{"id":23884,"date":"2018-04-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/?p=23884"},"modified":"2024-07-24T14:56:38","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T20:56:38","slug":"soft-skills-are-real-skills-in-cx-you-need-these-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/blog\/soft-skills-are-real-skills-in-cx-you-need-these-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Soft Skills are Real Skills &#8211; In CX, You Need These 10"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSoft skills\u201d have traditionally been undervalued, and that\u2019s slow to change. But more companies are realizing their worth. And even if the skills themselves are difficult to quantify (how much more likeable is Job Applicant A than Job Applicant B?), their effects aren\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The soft skills CX professionals possess directly affect metrics like:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Net promoter scores<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customer satisfaction scores<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customer effort scores<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Qualitative survey feedback on customer support interactions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Qualitative data gleaned from online customer reviews<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Number of referrals and recommendations<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Human-to-human interactions can make or break those scores, generate referrals or cancellations, and either fuel word-of-mouth growth or silence it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But before you break out your old copy of Dale Carnegie\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to Win Friends and Influence People<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (a classic for a reason), I\u2019d like to talk about why I\u2019m reading more articles now on \u201csoft skills\u201d as they apply to customer service, customer success, and customer experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because we need them more now than ever.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSo let\u2019s uncomfortably call them real skills instead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Real because they work, because they\u2019re at the heart of what we need to today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Real because even if you\u2019ve got the vocational skills, you\u2019re no help to us without these human skills, the things that we can\u2019t write down, or program a computer to do.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Seth Godin, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/itsyourturnblog.com\/lets-stop-calling-them-soft-skills-9cc27ec09ecb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s stop calling them \u2018soft skills\u2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Medium<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Exactly Are Soft Skills?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Often referred to as \u201cpeople skills,\u201d \u2018soft skills\u2019 don\u2019t have a hard definition. In fact, they\u2019re remarkably hard to pin down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you try to define these skills with a list of what they entail, you\u2019ll run into trouble. Everyone has their own set.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some argue that part of the definition of \u2018soft skills\u2019 is that they are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.desk.com\/blog\/why-soft-skills-matter-customer-success\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">something you\u2019re born with<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. But others, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/itsyourturnblog.com\/lets-stop-calling-them-soft-skills-9cc27ec09ecb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seth Godin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, say that\u2019s \u201ccrazy because infants aren\u2019t good at any of the soft skills. Of course, we learn them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(When was the last time you met a baby with a good work ethic?)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seth Godin calls for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/itsyourturnblog.com\/lets-stop-calling-them-soft-skills-9cc27ec09ecb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">five categories of \u2018soft\u2019 skills<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Self Control, Productivity, Wisdom, Perception, and Influence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Others cite the ability to listen, accept feedback, and communicate effectively. Or qualities like charisma, empathy, friendliness, patience, and reliability. Problem-solving skills get thrown into the mix with teamwork and attentiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I like this exhaustive <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebalance.com\/list-of-soft-skills-2063770\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">list from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the balance<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which offers 6 categories of soft skills with sub-lists of specific skills under each. Their categories are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communication skills<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Critical thinking<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leadership<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Positive attitude<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teamwork<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Work ethic<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But even those don\u2019t make it into \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/40520691\/these-are-the-five-soft-skills-recruiters-want-most\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Five Soft Skills Recruiters Want Most<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d that made it into the eponymous <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fast Company<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> article. Those were: Problem solving, adaptability, time management, organization and oral communication.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2013, Google tested its hiring hypothesis that prioritized top grades from elite universities in STEM subjects. They found that, in practice, the eight most important qualities of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestreet.com\/story\/12328981\/1\/googles-project-oxygen-pumps-fresh-air-into-management.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google\u2019s top <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">managers were:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Ability to be a good coach.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Willingness to empower, rather than micromanage.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Taking an interest in people\u2019s success and well-being.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Ability to be productive and results-oriented.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Communication and listening skills.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Willingness to help employees develop their careers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Holding a clear vision and developing a strategy for the team.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Possessing key technical skills that allow the manager to advise the team.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Technical skills came in dead last. The rest were \u2018soft skills.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For our purposes, I\u2019d like to simplify the definition of these skills and stop calling them \u201csoft\u201d &#8211; period. Let\u2019s call them \u201cpeople skills.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People skills are what you need to relate to people, be understood, and be liked. Likeability is one word that encompasses myriad characteristics, including charisma, reliability, empathy, and willingness to take a stab at solving problems. Above all, we\u2019re talking about genuinely caring about people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you get that one thing right &#8211; you\u2019ve already got the core soft skills you need.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Relationships Can Make Or Break a Business<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Businesses are rising and falling based on the quality of their relationships with their customers &#8211; and employees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For subscription-based services in general, and SaaS in particular, success metrics like retention, customer lifetime value and cost-to-acquire are all correlated with how well businesses relate to, and engage with, their customers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are people skills.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And as artificial intelligence is taking over so many of the human-to-human interactions businesses have traditionally had with their customers, the human interactions that do happen are coming under more scrutiny.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/go.forrester.com\/blogs\/top-customer-service-trends-for-2018\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Top Customer Service Trends for 2018<\/span><\/i> <\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by Kate Leggett, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester, Kate points out the repercussions of increasing AI and self-service in customer service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;With customers increasingly using self-service, there are fewer opportunities for engagement with agents who can lend a human touch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That means three things: Those fewer opportunities are under more pressure to produce positive results, human-to-human interactions will be reserved for bigger problems that AI can\u2019t handle, and those complex issues will require both accurate diagnoses and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">empathy<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThese organizations will focus on the quality of interactions as measured by customer retention and lifetime value. Agents will need to be more highly skilled and better compensated. Old management principles that focused on efficiency must be relaxed. Ultimately, technologies such as quality monitoring should be replaced by customer feedback.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As companies race to differentiate themselves based on customer experience, these interactions become vitally important.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cForget about your company\u2019s historical point of differentiation. Customer Experience reigns supreme today and you will either be rewarded or punished for how you are treating your customers.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Bill Carmody, founder &amp; CEO of Trepoint, \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/bill-carmody\/customer-experience-is-your-only-differentiator-you-re-about-to-be-rewarded-or-p.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customer Experience is Your ONLY Differentiator. You\u2019re About To Be Rewarded or Punished<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d, Inc.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With hundreds of \u201csoft skills\u201d listed, it might seem like a lifetime\u2019s worth of study for anyone who isn\u2019t confident in their natural gifts of gab. Yes, you can learn people skills. You can certainly improve them. And to really make an impact on CX, you and your customer support or customer success team may have to. So let\u2019s concentrate on the skills that make the most impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 10 People Skills You Need Most for CX<\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>A genuine willingness to help <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Not only does a genuine willingness to help make customer support agents shine and customer success managers effective, this instinct to solve problems and make positive impacts bleeds into other areas as well. For example, a customer success agent who becomes aware of a problem through customer feedback can patch the issue &#8211; or the agent can investigate the problem and actively work with other teams to bridge that success gap for everyone, strengthening the product or service and the company as a whole.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Empathy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Customer support professionals are often trained to \u201cshow empathy\u201d by repeating phrases that come off as insincere at best: \u201cI understand that this can be frustrating.\u201d Empathy phrases can be incredible tools (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.callcentrehelper.com\/empathy-statements-customer-service-94643.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this is a very good list<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), but only when used with discretion (so it doesn\u2019t sound like you\u2019re reading off of a card). But empathy is about more than the words you use. It\u2019s the desire to really understand where someone else is coming from and what they need to thrive. That\u2019s Customer Success 101, right there: Taking the time to learn about your customer\u2019s business and challenges so you can <a href=\"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/blog\/9-empathy-exercises-that-help-product-teams-improve-cx\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">understand your product from their perspective.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Communication<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Communication skills, the ability to listen carefully, explain clearly and treat kindly are must-haves in the People Skills toolkit, but there\u2019s another type of communication customer service and success teams should have: Cross-communication. You\u2019re at the nexus between your customers and your business which puts you in a unique position to gather data customer sentiment, use, and engagement that everyone else in your business needs. Make sure they get that info.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Emotional Intelligence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Connected to empathy in that you\u2019re aware of other people\u2019s emotions, Emotional Intelligence also means you\u2019re aware of your own. It\u2019s self and social awareness of mood, emotional strengths and weaknesses, and potential underlying motivations behind behavior. In practice, this means knowing when to praise team members and how to constructively criticize. With customers, often it\u2019s about understanding how your actions and responses can positively affect their moods to create memorable experiences.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Integrity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Managing expectations by honestly telling customers what they can and can\u2019t expect builds a tremendous amount of trust and sets customers up to have positive experiences when businesses don\u2019t overpromise. Being able to set expectations also builds trust with internal teams.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Problem-Solving<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; The best problem-solvers are the ones who jump in as soon as they see a rough patch arise and have enough confidence to figure it out if a solution doesn\u2019t immediately present itself. Really, it\u2019s all in the attitude. You don\u2019t have to know the answer to everything to help. You just have to be willing to figure out the answer that\u2019s needed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Stress Management<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Dealing with people, even lovely coworkers and customers &#8211; is inherently stressful to most humans. The ability to manage that stress and not take it out on those around you is one of the best \u2018People Skills\u2019 you can cultivate. One bad day can lose a lot of clients when you think in terms of not just the client you\u2019re speaking to, but all of the future clients they can bring in with recommendations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Listening Skills <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; This is one everyone in the company, from the Founder on down, needs to have, because listening to your customers effectively, focusing on their needs and desires (instead of your needs), is how great products and companies are built. More than that, though, is the willingness to listen internally as well &#8211; to people from different departments who often have valuable insights to add.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Leadership<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Once you uncover a good idea or customer feedback that requires action, it\u2019s a real skill to be able to inspire others to follow your lead (especially if those others are above you). This becomes easier when you work from the mentality that your role is to make those you lead wildly successful. Everyone wants to follow a leader who gives them what they need to do their best work and get the best results.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Team Building<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Team building across departments brings leadership to a whole new level. Reaching out and forming relationships with people in other departments is something anyone can initiate. And when you approach your co-workers with an open willingness to help and collaborate, you won\u2019t get turned down.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What \u201csoft skills\u201d &#8211; or People Skills &#8211; do you see the most need for in CX?<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog-cta-lines-sans\">\n<p>Be the customer experience champion at your company. Sign up today for free Net Promoter Score, CSAT or Customer Effort Score feedback with <a href=\"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/digital-experience-software\">Pearl-Plaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cSoft skills\u201d have traditionally been undervalued, and that\u2019s slow to change. But more companies are realizing their worth. And even if the skills themselves are difficult to quantify (how much more likeable is Job Applicant A than Job Applicant B?), their effects aren\u2019t. The soft skills CX professionals possess directly affect metrics like: Net promoter <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/blog\/soft-skills-are-real-skills-in-cx-you-need-these-10\/\">Read more&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":23885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[575],"industry":[34,580],"class_list":["post-23884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-customer-experience","tag-wootric","industry-b2b","industry-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23884"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=23884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}