I am a big football fan, and during the lockdown period of the pandemic, I really missed it. So when my favourite team, Club Brugge, started playing televised matches again, I sat at home on our sofa and watched every single one.
I watched the players do their best in chilly, empty stadiums, but the energy was different to what I was accustomed to, and I found it terrible to watch. So what was the difference?
Supporters are not meant to hear what the players say and shout at each other. As fans, we would all have preferred to have heard the supporters singing, but those conditions must have been terrible for the players as well.
The life of a football player can be likened to someone who works in a world of ‘real-time direct customer feedback’. If they are playing well, there is lots of applause. If they commit a foul, they are blanketed in boos. If they score, an explosion of positive emotion is sent in their direction.
Can you imagine what it would be like if you wore an earphone at work that gave you instant, real-time, direct customer feedback on your every decision and action?
Direct and rapid customer feedback tends to increase customer-centricity. I’m sure readers here will probably know this, but one of the major problems with customer feedback is that too many companies make decisions in empty stadiums. When an important decision is required, excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint files are churned out. The calculations and data these contain are used to form hypotheses and opinions. This ceremony ultimately leads to a decision.
Please don’t misinterpret this – I am certainly not data-phobic, nor do I oppose financial analysis. These things are crucial for making the right decisions in a boardroom. However, my point is that if you only use data and financial analysis, you dehumanise your customers; they are reduced to a number.
The human component must be included in your decision-making process to achieve effective empathy. The more people in your company that are directly exposed to and confronted with the customer’s signs of dismay and delight, the more likely effective empathy will be.
‘Hearsay’ is not the same as the real thing
If I may extend this football analogy, in October 2021, I was in the stands to see Club Brugge take on Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League. It was a historic moment – not just for my club, but for the football world because it was the first European match with Lionel Messi playing for PSG, having just left FC Barcelona.
