For more than a decade, organizations have been helping their employees improve their Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills. People at all organizational levels - from executives to administrative staff - experience the same emotions even though the challenges, pressures and demands they face at various organizational levels are quite different. People become internally self-managed and capable of making their greatest contributions when they develop their EI skills. And as they work in that zone of peak performance, so does the organization. The examples below detail how the development of EI skills can benefit various business professionals such as sales people, customer service representatives and technical professionals (i.e., analysts, engineers, information technologists, scientists, etc.).rnrnSales People:rnrnFrequently, Sales People interact with demanding customers and prospects. They often find themselves in adversarial situations over price, features, delivery schedules, etc. These situations can generate anxiety, fear, frustration or even outright anger on the part of both the sales person and the customer. This can lead to a downward spiral of negative emotions where sales people are unmotivated, customers are unsatisfied and sales decline.rnrnEnhancing EI skills allows the sales person to have more control over themselves and thus the situation. The likelihood of the customer \"pushing their buttons\" diminishes. They can stay mentally focused on the key issues and not \"give-away-the-store\". Research has revealed that optimism is a critical sales trait in that the more optimistic a sales person is, the higher their volume and sales dollars. Optimism leads to persistence which leads to more sales. Being able to empathize with the customer allows for faster, more effective problem-solving and better communication. Developing strong, positive relationships with customers, through thick and thin, ensures higher sales and better cooperation when problems do arise.rnrnCustomer Service Representatives:rnrnThroughout their day, Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) continuously deal with frustrated and sometimes angry customers. They find themselves being verbally abused through no fault of their own. The customer\'s anger, frustration and rage can cause representatives to become nervous, mad, disgusted, and angry themselves. If the representative does not have a high level of EI skills, the discussion may escalate and require the intervention of the CS Supervisor. Or worse, it can cause the company to lose that customer. An upset customer will typically tell 10-15 friends about the poor treatment he or she received.rnrnCSRs who have enhanced their EI skills can easily manage their emotional reactiveness to angry customers, maintaining a calm, polite and sincere attitude and conversation with customers in-the-moment. Loyal customers tell their friends. Higher customer loyalty leads to higher profitability.rnrnTechnical Professionals:rnrnTechnical Professionals are constantly under pressure to do more with less faster, better, and cheaper. They work long, hard hours to complete projects. They are challenged to work with many people from different functions, to create and innovate, and do tasks, in many cases, they would like to avoid. These situations can cause technical professionals to be agitated, resentful, anxious, frustrated, and stressed-out much of the day. They may experience what is known as \"emotional hijacking\" which is a physiological response in the brain brought on by negative emotions that literally keeps people from thinking clearly. Communication is hampered, more mistakes and errors are made, and creativity is blocked.rnrnEnhancing the Technical Professional\'s EI skills provides them with what they never were taught in school. They build interpersonal skills that allow them to get other technical colleagues to help them when they need it through learning how to manage their own emotional reactiveness to people and situations. Strong EI skills ensure that projects are completed on schedule, using the best, innovative thinking that is available both inside and outside the organization.rnrnResults:rnrnBusiness professionals have achieved some impressive results as a result of attending EI training programs. Participants have reported a range of 20% to 35% increase in personal productivity, 15% to 35% increased teamwork, a 20% to 40% reduction in stress and worry, and similar improvements in management of emotional reactiveness, personal motivation, creativity, work/life balance and more. These increases can translate into positive return on investment for the organization.rn
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