Snapchat Your Way to Greater Empathy

17 May 2016

Would you swap faces with your best client or customer?

At a recent family gathering my fourteen year old niece whipped out her smart phone and proceeded to apply Snapchat’s “Face Swap” feature to all of the pictures she was taking. (If you haven’t seen or done this you should because it’s a blast. It was an especially big hit with my wife’s 96 year old grandmother.) And this whole exchange started me thinking… Would you swap faces with your best client or customer if you could?

Most business owners and executives swear that they have THE BEST understanding of their clients/customers. They also swear that this insight provides them with a unique position in the marketplace that distinguishes them from their competitors. Um, OK. Maybe. But have they ever swapped faces with their best client? Swapping faces would be even better than walking that proverbial mile in the other person’s moccasins! What about you? Would you swap faces if you could?

Every day we strive to connect. To bridge the gap. To understand. Our need for community and connection is hard wired into our very DNA. But how often, as Stephen Covey said, do we really listen with the intent to understand? Better yet, do we swap faces?

So the next time some young whippersnapper busts out Snapchat Face Swap, I encourage you to do some face swapping yourself instead of performing a digital exorcism (or yelling at them to get off your lawn). You’ll be a better, more empathetic person (and run a better business) for it.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see how my Standard Schnauzer looks with my face.

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