7 Reasons Why Emotional Intelligence Is Important In Customer Support

As a business owner, your priority will be attracting and retaining as many customers as you can. Many factors, including product knowledge, marketing strategy, USP, and technical infrastructure, determine your business’ potential.

You may also offer 24/7 call center services to ensure a smooth and positive customer experience. These are not enough, though. One of the underrated yet incredibly valuable aspects of getting your customers to plan repeat visits to your store is Emotional Intelligence.

It’s a simple concept, yet many business owners struggle to master it. Emotional intelligence is not just for supervisors, business associates, and managers. In fact, it is a skill that every agent in your firm and the employees who work in a remote or hybrid setting must know.

In this article, we’ve explained emotional intelligence, its role in customer support, and how to use it to achieve great results. Let’s get started.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) can be defined as the ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions and those of others.

When a customer contacts you – whether to get an answer to a simple query or place an order – they expect exceptional service. It’s possible that you may fulfill their order on time and deliver good quality, but your customers will still leave your website unsatisfied. That’s because your services lacked the emotional aspect.

A report by Adobe shows that 84% of customers mentioned that they would pay more than what’s required to get a premium customer experience. 64% said that they would recommend a business to their friends and colleagues if they were satisfied with the UX.

The stats clearly show the importance of customer experience. It applies to businesses of all types and sizes.

Putting emotional intelligence at the center of your customer service strategy can improve the quality of your service and your brand’s image.

That’s how businesses manage to earn loyal customers. EI can transform a simple experience into something extraordinary. Simply put, it helps businesses deliver a valuable and meaningful customer experience.

Here’s how emotional intelligence can be a game-changer for a customer support service provider:

If done right, emotional intelligence can convince your customers to stick to your brand. They will never consider switching to another service provider if you offer value, empathy, and a brilliant support service.

Let’s get straight to the reasons why EI is reshaping the business world and how incorporating this tool can improve your success.

Communication isn’t just about a casual interaction with a customer. It goes beyond reading solutions from your knowledge base & replying and hoping they will be satisfied. Excellent customer service involves seamless communication that leaves a lasting impression on the person. The trick is picking the non-verbal hints.

Emotional Intelligence also improves listening skills. When an agent listens to the customer, they understand their concern and provide a practical solution that meets their technical and emotional needs.

This reduces the need for the customer to reach out to your support department with the same queries multiple times. It also makes conversations meaningful and productive.

Another perk of incorporating emotional intelligence into your customer support service is the ability to deliver your message in different ways. The skill teaches you how to adapt to various communication tones, depending on who you interact with.

A friendly tone, for instance, works wonders for a customer who comes with a general query, and an empathetic tone is for customers who are dissatisfied with your service. A professional tone can be used when you share your business ideas or offerings with investors, business associates, and potential clients.

From an emotional perspective, the most challenging task for the customer support service provider is dealing with angry customers. You have two choices.

You can talk to them in a confrontational tone to defend yourself or stay calm and be empathetic.

Putting yourself in your customer’s shoes is an excellent way to know what causes frustration and how to respond.

Emotional intelligence is understanding your customers’ emotions through body language, tone, and mood. The words they use during communication and their tone can tell a lot about how happy they are with your service. For instance, your team should know how to manage a frustrated customer calmly.

Let’s say your IT department gets a call from a frustrated customer with a technical emergency. Their website crashed during peak business hours and needed a quick fix, so they contacted you with a complaint. You may be trained to handle such situations and offer a quick resolution, but how do you handle them emotionally?

Responding to them in the same tone they use would be the biggest mistake. Chances are you’ll lose a potential long-term customer. You should rather start with something gentle and personalized, like “We are sorry to hear that. I can see you are facing a technical error that might be causing stress, but don’t worry. My team will look into the issue and resolve it at the earliest”.

Making emotional intelligence a part of your employee training program can deliver great results when it comes to customer satisfaction.

Each customer has unique preferences and expectations when they choose you. Their interaction with your support department depends on what they are looking for.

If they have a basic query about your offerings or pricing, they will use a friendly, normal tone. If, on the other hand, they experience an issue with your service, you will notice urgency and annoyance in their communication.

A skilled agent can adapt their communication to the customer’s requirements.

As mentioned earlier, you can resolve a customer’s issue and still leave a negative impression with your choice of words, body language, tone, and overall response. Or, you may not be able to resolve the issues they are facing but still manage to improve their perception of your company. This shows how powerful emotional intelligence is.

According to Forbes, communication is an effective tool in achieving customer satisfaction. If you do it well, your customers will not think of you as someone who’s desperately trying to sell.

They should feel like they are heard, valued, and respected. Emotional intelligence helps you understand their pain points and offer a relevant solution, which increases their satisfaction with your service and the chances they’ll return for future requirements.

Emotional intelligence doesn’t just help you deliver excellent support service, but it’s equally beneficial for your internal and external teams.

Employees who are trained to implement EI into their work are more likely to work together as a team. They have the skills required to understand each other’s emotions, listen to the group, and cooperate with their colleagues. This creates a positive work culture in your firm and boosts productivity across different departments.

An IT company or help desk support provider that operates on a large scale with hundreds of employees can use emotional intelligence to improve team collaboration.

When one agent is occupied with too many tasks, another agent could step in and offer help. Such a work environment is a must for companies that offer customer support.

Not every agent is qualified to address all sorts of technical and non-technical issues effortlessly. Besides, agents may not be available on certain days or specific hours. If your team collaborates well, another agent will fill in for them.

One of the biggest perks of emotional intelligence in a work environment is the reduced risk of conflicts between agents and customers.

When an agent knows how to listen to the customer, communicate calmly, and recognize their emotions, they will handle the situation professionally instead of getting defensive.

Suppose your company delivered a product that was delayed. Your agent gets a call from a frustrated customer who demands a full refund.

How will your agent react to this? Ideally, the response should be gentle and suggest a resolution. If you refuse their request straight to their face, the customer will never trust your company and will not recommend your business.

To prevent the conflict from escalating, your agent can say, “We’re extremely sorry for the delay. That usually never happens, but the parcel might take a little longer to reach because of the holiday season. We can offer you a discount for your next purchase or other alternatives.”

This shows how emotional intelligence can improve your professionalism and reduce the number of conflicts in your business.

The job of a customer support service provider is quite hectic. They juggle multiple responsibilities — from handling customer requests to managing high-pressure situations and achieving the given targets.

The last thing they expect is an emotionally overwhelming conversation with a loud-mouthed customer.

Emotional intelligence isn’t only about offering premium service to your customers and patiently listening and understanding their requirements. While these are essential, the ability to process one’s own emotions is another key aspect of EI.

Repetitive arguments with customers or internal team members can cause unnecessary stress, which can negatively affect your employees’ productivity and performance.

If your team is trained to use emotional intelligence, they can manage their emotions effortlessly. Emotionally intelligent agents know what tools to use to de-stress their minds. They know the triggers.

For instance, if they tend to feel overwhelmed at the end of the shift, they will ask a colleague to handle all customer calls during these hours, or they may take a short break and a few deep breaths to feel refreshed before getting back to work.

Selling to your existing clients is easier than selling to a new prospect. In fact, there’s a 60-70 percent chance an existing customer will repeat a purchase from your store. So, what can you do to boost customer loyalty?

Discounts, coupons, and rewards are not the only factors that can drive customer loyalty. Whether your customer returns for repeat purchases and recommends your services to others depends on their experience.

How well your agents interacted with them, how well your customers were guided throughout their journey on your website, and how quickly their issues were resolved are all critical factors in building customer loyalty over time.

Picture this: a customer hired your website design services. They experienced a technical error on the website that made it unavailable for the audience.

They call your agent to get their website up and running. When looking into the website, your agent discovers a significant bug that can take up to a day to fix.

How do you convince this customer to wait without raising a conflict?

That’s where emotional intelligence comes into the picture. Your agent can calmly explain the matter and offer the best resolution options. You can also offer free website auditing or SEO services as compensation. This will lead to a satisfied and loyal customer.

If you are wondering how to leverage emotional intelligence, we’ve shared some tips for using EI in customer support service. Let’s take a look:

You may have specific scripts for agents that they can use for interactions with customers.

There are different scripts for customers who’ve reached out to you with a query about your offerings and for those who raise a concern about your services. The problem with the scripted content is that they are for a generic population.

They do not address personalized concerns. If you want to turn your prospect into your customer, it’s important to listen to their individual concerns and respond to them authentically.

Your response shouldn’t sound robotic or generic. So, don’t use scripts for each conversation. See what your customers want from you and give a personalized solution that works for them.

Responding calmly doesn’t mean you need to listen to the cruel words or absorb the negativity. If things get out of control or you feel like the conversation is emotionally draining, escalate the issue to a supervisor or ask another agent to assist you in the matter.

Your customers expect you to address their concerns after the first call. Nobody has time to call repeatedly and clarify the same thing.

The best you can do is ask them about their concern, write it down, or repeat it in your own words to ensure that you know all the details and are ready to work on the issue.

Not every conversation with a customer will result in a closed deal or a satisfied customer.

At times, you may interact with the customer by following all the steps mentioned above, but you still end up with 1-2 stars on your feedback profile.

Each conversation teaches you something. Instead of blaming others, learn from your experience and focus on improving.

When a customer leaves negative feedback on your service, accept it patiently and positively. Do not argue with them.

Remember, your ultimate goal is to ensure the customer leaves your doors satisfied. You can offer improvements or compensation if your service doesn’t match their expectations.

Teams that resolve customer queries and interact with them positively, no matter how frustrated the customer sounds, are likely to be more productive in their professional lives. Emotional intelligence can benefit both parties. It delivers an exceptional customer experience, which gets you a loyal customer who sticks with your business. That’s a win-win.