Customer Success Playbook S3 E43 - Cairo Marsh - Empathy is the New ROI

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This episode of the Customer Success Playbook welcomes Cairo Marsh, Founder and Executive Partner of Relative, for a thought-provoking conversation on empathy-led marketing. Cairo shares his top tip for organizations seeking to harness empathy as a competitive advantage: focus on value at every touchpoint. From Patagonia's purpose-driven branding to the basics of transactional incentives, Cairo offers real-world examples of brands that resonate by placing customer needs front and center. It's not just marketing—it's relationship building at scale.

Detailed Analysis: In this crisp yet powerful episode, Cairo Marsh challenges traditional marketing mindsets by reframing empathy as a strategic asset rather than a soft skill. He lays out a pragmatic approach to empathetic marketing that begins with a deceptively simple question: "What does your audience need right now?" It's not about gimmicks or grand gestures but about delivering meaningful value at every interaction.

Using brands like Patagonia as a compass, Cairo underscores how value can transcend the transactional. Patagonia's commitment to sustainability offers customers purpose beyond product—a model for values-driven engagement that earns loyalty. On the flip side, Cairo doesn’t shy away from acknowledging that even simple sweepstakes or incentives can serve as valid forms of value, as long as they're designed with the customer's benefit in mind.

The conversation also touches on the psychological shift needed within companies. Empathy isn't a campaign—it's a culture. And it begins with a genuine interest in your customer’s world. Cairo likens this to personal relationships, where curiosity and attentiveness build trust. Businesses should behave less like sociopaths (his words, not ours) and more like thoughtful partners.

Whether you're building a brand or fine-tuning your customer journey, this episode is a potent reminder: empathy scales. It informs marketing, strengthens loyalty, and enhances every element of the customer success playbook.

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Episode Transcript

Kevin Metzger (00:10):
Customer success.

Roman Trebon (00:15):
Hi everyone, and welcome to the Customer Success
Playbook podcast, where we bringyou actionable insights for
driving customer engagement andsuccess.
I'm your host, Roman Reon,joined by me as, uh, as always,
is my co-host Kevin Metzger.
Kevin, hope you had a goodweekend.
Happy Monday.

Kevin Metzger (00:32):
Happy Monday.
Excited to be here.
Excited for today's guest.
Today we're joined by CairoMarsh.
Founder and executive partner ofRelative Cairo is passionate
about building relationships,relationship driven customer
experiences through innovationmarketing strategies.
Cairo, welcome to the show.

Cairo Marsh (00:50):
Kevin, thank you for having me on Roman as well.
I appreciate the opportunity tobe here and super excited to
share what little insights Ihave.

Roman Trebon (00:58):
Oh, little.
Yeah, I always say that, Kyra,you're gonna knock it outta the
ballpark.
I'm excited to have you on.
We've been looking forward toit.
So let's get into it.
Kyra, what is your number onetip for our audience and for
businesses out there looking toharness empathy?
As a superpower in marketing,

Cairo Marsh (01:13):
the number one tip that I would suggest is it's
related to empathy.
It's around what does youraudience need, right?
Empathetic actions are reallyrelated to figuring out or
caring about the other person orthe other body, not yourself.
And so the way that.
We look at that and the way thatwe advise like our clients to

(01:35):
look at that is through the lensof value.
What value can you offer at thispoint of interaction, this point
of engagement, this point ofexperience?
So the the one, the one key tipthat I would, that I would offer
clients or anybody is reallyfocused on in any engagement, in
any touch point, in anymarketing communication, any
service, communication.

(01:55):
What's the value you're puttingout there for that other person?
That would be the one thing Iwould say.

Roman Trebon (02:00):
Yeah, value is King Cairo.
Do you have, uh, an example ofany companies that are actually
doing this pretty well in, in,in highlighting the value and,
and having like this empatheticmarketing?

Cairo Marsh (02:10):
Well, I, I think a lot of companies do it
differently, right?
Because I think the value thatyou.
Our offering really depends onthe context of what the
consumer's looking for or on howyou engage.
So some value may be in, in, in,um, and, and I don't mean this
in a, in a superficial way, I'mtrying to find a, a non, a
nonpolitical word to deri todescribe it, but in, in, in the,

(02:32):
the, the, like let's say ifyou're a Patagonia, when you
talk about the things that youstand for and how you offer.
The ability to recycle, uh, uh,clothing and garments.
You're offering a sense of valuebeyond the purchase.
You're offering a sense of valueand the purpose, and I think
that's one way to do it.
Other types of value mayliterally be like, you know, in
a more transactional sense thatsays, Hey, you know what, if you

(02:54):
check out our newest offer, wehave a sweepstakes opportunity.
I mean, that sounds reallytransactional and there's
nothing wrong with that, but atleast it goes like, okay, well I
wasn't looking to engage withyou, but now it's worth it for
me to check out what you mighthave to offer because you're
putting something out there.
I think the contextually, likeif you're thinking about it from
a performance marketing or abrand marketing, this ranges of

(03:15):
values that you can actuallyoffer, but the key part.
In the context of your brand,your business is, what is it
that's gonna be meaningful to myaudience that I can stand by and
just putting it out there?
I think sometimes, like, Ialways joke actually, I'm not
joking, but I think that we, weoftentimes, we oftentimes engage
in a, in a sociopathic kind ofway, like where it's all about

(03:36):
me.
It's all about like, here's whatI need to get out of this deal.
So hey, come check me out.
Come do this for me.
Buy this from us.
Which I think ultimately is, tome, it does feel kind of
sociopathic, even though I knowthat's an extreme word.
Yeah.
Um, value and as we, as youstarted this out, empathy is
about, no, no, I'm starting withyou and making sure that this is
worth your time.

(03:56):
And I just think that's socritical.

Kevin Metzger (03:58):
Do you have any, I'm gonna ask for a second to
Yeah.
Tips or suggestions for how tokind of get in that mindset as a
company so that you're reallylooking at this from the
customer's perspective.
Well, I,

Cairo Marsh (04:11):
that's a great question.
I, I wish I knew had a, a greatanswer for that.
Like, honestly, my start inmarketing when I was, uh, you
know, I started working at thissmall company in, in New Jersey
and I was.
The admin assistant, you know,so I did all the filing for, for
the, the founder and CEOI wasgoing through his expenses,
whatever, whatever, whatever heneeded me to do is what I did.

(04:32):
And honestly, great guy,brilliant guy.
Still has the, the same company.
He's grown it considerablyobviously since then.
Um, but I.
When I wanted to make the moveinto marketing, empathy is one.
The one thing he told me what'sso critical, he's like, look,
all you need to be is a goodmarket, is be able to put
yourself in someone else'sshoes.
If you can do that, you can addall the tools, bells and

(04:53):
whistles, creativity, data,whatever according to it.
But the ability to put yourselfin someone else's shoes is so
critical.
So I've always taken that toheart for my very first job.
Yeah.
I, I don't know if I know theright tip to put yourself in
that mind, but I, I, I think ifnothing else, it does require
interest, right?
It requires you to study youraudience.

(05:14):
It does require you to imaginetheir life, and you have to have
an interest in that person inorder to do that.
It, it's, it's almost like.
You know, I always make thiscomparison as well.
It's almost like anyrelationship, if you have an
interest in a person that youwanna build a relationship with,
you gotta go like, well, whatare they like?
Like, what, what do they wannatalk about?

(05:35):
Yeah.
It's, it's no different, to behonest.
It's simply no different.
It's just different, differentscale in different commercial
terms, but it's really nodifferent.

Roman Trebon (05:44):
It's, it's not all about me.
It's not all about my company.
It's about what others.
So it's not just a marketingtip.
We're also giving dating tips onhere, so hopefully both hope of
this conversation.
Kyra, this was awesome.
I'm glad you joined us for our,our, our one big tip.
You're coming back on Wednesday.
Where we have our one bigquestion segment, we're gonna
dive deeper into really how, uh,companies and brands can

(06:06):
integrate empathy and value intotheir marketing strategies
across regions, et cetera.
So we'll dive into this topiceven deeper, but appreciate you
joining the show today.
For our audience, make sure yousubscribe like the show, you'll
get notifications, so as soon asCairo's Wednesday episode comes
out, your phone will let youknow you can listen to it.

(06:26):
Uh, we appreciate you listening.
Keep sharing, keep connectingwith us.
And Kevin, as always, keep onplaying.