Empathy : one of the most critical traits of an effective Customer Success Manager

Some people have it naturally. But good news : it can also be learned !

Here are my 4 key recommendations you can also practice to nail it :

1 ) Focus on your counterpart’s interests
Get to know their likes and dislikes.
=> this will help you drive more personal conversations.

2 ) Practice mirroring
The goal is to keep your counterpart talking.
=> simply repeat what she/he says to build trust and confidence.
Bonus: it will give you the ability to disagree when needed, without being disagreeable.

3 ) Then ask calibrated questions
Preparation is key: have 3-5 questions to reveal value to you and your counterpart.
Figure out what the other party is worried about.
Use “what” and “how” questions :
=> How an I help to make this better for us ?
=> How would you like me to proceed ?
=> What are we trying to accomplish here ?
=> How can we solve this issue ?

4 ) Finally, follow-up with labelling
Important to translate the emotions into words.
=> It seems like you are worried that …
=> It seems like XYZ is important to you.
=> It seems like you are reluctant to …

In summary, empathy is created through genuine human connections.
And it just takes a few steps to practice and succeed in all of your endeavors.

If you want to learn more about these principles,
I can’t recommend enough Chris Voss’s book for a deep-dive into these topics.