“You can't understand someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes.” 

While we don’t know who first uttered that phrase, it’s a safe bet to suggest that nearly anyone you ask has heard it. The popularity indicates that people believe you must empathize with others if you want to understand their needs. 

When it comes to serving clients, we take empathy seriously. It’s the cornerstone of our work at Murphy Marketing. 

When it comes to writing, empathy is my secret weapon. I love putting myself in other people’s shoes, adopting their voice, and putting into words what they’ve been trying to say all along.”

~ Katie Lantukh, Owner, Murphy Marketing

A lot of people believe they are expressing empathy when, in reality, they are expressing sympathy. Both sentiments are positive -- you want to express concern for a person or a cause. The critical difference is that empathy requires a shared experience or understanding. 

Caring about someone going through a rough patch in their life is sympathy. Caring about someone going through a rough patch in their life and understanding what they are going through because you have experienced the same situation is empathy. 

That’s why we believe it’s essential to go beyond just walking a mile in a potential client’s shoes. We want to truly understand the problem they are trying to solve for their clients or customers.

Being a solution in search of a problem isn't nearly as effective as being the solution to a problem you've already discovered. Your clients have been through that process. They found a way to be successful because they are solving a problem for their customers. 

They might need help reaching more potential customers, and that’s why they are looking for marketing expertise. To be truly effective, however, a marketing strategist needs to walk a mile in their client’s shoes and then walk another mile in their client’s customers’ shoes. 

If you understand the problems your client is trying to solve for their customers, then you can serve your client better, and that helps them serve their customers better. It may seem confusing because there are several layers to this thought process. 

So, try to visualize it. Think about dominoes. You set them up in rows and try to make dazzling patterns to impress your friends or maybe just entertain your kids for a few minutes. What happens if you randomly remove dominoes from the middle of the run? The whole thing abruptly stops. That’s why you have to keep the dominoes standing in just the right place, one after another, until you have the pattern you want to see and have reached the end of the path you wanted them to take.

Now, think of your clients as the box of dominoes. Each of their customers is a domino. If you want to help your clients do better, you need to help them place the dominoes in just the right pattern for just the right length of the run. 

But what if you’ve never used dominoes? How can you help your clients set them up correctly? How can you advise your clients on each domino’s best angle to get the curves correct or how far apart to space them to keep the run flowing? 

You do that by learning how to use dominoes. Explaining to a client that you understand how frustrating setting up a run of dominoes can be when you’ve never used dominoes is sympathizing with them. But the shared experience of crying out in anguish as the hours you spent setting up a dominoes run are wasted by your cat pouncing into the middle of them? That’s empathizing with your client! 

So, you may be asking how you can get the experience of helping your client’s customers when that’s not your profession? Online resources are a great way to find out what your client’s customers are going through and how your client might help. 

Looking at customer research and case studies is a good start. But also consider getting out “in the trenches” by tapping into conversations on social media. Get involved in Facebook and LinkedIn groups where people are talking about the types of problems your client can solve.

You should always approach a potential client with an understanding of what they do. But being able to empathize with them because you truly understand their customers’ issues will put your head and shoulders above the competition. 

That means walking a mile in a potential client’s shoes before you pitch them a solution. But also take the initiative to walk in their customer’s shoes. It shows you cared enough to learn about the individual dominoes with which they are working to create a successful run.