Love and eCommerce
Applying Empathy and Love in a Professional Environment.
A few months ago my wife and I welcomed a kitten into our home. Her name is Pixel. Don’t judge. You know it’s cuter than Tiger or whatever basic name your Aunt came up with. I have pet experience but my wife did not. In both cases, what I found interesting was that we had the same initial reaction. Our first goal was to communicate to this painfully cute creature that she was loved and that she was safe. Pixel didn’t speak english yet. We had to figure out a different way to communicate these two important messages to her. There was a lot of petting, hugging, and eye blinking. I read somewhere that blinking means I love you in cat vibes. Who knows. The internet is full of zany stuff. A few days ago that moment worked its way back into my consciousness as I watched Pixel play. It forced me to step way back and wonder how this concept could work at a global scale. What if, whenever I met someone new I let them know that they were loved and safe. What if everyone did this? 😮
Assuming you aren’t completely cold hearted and made it this far, let’s move on to how this applies to business moves. I am currently a designer at Gauge. We specialize in eCommerce so I will focus there. Our clients are some of the greatest folks in the whole world. We love them and want them (and their businesses) to be safe. How do we achieve that? It would be awkward, upon meeting the CEO of a company if I gave her a hug and told her that she was loved. Like my cat, we have to communicate in a way that isn’t as direct but is still felt with as much intention. One way we communicate love is an in-person visit. At the beginning of every project, we come together in the same room as our new client and listen. We listen to their struggles, their fears, their concerns. We listen with our minds and hearts open. We let them know that they are heard and let them know that based on our expertise, their concerns will soon be gone. We let them know that they are safe. We love them and their business as much as we love our team and our business. As the kids say, “We’re ride or die.” Meeting the clients face to face and sharing meals with them builds empathy. Empathy sparks compassion. Compassion ignites love. We sympathize when we learn one is allergic to guacamole. We compare experiences when we learn that one is expecting their first child. (Editor’s Note: This is not the time to bring up Pixel the cat.) We offer solutions to customer service snags because we experienced the same issue.
Let’s push these concepts a step further. How can the websites we build with our clients communicate love and safety? Their customers need to feel that same love and safety. In most cases, online businesses don’t have the opportunity for the face to face experience that we enjoy. They must find a suitable digital experience to communicate those sensations instead. Let’s look at a few ways a business can achieve this. First, develop well thought out transactional emails. The customer placed an order with you. Tell the customer what happened. Tell them what to expect next and tell them when to expect the next step to happen. Let’s put this back into the context of my cat. When she meows by her bowl I know she is hungry. I tell her that I am about to feed her. (Don’t pretend that you don’t talk to your pet.) If it is too early for more food, I tell her that too. Next, if something goes wrong while a customer is using your website, you owe it to them to acknowledge the error. The customer should know exactly what happened, why it happened, and how to get back on track. A third way to communicate love and safety is establishing a clear way for customers to contact you. When contact information is available, the customer knows how to get help if they need it. Making the information personable lets the customer know a human is receiving it and not a robot. If someone does contact you, follow up! Contact information that no one responds to will have the opposite effect.
Following these steps can help you establish a stronger connection with your client. It can also help you welcome home a new feline friend. As a bonus, conveying love and safety is a great first step to competing with huge online retailers. How would you show a customer or client that they are loved and that they are safe?
