When customers are facing overwhelming debt, a medical bill or another high-stakes financial decision, resolving the problem is only part of delivering an exceptional customer experience. They also need to know that the person helping them understands what they’re going through.
That’s the message Vanessa Hering, Executive Vice President and Client Success Officer at Beyond Finance, shares in her recent CMSWire article, “Is Empathy the Missing Metric in Your CX Strategy?”
“Customers need to feel both heard and most importantly understood,” Hering writes.
She argues that empathy should not be viewed simply as a “soft” customer service skill. Research shows empathetic experiences can strengthen trust, customer loyalty, and business results.
This skill is particularly important in financial services, where customers may already be experiencing anxiety, embarrassment, or shame when they finally seek help.
At Beyond Finance, that philosophy is put into practice through extensive employee training. In 2025 alone, Client Success team members completed more than 10,000 hours of training focused on empathy, listening, and action-planning.
Hering’s message to customer experience leaders: When customers are at their most vulnerable, human empathy can become one of a company’s most powerful competitive differentiators.
About Vanessa Hering
Vanessa Hering is Client Success Officer and Executive Vice President of Strategy and Operations at Beyond Finance where she leads Client Success, operational performance, and enterprise-wide strategic initiatives. Under her leadership, Beyond Finance has been recognized with Organization of the Year in the Business Intelligence Group’s Excellence in Customer Service Awards, multiple Gold Stevie® Awards, and a Banking Tech Award as a Financial Wellness Champion. She has written about client care in CMSWire and for the Association for Consumer Debt Relief, and holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School and an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.