways to interact with customers that emphasized safety. The highest-scoring brands connected with the emotional needs of their customers, a byproduct of being empathetic.

According to Harley Manning, VP and research director with Forrester, 'Brands must build experiences that help them empathetically engage with their customers, especially during volatile times. We know this is important because experiences associated with positive emotions, such as resolving issues quickly and demonstrating empathy, create and sustain customer loyalty. To do this well, CX pros must have a disciplined approach to envisioning, designing, and delivering consistently high-quality experiences.'

How does a brand build empathy? At the Forrester CX North America Conference, many answers emerged, and one of them focused on empathy.

Gaining Empathy and Trust by Connecting with Customers' Values

Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee discussed a 'massive change in society' affecting brands everywhere. In his presentation 'A New Society Has Arrived. Is Your Company Ready To Embrace It?' he discussed how brands' customers and employees alike are increasingly embracing diversity in their personal values - and they expect brands to reflect their values.

'When we as consumers and customers look into the mirror that we call marketing, what we expect to see reflected back is not just people who look like us, but people who look like everyone around us,' he said. And in an increasingly diverse society, businesses need to be more inclusive to people of color, different sexual orientations, and gender identities in their actions and words.

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He noted that in 2016 in the United Kingdom, 30 percent of the population said that Marketing should represent modern-day society, and that figure has climbed to 51 percent today. In America, 60 percent of the population expect brands to take a stand on racial justice. (For people 18-34, that number jumps to 78 percent.) In addition, half of LGBTQ+ people, 45 percent of racial/ethnic minorities, and 39 percent of the general population overall have chosen not to pursue a job because of a perceived lack of inclusion

'The writing is on the wall,' he said. 'Individuals want brands to step up and take a stand. And if you have a workplace that is not perceived as inclusive you will repel the majority of people who believe companies need to reflect values of fairness and equity.'

He recommended that brands adopt 4Cs of change:

  • Company: look inside you. See what you can do with our policies and practices to address fairness and equity. What can you do to be more fair and equitable?
  • Customer: are you designing your products and services keeping fairness and equity for your customers in mind?
  • Community: can you and should you play a role in your community?
  • Competency: What do you do really well? How can you take that superpower and apply it to fairness and equity for your company, customers, and community?

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For example, IBM included sexual orientation in its non-discrimination policies in 1984, and gender identity and expression in 2002. To put IBM's actions in perspective: it was not until 2020 that the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ+ workers. More recently, Citi recently launched a 'True Name' feature with Mastercard to allow trans and non-binary people to use their chosen name on their U.S. credit cards. Kohler helps Native Americans get better access to water. United Airlines offers non-binary gender booking options.

These are just some examples of businesses using their super powers to be more inclusive and reflective of a diverse society. He said that in designing experiences for a more diverse society, businesses need to realize they are going to make mistakes, and they should be transparent about how they are learning from those mistakes.

'Be honest,' he said. 'Be humble. Think of his not as a marketing problem but as a general problem.'

His rallying cry for diversity and inclusion was reflected throughout the event. For instance, Vice President and Principal Analyst Rick Parrish discussed 'How To Create A Strategy For Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (DEI).' He introduced a version of Forrester's Values-Based Experience Framework that focuses on DEI.

'You've got to come up with a business strategy first before you decide on the content of DEI,' he said. Businesses need to decide how intensely they should adopt D&I values and then how intensely they want to express their D&I values.

He noted that most companies adhere to basic DEI standards and are neutral in their stance -- which suggests that many companies with neutral stances are going to need to become more overt in their embrace of DEI, based on Dipanjan Chatterjee's presentation. For example, agency Weiden + Kennedy recently supported Black Lives Matter by stating, 'There is nothing controversial about this statement. If you do not support this sentiment as an employee, you should find somewhere else to work. If you do not support this sentiment as one of our partners, we do not want to be affiliated. If you do not support this sentiment as a client, we'll gladly support you finding another agency.' This strong stance rings true because it reflects the company's own adoption of D&I values.

Gaining Empathy and Trust by Connecting with Customers' Emotional Needs

Another way to demonstrate empathy is to connect with the emotional needs of people. Senior Analyst Anjali Lai discussed how those needs have changed during the pandemic. In her presentation 'Prepare for the Consumer Renaissance,' she discussed how the pandemic has made people more acutely aware of their own mortality and vulnerability. As recently as May 2021, 64 percent of people surveyed by Forrester agreed with the statement 'I worry that I or someone I know will get sick,' and only 48 percent agreed with the statement 'I am prepared to handle the economic impact of the pandemic.'

Not surprisingly, people are paying more attention to their health and wellness needs - both physical and mental.

'People are more aware of the need to be healthier both physically and mentally,' she said. She pointed out that nearly half of people surveyed by Forrester said that they found companies' recommendations on how to stay healthy to be most valuable - even more valuable than information about changes in store hours or regular updates about finances. One third said they find found company information on relieving stress and anxiety most valuable:

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Brands that connect with those needs - being empathetic -- can deliver better experiences. For example, Airbnb responded to the mental anxiety caused by living in lockdown by offering online events on topics such as cooking and songwriting to help people who needed help when they were restricted to their homes.

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At the same time, consumers reported to Forrester a sense of renewal and empowerment - such as learning how to use technology to manage their personal time more effectively (e.g., parents who needed to juggle professional and parental duties while their kids were sent home from schools during lockdown) or learning new skills such as cooking and home repair during lockdown living. And they expect brands to help them be more empowered.

'Consumers are using devices to gain a sense of control and expect brands to help them do this,' she said. As one person surveyed by Forrester said, 'The pandemic really challenged my concept of time. In the early months of the pandemic, I found myself completely disoriented. Everyday was Groundhog Day, and I lost track of what day it was. To get myself back on track, I used my calendar and reminders on my iPhone more than ever. I make a point of checking my apps each morning, so I don't forget anything for the day. With the help of Alexa and my iPhone, I keep updating my to do lists with routine goals and more personal ambitious goals.'

In the above example, products from Amazon and Apple were empowering a consumer. Brands can empower consumers in many other ways. For instance, as summer 2020 approached, families with high school kids at home were trying to figure out how to make the end of the school year meaningful. One way kids often achieve emotional closure to the school year is to sign each other's year books. But that option was not available during the pandemic. So Snapchat partnered with the app Have a Great Summer to make it possible for kids to do so virtually - a great example of showing empathy by connecting emotionally.

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'Technology changes the dynamics of consumer trust, and brands must plug into the new model,' she said. How? By being accountable, consistent, competent, dependable, possessing integrity, being transparent - and being empathetic:

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'Understand and strategize around the levers of trust that matter most to your

stakeholders,' she urged brands. For instance, during the pandemic, Ford built trust by contributing to health and safety. The company helped manufacture safety masks and launched a health/safety ad campaign.

Empathy and Trust Resonate

The theme of building trust is consistent with Investis Digital thought leadership. Our recently published report Building Trust through the 4Rs: Responsibility, Reputation, Recruitment, and Reach offers companies a blueprint to build trust by connecting with the personal values of job seekers, investors, and consumers.

Notably, our report broadens the remit of building trust to investors, who are increasingly choosing businesses that align with their personal values. We also share in more detail how marketing can amplify a company's ability to build trust. Similar to Forrester, we believe building trust is more than a marketing problem. At the same time, marketing/communications are the focal point for employees, shareholders, customers, and other stakeholder to make or break trust.

Our report, based on proprietary research in to how brands build trust in the digital world, urges businesses to rally around:

  • Responsibility: demonstrating a high standard of corporate citizenship in all areas from environmental sustainability to diversity and inclusion, while upholding a duty to society, local governments, regulatory bodies, employees, and more.
  • Reputation: building a legacy of trust that proactively protects the brand and resonates with all stakeholders from investors to employees, recruits, consumers and influencers.
  • Recruitment: recognizing the global emphasis on employee health, diversity, inclusion and business transformation, and understanding the expectations of the next wave of talent in order to shape communications that showcase your culture and help to attract and retain the best talent.
  • Reach: cutting through the digital clutter to connect with target audiences to ensure that any investment in crafting communications is equally matched with investment in ensuring those messages are seen and heard.

We advocate for a Connected Content approach that unites communications, digital experiences, and performance marketing to enable a business to forge deeper relationships with their audiences, building trust and driving business performance at the same time.

As our CEO Don Scales said recently, 'We are living in a world where words must and should be followed up by actions. Taking stock of your commitment to your corporate social responsibility and ESG efforts is not only about building trust, long-term loyalty, or boosting shareholder value, it is about creating a sustainable future and an integrated framework to advance data-driven solutions. Articulating your focus on ESG themes from solutions, reporting, finance, and purpose-led policies will showcase how you are inspiring confidence and empowering change.'

Coupled with Connected Content, Investis Digital helps companies master the four areas of connecting with their audiences by demonstrating a high standard of corporate citizenship, building trust that protects a brand's reputation, recognizing and attracting innovative talent, and leveraging metrics to examine value and site performance.

At the Forrester CX Conference, Rachael Zahn, VP, Marketing & Sales Optimization at Investis Digital, underscored the link between the 4Rs, building trust, and delivering a successful customer experience. In her sponsored session, she noted, 'Our expectations of brands are growing because consumers and corporate audiences are converging. It's what we all the CX Factor, where everyday customers might also be employees. They might be investors. They might be customers. Yet, their digital experiences are vastly different.' She said the remit of the CMO is to align the interest of these groups and built trust.

She discussed how rallying a business around the 4Rs will not only help the CMO deliver on this remit but also make the CMO more influential and valuable - and make their company more valuable. For instance, it's well known now that businesses that embrace ESG and sustainability outperform companies that do not.

She said that reputation, responsibility, recruitment and reach is 'where marketing has the power to influence more than the customer. It's the new benchmark to building a connected experience, with Connected Content.'

Contact Investis Digital

Bottom line: we agree with Forrester that an empathy-based approach to build trust - especially by connecting with values - is key to building trust. Businesses need a new blueprint to build and sustain trust on an ongoing basis. Businesses need to amplify their story about how they build trust. We believe Connected Content will help them do that. Download our report on the 4Rs and contact us to learn more.