Empathy

An empathy statement serves to clarify and to reinforce the feelings that the other person is feeling. In rephrasing what the other person is saying, one is clarifying what you hear is correct. A typical empathy statement contains 2 parts - one part that labels the feeling, and a second part that lets the person know that you understand why he's feeling that way.

There are examples:

• "I'm so sorry for that inconvenience. Let me see what I can do for you today."

• "I'm so sorry that this happened and I will do my best to fix this situation"

• "I'm sorry to hear that. I'll definitely be able to help you with that today."

• "I'm so sorry that happened to you."

• "I'm sorry to hear that. I can imagine that must be frustrating."

• "I can understand that must make you feel upset and we will work toward fixing this situation for you."

• "I definitely know that could be frustrating. I can understand how you feel."

• "That's Terrible!"

• "I can understand the times are very difficult, let's see what we can do for you today."

• "You must be feeling pretty frustrated….