Emotional Intelligence in Customer Service

Connecting with Customers

emotional intelligence customer service woman

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and understand your own emotions and the emotions of others and to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships effectively. It is a key skill for customer service professionals, as it allows them to effectively communicate and connect with customers, resolve conflicts, and build strong, positive relationships.

While customer service has always been difficult, it has become increasingly more difficult since the pandemic. People are less patient and more irritable and demanding. Their emotional needs may not be expressed, but they must be addressed. Your staff needs to develop their emotional intelligence skills to manage these customers.

Contact Laurie now at (248) 761-7510 for Emotional Intelligence and Customer Service Training.

This program is ideal for employees and managers.

Why Should You Invest in Our Training Class?

Increase employee value. By investing in your employees' development, you can help them improve their emotional intelligence and customer service skills. This can lead to increased productivity, retention, and satisfaction among customers.
Benefit the company. Improving emotional intelligence can lead to better communication, conflict resolution, and teamwork, all of which are essential for providing high-quality customer service. By investing in our training class, you can help your company provide an exceptional customer experience.
Stand out in the industry. With our training class, your employees will have the skills and knowledge to excel in their careers. This can help your company stand out in the industry and attract top talent.

Great customer service is based on great communication; communication that builds authentic relationships and trust. This takes emotional intelligence so your employees can be empathetic, especially when handling conflict. And so that they can manage their state when dealing with difficult people.

There are Four Elements of Emotional Intelligence:

Self-Awareness. Know yourself, know the types of customer behaviors, choice of words they might speak and/or other interactions that can trigger a negative reaction from you. Self-awareness is the ability to predict your own emotional responses before the customer exchange happens. Those customer service reps that have strong emotional self-awareness are able to relate instantly and almost unconsciously in a positive way.
Self-Management. Customer service requires adaptability, optimism, and impulse control. These key competencies result from not only knowing yourself but also managing yourself. When a customer service rep self-manages, they can put their immediate needs aside to focus on delivering exceptional service.
Social Awareness. Customer service agents with heightened social awareness can recognize various emotions in other people. They are attentive and seek to understand what is happening in a customer situation and they relate with empathy before they drive at problem-solving.
Relationship Management. Emotionally intelligent customer service agents bring out the best in others. They deliver on the relationship and successfully influence all customer interactions, both in the moment and over time. They do this with enhanced relationship-driven skill sets and high satisfaction scores. They turn difficult conversations into inspirational connections.

What Will Your Employees Learn in Our Training Class?

Discover Emotional Intelligence and why it matters to customer interactions
Examine the EQ model and related service-driven competencies
Apply EQ competencies and strategies to solve difficult service interactions
Integrate emotional intelligence into daily customer-facing exchanges

Learn more about why EI is important for customer service.

Workshop Outline:

Why EQ Matters: A Different Kind of "Smarts"
We will explore how the brain works and share proven methods for staying clear-headed when faced with customer challenges.
Introducing the EQ Model: Recognition and Regulation
This segment introduces the four core EQ competencies that emotionally aware people possess: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.
Self-Awareness: Know Yourself
It all starts with you! Participants will discuss emotions that have a negative impact on customer service interactions and how to read them early, recognize where they are taking the interaction and how to responsd appropriately. Participants will discuss how different emotions can lead to alternative behavior choices and dissimilar end results. Key competency in this section: emotional self-awareness.
Self-Management: Keep Your Impulses in Check
Unchecked emotions and personal triggers can rein havoc on difficult customer interactions. Learning to reframe reactions and use EQ tools to manage emotional impulses is fundamental. Key competencies in this section: emotional self-control, positive outlook, and adaptability.
Social Awareness: Scan the Situation
Emotionally Intelligent customer service reps have a superpower that allows them to read the unstated, ask the right questions, and, lastly respond with empathy. Key competency in this section: empathy.
Relationship Management: Putting It Together
With the focus on customer centric interactions participants will develop strategies to enhance their customer service proficiencies. Key competencies in this section: influence, conflict management and inspirational service.
Next Steps: EQ is for Every Day
This course concludes with a discovery activity in which participants identify one major EQ skill to work on.

By the conclusion of this customized two-hour virtual training event, participants should have a solid understanding of what emotional intelligence is, why it is such an important customer service skill, and how to use EQ strategies and tools to create exceptional customer service.

We will customize this program or coaching session to address your wants and needs.

Contact Laurie now at (248) 761-7510 for
Emotional Intelligence and Customer Service Training.

"The instructors were an amazing team. They were so knowledgeable and supportive and engaging, and relatable. This is a topic that everyone should take because we all come in contact with people in some capacity. It sheds a light of self-regulation amongst other many important elements of our emotional intelligence."