by Scott Lewis
Part One
IQ vs. EQ. I had never given this much thought in my personal life, let alone in business. Until one day, I was having a discussion with a customer, who has turned into a mentor, and we got to talking about how EQ influences so many purchasing decisions and how people identify themselves with service providers. The more I thought about it from several perspectives, the more I understood what he was trying to tell me. Both of us being in the service business, we have to pay attention as much, if not more, to EQ as we do with IQ. We are in the technology business, geek heaven, so our clients expect us to have a high level of technical expertise, programming expertise, networking and server expertise, which is IQ based. They hire us based on the expectation that we can support all aspects of their business from a technical perspective, a high IQ perspective with a logical workflow. However, at Winning Technologies we also try very hard in our hiring processes to place equal or more value on personality, one component of EQ. This is because we have always felt that we can teach people the technical aspects of what we do, the IQ, but we can’t change their personalities which were given to them when they were born, the EQ.
Winning Technologies understands we are in the people business, personal relationships. The way our clients feel is important because how people feel drives future interactions either in a positive or negative manner. We are a service based company that has to not only fix the technical issues of our clients, we have to also connect with them on the same emotional level in order to help them correct their emotional frustration and to educate them on how to use the technology more effectively. By making the EQ connection we can help them feel excited and positive about the interaction they just had with our support team, which encourages and lays the foundation for future interactions.
Before we go too much further let’s talk a little about what is IQ vs. EQ? We have all heard the term IQ, which is the intelligence quotient. It is basically how smart you are based on a series of standardized tests. Technical people tend to have higher IQs and they tend to be very logical thinkers, which means in their world things happen in a particular logical order, and with certain actions you should expect a predictable reaction. EQ on the other hand is emotional intelligence, which is a person’s ability to detect in others their reaction to external stimulus. Along with controlling your ability to assess your emotional state, control your emotional state and the emotional condition of others. Historically, technical people do not do well with the EQ part, because emotional reactions are at times not predictable, or something that can be controlled from one interaction to another in a logical process. We have all dealt with the technical person sitting in a dark room, who just wants you to email your issues to them and they will take care of it--that’s low EQ.
Research has shown that emotion is one of the biggest decision making influencers that we as people go through. The way that we feel about an interaction sets the foundation for all of our future interactions with that particular organization or individuals that represent that organization. The amazing thing is that research has shown that even in light of the logical facts, the emotional reaction, even if it seems irrational, continues to drive our thought processes and influence our future purchases and relationships. Knowing this now about how EQ plays a role in our purchasing decisions, we can use this as a baseline thought to drive this discussion, understanding as a technology business our ability to resolve technical issues in itself is not going to drive our customer’s satisfaction rating. If reaching the highest possible customer satisfaction is our goal, then we have to also become highly in tune to the emotional state of our clients, being EQ aware.
In our business, we continuously preach about the philosophy of “they can hear you smile” when on the phone. It is our job to make all of our customers feel happy, safe and confident that when they call Winning Technologies. Our clients should feel confident that we are going to not only solve their issues but that we want them to feel good about the interaction they just had. Our goal is to put our clients in a position that they don’t ever have that dreadful feeling that now they have to pick up the phone and call the helpdesk. These should always be positive interactions.
There are many factors that go into the EQ side of who we are, however in a service business we are dealing with a person-to-person relationship so it is important to understand the many EQ factors that can influence that relationship positively and negatively. Being in the people business as a service-based company we have to consider all the interactions that we have with our clients and prospects, regardless of how that interaction happens such as social media, marketing material and of course electronic mail. All these interactions should be considered personal interactions and how that interaction relates to people on the EQ level. As a service company, we must always consider how our message is caught, so the pitch has to be carefully composed especially if it is going to be in writing. Most people are not good writers based on how messages are received by the reader. As the writer you have to be aware that the reader can’t detect tone or voice inflection, and they certainly can’t read your mind so don’t make the mistake that the reader is going to interpret your intent. All these factors go into setting the EQ level of the reader.
The IQ and EQ patterns are formed starting with the first interaction with a person or organization. Once we have started to form those feelings as emotional beings we will continue to find situations in our interactions that will support the way we feel. Positive interactions will continue to build on positive emotions. Negative interactions will continue to build that feeling of negativity. We as humans also have this underlying logical process that allows us to filter these emotions and to function within certain boundaries or comfort zones. Even if we have had negative experiences we will continue with that situation with the hope that it will get better. The fact of the matter is that in reality it does take a single second to set a perception. It will take tremendous effort in order to change that perception based on the human emotional reaction of continued interaction with that person or organization. As a service company, we have to coach on a regular basis the need to be attentive to the EQ in our personal interactions. Many times in the face of overwhelming IQ evidence in the form of facts and figures, it is a difficult process for humans to challenge the EQ feelings already developed.
Scott Lewis is the President and CEO of Winning Technologies Group of Companies. Scott has more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry and is a nationally recognized speaker and author on technology subjects. Scott has worked with large and small business to empower them to use technology to improve work processes, increase productivity, and reduce costs. Scott has designed thousands of systems for large, medium and small companies and Winning Technologies goal is to work with companies on the selection, implementation, management and support of technology resources. Learn more about Winning Technologies at www.winningtech.com or call 877-379-8279
Submitted 8 years 3 days ago