Tony Bates - Empathy in Action

Advance Praise

My number one principle in business is customer obsession. Truly understanding and anticipating your customers needs (empathy) is not only at the heart of delivering exceptional customer experiences but is also how leaders can stay a step ahead of the blind spots that can derail even the best of companies. Tony has been at the helm of one industry transition after another, from the internet to videotelephony to video gaming apps and now, Contact Center as a Service. He has the credibility and experience to start a broader business conversation about delivering better customer experiences through empathy.

JOHN CHAMBERS, Chairman Emeritus, Cisco and CEO, JC2 Ventures

Empathy in Action touches on the new paradigm shift where consumers have certain expectations from the brands that they interact with. Loyalty is not a giveneach interaction a consumer has with a company can reset loyalty as competition is so fierce. This book explores how it all starts with employee satisfaction, which directly correlates with customer satisfaction. If companies want to stay relevant in this new world, these dynamics must be explored and implemented.

ANDREA CHIN, Executive Director Global Consumer Care - IT at The Este Lauder Companies Inc.

Regardless of industry, the fundamental foundation for all successful businesses is exceptional customer service. This book examines why customer experience has fallen short in the past and sparks your imagination about a new world of superior, empathetic customer experiences.

JOHN DONAHOE, President and CEO, Nike

Experience happens when leaders guide their organization to behaviors and habits that earn admiration and sustainable growth. Use this book as a practical guidebook to achieve these outcomes.

JEANNE BLISS, Best-selling author of Chief Customer Officer 2.0

As we permanently shift to a digitally connected world that shapes every aspect of how we live, learn, worship, play, and work, this book provides tremendous insight into the opportunity for leaders to blend empathy and experiences in a way that leads to better business outcomes. My friend Tony has always been passionate about the consumer experience. Empathy in Action invites us to challenge the status quo and drive breakthrough innovation and success through a customer- and employee-centered approach.

PAT GELSINGER, CEO, Intel

In this fast-changing digital economy, winning enterprises are putting a laser focus on providing a world-class, end-to-end customer experience. I gained new perspectives on the power of empathy in anticipating and delivering on customer expectations. I recommend this book for anyone looking to innovate customer experience.

SHANTANU NARAYEN, Chairman, President, and CEO, Adobe Inc.

If you want to truly be customer-centric, then put yourself into the hands of these two CX masters, Bates and Petouhoff. From accounting for experiences on your balance sheet to spelling out how you must lead differently, Empathy in Action delivers a systematic, intentional approach to transform your organization. Keep this book close by because youll be referencing it frequently!

CHARLENE LI,New York Times best-selling author of The Disruption Mindset and Founder, Altimeter

If you care about your customer and employees, I recommend Empathy in Action for your whole organization. Its a guide for reexamining our approaches to customer and employee experience that has the potential for those daring enough to shift paradigms to transform business as we know it.

SANDY CARTER, VP, AWS WWPS Partners and Programs

For a decade or more, we have been talking about customer centrism and customer experience. Last year, during the pandemic, we began to hear about the importance of business empathy in realizing a great customer experience. But very little had been done about what that actually means when its put into action. But now industry dynamo Natalie Petouhoff and Genesys CEO Tony Bates take empathy and give it substance. Not only do they help define how to see and feel the shoes the customer is in, but also what it takes to walk in those shoes. If you want to truly understand what empathy means in business, how to apply it, and how to measure how successful you have been, then this is a must-have book. So, if you feel anything for your customers, order this book and start reading it, even if you are still in your own shoes when you do. Because, trust me, by the time you are done, you will be living the books titleEmpathy in Action.

PAUL GREENBERG, Best-selling author of CRM at the Speed of Light (4 Editions)

In an age where almost every interaction we have is through a lens of technology, too many nameless, faceless corporations have set aside the human connection for the bottom-line efficiency of technology. The secret to loyal customers isnt in technology or efficiency; it is in creating that empathetic connection at scale. In this amazing book Empathy in Action, Tony and Natalie have laid out a road map for leaders to lead from the front and reestablish that critical, empathetic human touch. A must-have for any leaders library.

ALAN WEBBER, Program VP, Customer Experience Strategies, IDC.com

Whether you are a start-up or an intrapreneur inside a company, this book is your key to become obsessed with your customers and your employees. The authors four empathy pillarslisten, understand + predict, act, and learnare the key to what drives innovation and disruption. I cant wait for my students and clients to dive into this book.

JAN RYAN, Professor & Executive Director of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at University of Texas and Partner at Capital Factory, Inc

Empathy as a leverage tool toward employees and customers loyalty and company growth. Empathy in Action closes the gap between theory and what occurs to your customer and employee experience when you add empathy to the formula. Unlike many other books expressing the authors opinion, you have a book based on facts, outstanding research, exceptional proofed results, and great ideas that will help your company evolve. We are still far from closing all experience blind spots, but this book will certainly bring you many steps closer. I highly recommend this book if you want to insert empathy in your organization effectively! A practical reading that will assist your organization to gain real market differentiation and advantage.

RICARDO SALTZ GULKO, Cofounder of European Customer Experience Organization

Few people are as qualified to dissect and discuss the importance of empathy in business and culture as Dr. Natalie Petouhoff. Her deep expertise in understanding the wants, needs, and psychology of both customers and employees gives her unique insights into how better understanding leads to better business results. Empathy in Action will no doubt be a must-read for business leaders, the C-Suite, and even the E-suitethose seeking to obtain deeper levels of empathyto better serve customers, employees, and citizens.

DAVID ARMANO, Founder, Armano Design Group, Forbes contributor, and former Edelman executive

Companies are missing the massive opportunity to transform their transactional relationships with customers into bonds that are formed and informed by their experiences. In all my research and writing, it is clear that businesses with a traditional approach to customer service have only a matter of time before theyre replaced by a vendor that truly understands and wants to help their customer. This book offers readers the rationale behind adopting a customer-centric business model and the unexpected blind spots to avoid.