A customer empathy map is a strategic visualization tool used by leading consumer brands and D2C companies in the US, UK & Australia. It helps leaders in Customer Support and Customer Experience roles understand how customers think, feel and behave when using with a product or service. An empathy map focuses on a customer’s sensory experience, helping you step into your customers’ shoes and better understand their needs and frustrations.
Do you want to keep your customers loyal in 2025?
Do you aim to achieve double-digit revenue growth this year?
For CX leaders like VP, Director or Senior Manager empathy is often the competitive advantage you’re looking for. Empathy in customer service means understanding and feeling what your customers are going through.
If a business does not understand what customers truly need or feel, it struggles to connect with them. Many such companies face challenges like not knowing who their ideal customer is, whether their product meets market demands, or if they are solving the right problem.
This happens due to a lack of empathy, which leads to weak customer relationships. In contrast, by practicing empathy, customer service teams can create stronger bonds with customers. They can make them feel heard and respected.
But how do you practice empathy? The answer is to build a customer empathy map that pays attention to what customers see, hear, feel, and do and more importantly, the pains and gains driving their behavior.
In this article, let’s understand what an empathy map is and how you can create one for your business in 2025. Also, you will learn empathy map pains and gains.
What is an Empathy Map?
An empathy map is a tool that allows business owners and CX leaders to understand customers better. In 2025, it is mainly related to thinking about these four “whats”:
- What do customers say? – Their feedback, complaints, and requests.
- What do customers think? – Their expectations, worries, and frustrations.
- What do customers feel? – Their emotions while using your product or service.
- What do customers do? – How they behave, interact, and react.
By mapping this out, you can improve your services and make them more customer-focused. For organizations with $5M+ revenue and growing teams, this process ensures CX initiatives are built on customer reality, not assumptions.
This leads to:
- Stronger customer relationships
- Improved sales
Long-term business success
The Six Quadrants of a Customer Empathy Map
A customer empathy map has six quadrants. These focus on your customer’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Let’s understand each quadrant in detail:
- Who Are We Empathizing With and What Are Their Goals?
- The first step is identifying who your customer is.
- What is your customer’s background, needs, and challenges?
- What problem are they facing?
- What solution are they looking for?
- The first step is identifying who your customer is.
For customer support, this means segmenting customers based on their journeys and service expectations.
2. What Do They See?
- Customers are influenced by what they see around them:
- Market trends
- Competitor products
- Advertisements
- Online reviews
- Market trends
CX leaders should analyze how these external factors impact brand perception and adjust support strategies.
3. What Do They Say?
- What do they say about your product or service?
- Do they like it?
- Do they have complaints?
Their words reflect their experiences, and their feedback helps you improve.
4. What Do They Do?
This part focuses on customer behaviour. Here you analyse:
- What actions do they take?
- Are they researching your product online?
- Are they reading reviews before making a purchase?
By understanding customer behaviour, you can better predict their needs and adjust your business strategy. If you notice patterns (say a few customers frequently asking about a specific feature), you can highlight that feature in your marketing.
The key here is to provide value at every step so that customers feel confident in their decisions.
5. What Do They Hear?
Word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools. Positive recommendations can drive more sales than any advertisement.
A recent study shows that about 91% of customers are more likely to purchase from brands that offer relevant recommendations.
For companies scaling beyond $5M in revenue, peer influence and customer advocacy play a huge role in market credibility.
6. What Do They Feel?
Emotions play a big role in buying decisions. Customers may feel excited, happy, anxious, or even scared when considering a purchase.
- What frustrates them?
- What are they worried about?
By mapping customer emotions, leaders can design experiences that reduce anxiety and build loyalty.
How to Create a Customer Empathy Map?
A recent study shows that 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience. And, you can boost CX by creating an empathy map for your business.
Follow these simple steps:
- Define the key question
- Note down what you want to ask/test/know
- Conduct the test across the six quadrants
- Use data to get insights that will be helpful
- Observe how customers think and make decisions
- Solve customer problems with the empathy map insights
At Atidiv, we help consumer brands and D2C companies implement this process with insights, ensuring empathy maps become actionable tools rather than diagrams.
What are Empathy Map Pains and Gains?
As a small or mid-sized business leader, you must know what makes your customers happy or frustrated. This is where pains and gains come in.
What Are Pains?
Pains are the difficulties or frustrations customers experience when using your product or service.
Examples include:
- Confusing checkout process
- Long wait times for support
- Lack of product availability
What Are Gains?
Gains are the positive outcomes customers expect:
- Reliability
- Ease of use
- Better results
For CX leaders, balancing pains and gains helps identify where investment will have the highest ROI.
Beat Your Competition with Customer Insights!
By creating a customer empathy map, business owners and CX leaders can understand their customers’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Also, you can identify their pains and gains. Such an understanding will help you refine your products and services. Ultimately, this improves customer satisfaction and leads to:
- Stronger relationships
- Increased sales
- Long-term growth
At Atidiv, we specialize in helping CX leaders turn insights into results. With a 98% QA score and 24/7 omnichannel support, we understand the needs of consumer brands in the US, UK and Australia.
Atidiv’s Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
At Atidiv, we cater to businesses that prioritize delivering exceptional customer experiences. Our primary markets include the US, UK, and Australia, where we serve consumer brands and D2C companies seeking scalable, high-quality solutions. We work closely with decision-makers in Customer Support and Customer Experience roles, typically at the VP, Senior Manager, and Director levels. Our ideal partners are companies with 5+ employees and annual revenues of $5M+, who value operational excellence, efficiency, and innovation.
This ICP ensures our empathy mapping and CX solutions resolve the challenges faced by leaders dealing with increasing service quality while growing revenues.
Partner with Atidiv today and let your customers feel valued and heard at every interaction!
FAQs On BPO
1. Why is my business struggling to attract and retain customers?
Be aware that most businesses struggle because they don’t fully understand their customers:
- Needs
- Frustrations
- Expectations
By making a customer empathy map, you can identify these factors and easily improve your products, services, and marketing strategies. This will help you attract and retain more customers.
2. How can I use an empathy map to improve my sales?
Through a customer empathy map, you discover customer pain points. Next, you try to address these issues by:
- Simplifying the buying process
- Offering better customer support,
- Adding features customers truly want
These efforts increase customer satisfaction. Be aware that about 74% of consumers are at least somewhat likely to buy based on experiences alone!
3. What if I don’t have enough customer data to create an empathy map?
Please note that data is the basis of creating an effective customer empathy map. To gather data, you can simply start by gathering feedback from existing customers through:
- Surveys
- Online reviews
- Direct conversations
Next, observe customer behavior. Specifically check competitor reviews and analyse industry trends. Even a small amount of real customer input can help you understand their expectations and improve your business accordingly.
4. How do I know if my empathy map is working?
Most likely you will see improvements in:
- Customer engagement
- Positive reviews
- Repeat purchases
- Reduced complaints
Moreover, happy customers usually express greater satisfaction and you notice better conversion rates. This shows your empathy-based strategies are working.