How To Develop Emotional Intelligence In Customer Service

 

Emotional intelligence is the ability to learn or understand the feelings of others. When translated to service delivery, emotional intelligence becomes the ability to learn or understand the feelings of your customers.

To do this effectively, it becomes imperative that everyone in the organization learns to display a good degree of empathy in discharging service to the customer. To this end, I still find it difficult to understand why some organizations fail to pay as much attention to the ability of a potential employee to display a high sense of emotional intelligence as they do to job specifics. In as much as it is important to get the job done, it is even more important how you get the job done. In my opinion, it is pointless to hire an employee (especially a front office employee) who lacks proper emotional judgment, cares less about how the internal or external customer feels but only cares about getting the job done and receiving a paycheck.

Customers are emotionally attached to companies that show them that they care about how they feel and not just about their money. Companies’ that display a high sense of emotional intelligence in service delivery ultimately get rewarded with repeated patronage.

So here are some basic tips to help you display emotional intelligence in customer service delivery:

·         Acknowledge the Customers Presence by Greeting: When you come in contact with a customer, be sure to greet and welcome them. Welcoming a customer show that you are happy to see him/her and that you appreciate the time they have taken to patronize you.

·         Smile: Develop the culture of smiling. A smile is one of the most powerful tools to engage in customer service delivery. When you smile, you are more likely to get one back in return. A smile is likely to calm you when you are having a bad day and may even rub positively off on a customer who came in frustrated or angry. A smile means many things to many people. It welcomes, shows happiness, demonstrates care, soothes an irate customer and could brighten someone’s day.

·         Maintain Eye Contact: Be sure to maintain eye contact when addressing a customer. Maintaining eye contact makes you come alive, creates a listening ear and makes you observant to the customers’ mood or feelings. Eye contact also shows you are attentive to detail. Not making eye contact could be interpreted in some quarters to mean a nonchalant attitude or disrespect.

·         Address the Customer by Name: Addressing a customer by name is a good way to gain his/her attention. When you address a customer by name, you are personalizing the service. Customers feel honored and appreciated when they are addressed by personal titles.

·         Listen: Actively listening to a customer is crucial to displaying emotional intelligence. There is a time to talk and a time to listen. A gentle affirmative nod of the head is a good way to demonstrate that you are listening. It is important to demonstrate in body language that you are listening in as much as you really are.

·         Be Polite: Avoid offensive words. Be professional in your choice of words, diction and tone of voice.

·         Engage the Customer in Conversation: If you have the time and there aren’t others waiting in line, try engaging the customer in conversation. You can ask them about their business and how they are doing, feeling or how they perceive the quality of service you are rendering to them. Be careful not to be so personal. Engaging the customer in conversation can help you uncover some useful facts that may help you improve your service to them.

·         Avoid Offensive Acts that Depict nonchalance: Nonchalance is distasteful to every customer. Learn to avoid actions that may demonstrate or suggest to the customer that you do not care.

·         Empathize and Manage the Angry Customer: Put yourself in the customers’ shoe. Show professionalism in all situations even when managing an angry customer. Let them know you understand how they feel about your service and be ready to make amends where necessary.

·         Be Sure to Wish the Customer a Nice Day: After a customer has finished doing business with you, be sure to wish them a nice day. This gets them leaving your presence with a positive feeling and they sure will feel good about coming back.

By Valentine Okolo
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