Putting yourself in your customer’s shoes isn’t always easy, especially if they are frustrated. Customer service empathy statements are a great way to reassure them and build positive experiences.
Showing empathy is the best way for agents to build real connections. It’s not just a nice thing to do—it’s how you show humanity in a tough spot. And by using these statements as part of your service strategy, reps can turn negative experiences into memorable moments.
And consumers agree, with 96% saying that empathy is important during support interactions.
In this blog post, we’ll explain what empathy means in this context and give you over 35 different examples of how you can use customer service empathy statements to promote positive CX.
Empathy is the ability to relate to, understand, or sympathize with another living being. It’s a gateway to compassion and is crucial for all types of relationships, including with customers. It requires that you put yourself in someone else’s position without judgment.
This is an essential aspect of support. When you can empathize with customers, you are more open to listening to their concerns, and capable of finding solutions.
Empathy is a powerful communication tool. When agents convey genuine understanding, they can turn challenging (and often difficult) interactions into positive experiences.
By empowering your agents with empathy statements for customer service, you can ensure better CX while also improving your team’s emotional intelligence, leading to better outcomes on both sides of the interaction.
Here are 35 customer service empathy statements your agents can use to acknowledge, understand, support, reassure, and apologize.
Sometimes, people just feel like they need to be heard. Acknowledging feelings with customer service empathy statements can show that your agents are actively listening. Try these:
Demonstrating understanding helps to build rapport and trust. It shows that the agent truly grasps the issue at hand. Here are some statements to use:
Offering support is essential to achieving a satisfactory resolution while making the caller feel accompanied every step of the way. Try these supportive statements:
Reassuring statements can help reduce anxiety, reaffirming that the rep is capable and a resolution is forthcoming. Here are some examples:
A simple apology can go a long way in mending a relationship, even when neither party is at fault. It shows that your company is willing to take responsibility and is committed to resolving any issues. Try these apologies:
Showing empathy is a great way to make people feel heard and understood—and it can also turn an angry customer into a loyal one.
Here are a few more reasons why it’s so important:
But before we can explore more about empathetic service, we need to understand why customers are frustrated to begin with.
Frustration is when a customer expresses discontent after a negative interaction with an agent or company. It often stems from:
Staying positive and calm—and going the extra mile when possible—are crucial ways to boost retention and ensure repeat business. Let’s go over a few a few examples of customer service empathy statements call center agents can use when anger begins to flare:
It’s important for call center agents to remember that any frustration is not personal. Even so, no matter how long you have been a customer service representative, it can be difficult to deal with an angry person.
However, if agents understand the value of empathy, they can work through any negative customer experience and find a solution that works for both parties. In fact, tough calls can make for great training exercises.
Empathy is a necessary soft skill that you must prioritize in agent training and coaching.
After all, empathetic agents can build stronger relationships, deliver unrivaled CX, and lay the foundation for word-of-mouth referrals.
Here are a few ways contact center agents can do it right:
Know their biases
Maintain positivity
Stay calm and cool
Address customers by their first names
Understand their demographics and base
Use feedback tools, like quality assurance scorecards, to understand how they are communicating with customers
By using these statements, agents demonstrate that they care and understand the customer’s concerns and frustrations, which can build loyalty and prevent escalations before they happen.
Here are some great examples of when agents can use empathy statements to ease tension:
During initial contact: When a customer first explains their issue, it’s a perfect time to express understanding and acknowledgment.
Handling complaints: If a caller becomes frustrated or upset, these statements can keep tempers cool and relieve anxious feelings.
Explaining delays: Delays can often make bad situations worse. Showing empathy while agents work to resolve issues can put people at ease.
Clarifying information: People hate repeating themselves, so using our examples to help ease tension and promote collaboration helps ensure progress and prevent escalations.
Providing solutions: Before (or after) giving solutions or next steps, an empathetic approach can remind customers that agents are still on their side and dedicated to helping them.
Post-resolution: Regardless of the outcome, maintaining rapport can highlight how an agent turned around a difficult situation.
Now that you understand what empathetic support is—and its value—we can explore how to practice this approach in your day-to-day work:
Active listening is an important way to make customers feel heard and understood. This helps build trust and creates a more open dialogue, even in moments of anger or frustration. Here are a few tips for incorporating active listening into your interactions:
The key difference between empathy and sympathy is perspective.
Sympathy is derived from your feeling or understanding, while empathy is derived from putting yourself in another person’s shoes or situation.
Instead of saying “That must be upsetting,” try saying “I would be upset, too.”
This makes call center agents more relatable and genuine—rather than patronizing.
As we’ve discussed, empathy statements for customer service can go a long way toward making them feel more comfortable and heard when voicing their frustrations. This is also helpful for improving call center agent morale and job satisfaction. Some examples include:
There are several tools that can help contact center agents practice empathy. For example, CRM software, which holds all information on a customer in one place, so they don’t have to keep repeating their problem or query to different agents.
Quality assurance (QA) platforms typically include other useful tools like:
When combined with well-trained, empathetic agents, these software features can help you quickly realize your goal: to diffuse uncomfortable situations and delight customers.
Using empathy statements for customer service can turn bad situations into great ones. When your agents show understanding and kindness to callers who are struggling, they build rapport and memorable connections.
Training your agents to use customer service empathy statements gives them the tools to defuse tense situations and actually help people instead of driving them away.
You can also take advantage of Scorebuddy’s QA software. With customizable agent scorecards, AI-powered analytics, and 100% interaction coverage, you can create custom training sessions so agents are always ready to deliver exceptional experiences.
Don’t wait until things turn ugly—book a free Scorebuddy demo today and future-proof your CX.
