Improving the Workplace
A White Paper Written by
Jovonni Banks I. Introduction
This white paper recommends specific area training for the benefit of revolutionizing the way our agents handle customers. It was developed by Jovonni Banks of Bellevue University.
II. The audience and their concerns This white paper is directed to the agents of our company. The company, as a whole, wants to know why are the number of returned items and inventory costs so high? The individual agent is concerned with customer service. The major concerns are, why am I having so many disgruntled customers, why are they yelling at me, what did I do wrong, and what could I have done better? III. The problem Customers are often upset before they get to make a purchase. More often than not their personal issues not related to our company are the cause of their attitude. If our agents do not handle these customers promptly and properly, the customer will become angry. Regardless of how well the situation ends, the agent is left wondering what the customers’ problem was or what they did wrong. IV. Solution
Utilizing emotional intelligence in our company will give us an advantage in our customer service efforts. I recommend training each of our agents on emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, manage and respond effectively to one’s own emotions and the emotions of others (E I, 2012). This can be broken down further into four categories.
* Using Emotions to Facilitate Thought - the ability to generate an emotion, and then reason with this emotion. * Understanding Emotions - the ability to understand complex emotions and emotional "chains", how emotions transition from one stage to another. * Identifying Emotions - the ability to recognize how you and those around you are feeling. * Managing Emotions - the ability which allows you to manage emotions in yourself and in others
References: APPLYING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Why Successful Leaders Need This Critical Skill (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2012, from http://www.trainingindustry.com/media/3214840/glowan_ei_smartskills.pdf E I (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2012, from http://www.emotionaliq.org/EI.htm