고객센터에서 상담사의 감성지능이 고객지향성과 상담품질에 미치는 영향

Customer centers have attempted to improve customer satisfaction and customer loyalty by offering superior service quality, which could be feasible when they have well-trained and skillful CSRs (customer service representatives). As CSRs are the foundation of fulfilling service excellence, customer centers are trying to improve CSRs' competences needed for delivering service to customers through education and training programs. Under these circumstances, this study suggests emotional intelligence as one of the core competences required by CSRs. Emotional intelligence refers to a set of abilities related to emotion such as self-emotion appraisal (SEA), others' emotional appraisal (OEA), use of emotion (UOE), and regulation of emotion (ROE). This study measures emotional intelligence of CSRs with four dimensions and verifies its effectiveness in the context of customer centers. The results of the test with 166 responses are as follows: First, only UOE of emotional intelligence is positively related to customer orientation. Secondly, except ROE, UOE, SEA, and OEA in order have been found the effective abilities to increase service quality offered by CSRs. Finally, CSRs with high levels of customer orientation can delivery better service quality. It is noteworthy that UOE is turned out to be the most important ability for CSRs to improve customer orientation and service quality. The results imply that CSRs perceive UOE as a core ability in that it enables them to motivate themselves and to direct into better performance by utilizing their own emotions.