Are Your Customer Relationships “Emotionally Intelligent”?

For months, best-selling author Dan Pink has posted examples of “emotionally intelligent” signage on his blog. These examples appeal to human emotions and use humor, sarcasm, or parody to get his intended point across. One of my personal favorites can be found here. Pink uses these examples to illustrate his point of view that right-brained emotion drives decision making and motivation.

Are you missing a chance to make your customer relationships more emotionally intelligent?

I think there’s an opportunity that many organizations miss – especially businesses that sell complex products or services to other businesses – in the way they interact and communicate with their customers, including the way they collect customer feedback. There is a tendency to collect customer feedback in two ways: 1) doing operational or tactical performance surveys, and 2) having account management teams gather ad-hoc feedback while putting out fires or working on the next proposal. While both of these methods can be beneficial, there’s a chance to make an emotional connection as well.

My point of view – and one that our customers share – is that taking the time to conduct an in-depth interview process to gather customer feedback is critical. Not only can you probe deeper into key issues, but it gives your organization a chance to reinforce person-to-person bonds consistently across all accounts. If you’re selling consultative solutions to your customers’ problems, taking a “high-touch” rather than high-tech approach to listening to their feedback will help the relationship thrive over time.

In an era of shaken confidence and trust, isn’t now the perfect time to put emotional intelligence into the way you gather customer feedback?

Nick Wassenberg
E.G. Insight