Using Emotional Intelligence in Customer Service

The importance and impact of emotions on customer service have long been understood. After interacting with your support staff, a customer's feelings might have a big effect on their choice to buy.

According to research, 81% of consumers are more inclined to make a repeat purchase following a satisfying customer care encounter. You will have a competitive advantage in the market if your brand can provide clients with genuine, human encounters.

This article explores the idea of emotional intelligence in customer service, lists the four key competencies connected to it, and offers advice on how to use emotional intelligence to improve customer engagement and spur company success.

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

The term "Emotional intelligence" (EI) refers to a set of skills that help us understand, control, and manage our own and other’s emotions.

A critical factor in determining how others view and react to one's activities is one's capacity for emotional energy regulation.

An organization may improve customer service and boost customer satisfaction by incorporating emotional intelligence into its customer experience plan.

Several factors contribute to and are benefited from emotional intelligence in customer service, including greater customer loyalty, positive comments, content support staff, and higher sales.

To build emotional intelligence as a customer service representative, the focus is needed on four key areas. Regardless of the personal feelings of the representatives, mastering these areas will enable the team to establish emotional relationships with every client.

1. Build Emotional Awareness:

The ability to manage one's emotions and avoid being overwhelmed by them can both be achieved via the development of emotional awareness. Understanding one's own emotions may help to better realize how they influence behavior and cognition, which can help people understand the emotions of those around them.

Developing self-awareness among customer service staff may make sure that they are more conscious of their behavior and persistently working to become better people.

This can assist avoid scenarios in which a dissatisfied consumer who voiced their dissatisfaction by phone or email encounters a similarly unfavorable reaction. Nobody would win in such an event, least of all the brand, and tensions would only rise.

2. Improve Your Self-Management Abilities:

Self-management and self-awareness go hand in hand. Yet, managing stress that results from spending all day in upsetting and repetitious circumstances is different from regulating one's emotions. So, it's crucial to learn to manage the strain of emotional labor.

2.1. Stress Resistance:

You may help yourself avoid the mistakes that individuals frequently make while under stress by learning how to respond to stressful situations. Take a little break and come back to work when you're ready to avoid productivity loss when you feel like control is slipping away.

A difficult job is providing customer support. Customers who are upset and irritated and are seeking an immediate resolution to their issues are dealt with by representatives often.

Under these circumstances, representatives must retain their composure, attention, and professional manner despite difficult conversations.

Customer service representatives can benefit from developing stress resistance skills to help them stay focused and productive despite the emotional demands of their work.

These help them to remain composed under duress, make wise choices, and successfully address client demands.

Taking pauses, focusing on deep breathing, and preserving excellent physical and mental health via exercise, a healthy diet, and enough rest are some methods for reducing stress in customer service.

2.2. Communication & Time Management:

Your productivity can be increased through timely, minimally distorted, and effective communication with others. You could make a list of the things that need to get done, and at the end of each day, assess how well you did.

Customer service representatives must engage with consumers effectively to comprehend their issues and offer answers as soon as possible.

As a result, customer service agents must be adept at active listening, asking pertinent questions, and giving succinct answers. Being able to show empathy and understanding to clients is another aspect of effective communication that may contribute to the development of rapport and trust.

Due to the enormous amount of client questions that representatives frequently handle, time management is also a crucial ability in the customer service industry.

To be able to react to inquiries quickly and satisfy customer expectations, customer support professionals need to be able to manage their time well.

2.3. Physical Activity:

For effective work performance and to prevent mental breakdowns, one must be active and obtain enough sleep. Maintain a healthy body and mind, and establish clear limits for yourself. There should be a time in the day when you are not reading your work email all the time and are worried about what may happen tomorrow.

The importance of physical exercise may be felt when delivering solid customer service. Jobs in customer service may be psychologically and emotionally taxing and can involve spending a lot of time at a desk or on the phone.

Physical discomfort, weariness, and poor productivity may result from these situations. Physical activity can help counteract these detrimental consequences and enhance performance in general.

Exercise regularly may boost energy, lessen stress, and elevate mood. Exercise can also boost the brain's blood flow and oxygen levels, which can enhance concentration and cognitive ability. Customer service representatives may assist prevent burnout and maintain mental and physical acuity by taking pauses throughout the day to stretch or perform a mild exercise.

3. Be Your Own Best Cheerleader:

To achieve goals, self-motivation is essential, yet it can be difficult. To start, it's crucial to clearly describe what one wants to accomplish and match their values to their goals.

A high objective like getting a promotion may be too vague and fail to inspire strong devotion. It is recommended to set up interim milestones that are easily reachable and measurable to keep inspired and motivated throughout the process.

Training the mind to adopt a positive viewpoint is another essential element. This does not suggest that one should always have a cheerful outlook. Instead, rewarding oneself after reaching a goal might increase optimism. These incentives don't have to be significant, they might be as straightforward as taking a break after finishing a difficult activity.

4. Empathy Is Your Greatest Asset:

As it considerably improves the whole customer experience, empathy is a crucial component of customer service. Empathy is a crucial component of emotional intelligence and is especially important when dealing with clients.

Yet, it's important to acknowledge and grasp one's sentiments before attempting to understand the customer’s emotions.

Acknowledging a customer's discontent while speaking with them might help diffuse their anger or unhappiness. According to research from Salesforce, 78% of customers are prepared to overlook a company's error provided they receive exceptional service.

Customers get support and encouragement when businesses show that they understand their challenges. It's critical to come out as genuinely interested in making a difference and helping others.

While it may seem unimportant, a lack of empathy can make it difficult for customer care agents to relate to customers' ideas and feelings, which can result in unhappiness and loss of business.

Put It All Together:

The previously described emotional intelligence abilities are related to and focused on providing empathic customer assistance as well as encouraging pleasant experiences for clients, team members, and oneself.

Conflict resolution may be aided by learning to recognize and control one's own emotions. Understanding consumers' emotional states and responding appropriately can result in mutually beneficial problem-solving solutions and raise general customer happiness.

Develop self-awareness and mindfulness throughout time by detecting emotional triggers, making realistic goals, acknowledging and appreciating pleasant feelings, and having a positive influence on others.

In Conclusion:

It takes emotional intelligence to deliver first-rate customer service. It makes it possible for customer service agents to comprehend and sympathize with their clients, control their emotions, communicate clearly, and preserve their well-being.

Customer service personnel may create a great experience for both themselves and their clients by being conscious of their own emotions and employing self-management strategies like stress resistance and exercise.