Emotional Intelligence: learn to deal with your emotions and those of the client
Written by:
Cláudia Valente
Before starting to list the tips themselves, we cannot stop talking about the ability that will allow you to control the situation and achieve your goals – Emotional Intelligence.
What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence applied to the Contact Center context is defined not only by the agent’s ability to understand and manage their emotions, but also by being able to recognize and influence the customer’s emotions, in favor of their objectives. Without the resource of Emotional Intelligence, the agent would be unable to make decisions based on facts, without letting himself be influenced by his emotional state. In this way, it would be very difficult for him to deal with objections. Convey confidence and security for the client and build an argumentative line that is practically incontestable.
Advantages of Emotional Intelligence
Using this concept in customer service is presented as a plus for both the agent and the customer, because it provides more personalized and higher quality service. Some advantages of using Artificial Intelligence in customer service:
- Happier Agents – A happy agent will directly make your service better and more productive.
- Customer loyalty – a customer who has a positive experience with the brand is a loyal customer and one who will hardly consider other alternatives at the time of purchase.
- Word of Mouth – the satisfied customer recommends the brand, shares the experience, inadvertently becoming a brand advocate, both offline and online.
- Increase in sales – a consequence of the previous points is that it directly increases sales.
Tips
For all the factors mentioned above, an agent who intends to develop his Emotional Intelligence must:
- Invest in self-knowledge/self-awareness to know your emotions, your strengths and weaknesses, and emotional triggers.
- Work on self-control, so that you are able to deal with your own feelings, and act consciously and appropriately in each situation.
- Develop self-motivation, setting goals and celebrating achievements.
- Being empathetic, putting yourself in the client’s place and evaluating the situation from their perspective.
- Establish healthy interpersonal relationships, identifying what can directly or indirectly influence the client.
With all this information in mind, it will be easier for the agent to comply with the following good practices:
- Before a client who is unhappy, put yourself in their place, understand their motivations and emotions and never respond with “the same coin”.
- Anticipate, understanding how the client is feeling and adapting your response.
- Ask the customer questions and listen carefully to their response, with the aim of solving the problem and improving the process, and not ending the service quickly.
- Act with humility, finding a balance between assertive communication and modesty. Regardless of holding a prominent position in the company, you must be receptive and able to admit mistakes. With this approach you will break the defensive mode of the client, showing him that you are someone empathetic and that you consider him important. After this, it will be easier to motivate the client to take the desired attitude. According to a Salesforce study, 78% of customers say it’s possible to forgive a brand for a mistake after receiving excellent service.
- Use active and constructive communication to positively guide the emotions of the client, and, therefore, achieve the objective, be it a sale or the resolution of a complaint.
- Show flexibility, offering several options to the client.
- Establish a relationship with the client so that you can know their preferences and suggest the service that best suits them, instead of a series of products and services at random. Curiosity: Disney works its Customer Experience so effectively that it guarantees a return rate of 70% of visitors. One of the strategies consists exactly in creating emotional connections between its collaborators and customers, guaranteeing that the experience with the brand is unforgettable.
- In the same way that self-knowledge is important, recognizing the type of client can be a valuable help:
- the “confused” client who, despite knowing what he wants, finds it difficult to explain himself.
- the “undecided” client who does not know what he wants and who needs the agent’s help to find a solution to his problem.
- the “unreasonable” Customer who makes inconceivable demands to get what he wants.
- the “suspicious” customer who does not allow the agent to be around.
- the Client “owner of the truth” who only believes in his ideas, who needs to be justified and who seems that all the solutions started from one of his ideas.
- the “whiny” Client who will ask and ask until he has everything he can get.
It's all connected
We know that it may seem like a lot of ideas, but all the skills described related to Emotional Intelligence are interconnected. In short, you must learn to control your emotions, to be able to make decisions based on facts, and to be empathetic. In this way, you will be working on many of the aforementioned skills and you will be able to offer, guaranteed, an unforgettable customer experience. Don’t forget to recognize and celebrate positive emotions and influence those around you.
Share
