Whitepaper | Customer Experience

3 Emotional Intelligence Skills to Improve Customer Experience 

Jada Sudbeck
L 3 coworkers smiling around laptop
L 3 coworkers smiling around laptop

The best marketing creates memorable customer experiences.

It’s a bold statement.

But according to experts, early adopters and innovators in the marketing and customer experience (CX) space, it’s true. Three years ago, Forbes predicted that customer experience would be the future of marketing. Today, we see that this hypothesis is not only a reality, but has completely shaped the way we think about marketing today.

But how we utilize customer experience through marketing is a challenge that many CX and marketing professionals face. How can we create more authentic and genuine customer experiences, and how do we turn those experiences into effective and engaging word-of-mouth marketing? For as much strategy and data is utilized in CX and marketing, the answer may surprise you.

It’s human.

It’s emotional intelligence.

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence (also known as “EQ”) is having the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. It’s the latter part of the definition that companies should employ in marketing that creates memorable customer experiences.

STAT 92 percent

92% of consumers want brands to make their marketing feel like a story.

SOURCE: Shayna Smilovitz - “Emotional Marketing Examples Scientifically Proven To Sway Buyers”
STAT 12X

Customers who like their sales rep are 12 times more likely to purchase.

SOURCE: Ken Dooley - “How Emotional Intelligence Impacts the Way You Sell to Customers”
STAT 17 out of 18

Emotion is the most influential factor affecting customer loyalty in 17 out of 18 industries.

SOURCE: Megan Burns - “You Can’t Afford to Overlook Your Customers’ Emotional Experience”

3 Skills of Emotional Intelligence

According to Psychology Today, emotional intelligence, or “EQ”, includes three skills.

  1. The ability to identify emotions as they happen (emotional awareness)

  2. The ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving

  3. The ability to manage emotions

Find out how Aimee Lucas of Temkin Group, Hyatt Hotels Corp., and Salt River Project use emotional awareness to transform customer experiences in our recent white paper: The 3 Emotional Intelligence Skills to Improve Customer Experience.

To learn more about how to utilize emotional intelligence in your marketing strategy, fill out the form below to access our recent whitepaper. You can also view our video that explains how sending Hallmark cards as a direct marketing tactic creates a differentiating customer experience. Want more? Contact our customer engagement team.

Click here to get our whitepaper titled "3 Emotional Intelligence Skills to Improve Customer Experience."