The Business of empathy

Dear Lovely Business Owner,

Heartbreaking it is to see what happened in London yesterday, my heart goes out to the families affected by it, it really does. I know deep in my heart that love, care and deep empathy is what is called for, like one of my friends who literally teaches empathy for a living… what the world needs now is an ’empathy injection,’ not judgment, not fear just empathy.

But what does it look like for my Business Carrie?

Let me share a few stories, sit down put your feet up, grab a cuppa or a glass of wine 🙂

Are you sitting comfortably.. now I shall begin…

Story one:

Last week, pretty distraught after three hours on the phone, and online support, I hopped on two trains ( * my favourite form of transport!! ) .. and headed to my favourite localish Apple shop to get my laptop looked over, as rather frustratingly my @ symbol has stopped working and my numbers!!! Arghh, I know these are first world problems, I do, still highly exasperating when trying to do well anything really.  I waited patiently in line, and the chap who helped me, was just well empathetic. He could sense the pain that I was experiencing having this problem, as I spend a lot time writing, and he just made me feel safe, he made me feel that there was a way for him to resolve this issue.  I felt cared for too, as he did not rush the diagnosis process, which again felt reassuring and that I mattered as customer. After a series of questions and going through a few basic tests he came to the conclusion that my laptop needed to be taken in for repair as the buttons might need replacing, which would mean my entire motherboard.. The look on my face.. ie a distraught.. five days..  must have given my game away, until he mentioned that until I was ready to do this, I could invest in a wireless keyboard which would help me in the short-term. Oooh the relief…

Story two:

I went to a local juicing bar recently, and I was slightly, okay massively overwhelmed by what was on offer and the chap serving me, could sense I was a newbie to their Juice bar and said  in a matter of moments… : ” Don’t worry I know what you would love,” and I was like … ” okay lovely sure go for it,’ as I just fancied trying a juice and deliberating over which was might have taken me much more time than i wanted to spend on that day!! I gleefully accepted his offer and boom… I was presented with a fruity( * strawberry, banana and apple!)  Juice which was absolutely yummy. I felt totally looked after and inspired to return when I was in the area again, as instead of him going for a hard sell, he just treated me like an honoured guest and was gently assertive which worked like a charm!!  I gulped down the juice and felt refreshed, which was the intention of the juice !!!

A final story,

I finally decided to venture into this independent book store, to get one of their gorgeous looking journals, as I love journalling, I find it therapeutic and I just love writing in books so much so that I am always on the look out for a new journal! Well, I had seen a number of times that this store called Foyle s had these utterly beautiful journals and I just today was the day for me to invest in one! Well, I would politely say it was quite a mission. The shelves in the store are high by any standards-we’re talking floor to ceiling- yup no-one is that tall  (LOL!!) .. and the journals which I was looking for were a bit further up than i had anticipated. They were a deep grey with gold diamond shapes on them, an A6 size, ie hand-bag friendly and lined and just beautifully made, with quality paper, it was love at first sight, truth be told…  So, a little bit of hopping vertically- note- not funny, elegant or well.. er… becoming at all I managed to somehow grab the little journal I was craving whilst at the same time managing to knock quite a chunk of the display. off the shelf too. A little dismayed at the till I confessed to the Assistant what i had done and she was so lovely saying she ‘did it all the time, as the shelves are far too high for her too,’  which made me feel so much better and totally at ease.

All three stories to me show how important empathy is in Business, and how it is not really than measurable yet it does not make it any less valuable. All three of those stores, because of how I was treated and how much empathy that they gave me, I will return in a heartbeat and recommend them to all of my friends! It’s priceless empathy in life and most certainly in Business, there is nothing quite like it, and it is what gives our lives meaning and it is what helps us to feel like we matter to each other. If I just refer back to London, today, they held a peaceful Vigil in Trafalgar Square, which was so moving, and felt like it was a holding the hearts of those who had lost lives, all five of them, and those 40 or so people who had been injured and those who had witnessed this horrible incident first-hand and those who had felt for them too. A mass; ” Empathy injection,’ in other words and you could feel the comfort it was giving to others, you just could. It symbolically showed that they mattered, that we all matter and that love over fear is the most powerful thing we can all ever do in life and in Business, not always easy but totally worth it!

No matter what forms of Content Marketing or communicate you are using for your Business, the power of empathy is priceless and it is very much under-used in my view.

In fact, empathy in Business at the heart of Spiritual PR. If you’d like more help promoting your business do take a look here and see how I can help you.

Love Carrie x