Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
0
What do you consider to be good customer service skills?
My colleague and I are about to start interviewing some people for a customer service opening we have at our small company, although we seem to have differing views on what we consider to be good customer service skills. What qualities do you look for in your customer service employees? What skills do you consider to be the most important?
Events
- Dos and Don'ts of Small Business Marketing May 29 @ 11 am PT
- Lead Nurturing 202: The Next Generation May 31 @ 11 am PT
- The Tricks to Paid Media June 6 @ 11 am PT
- Display Advertising for Brand Awareness June 20 @ 11 am PT
Related Activity
4 Answers
The questions we ask are about a passion for helping people first of all. The candidate has to like people and really want to help them. they need to get a "buzz" out of having someone say "thank you - you've solved my problem". They need to be experts at listening, asking the right questions at the right time, thinking creatively about how to solve issues. They need to be able to "own" the problem taking personal responsibility for ensuring it's sorted (not necessary doing it themselves though). They also need the skill to convey warmth and passion on the phone - know about body language and smiling becasue that can be "heard".
Hope this helps - it's what we look for in our IT Helpdesk Analysts who have to provide an excellent customer service.
A good customer will show the customer they are important first of all. Be able to communicate well with a variety of clients, being able to listen effectively while sounding warm. A great customer service representative also takes personal responsibility in achieving first call resolution. Will they go the extra step, because to tell you the truth you don't want the caller to have call back. I've worked in call centers where about 1/10th of our calls was caller calling back because they weren't taken care of initially. This will seriously affect your bottom line.
In addition to what is already listed above, I've asked my interviewees how they handled a difficult situation, what the situation was; in addition to describing a customer service experience they provided; and how they would deal with a "problem" customer on the phone. These gave me a lot of insight on how they would react to my clients.
And no so much in the questions I asked, but I was listening for how they reacted to my questions, how they responded, their demeanor/tone on the phone, and whether they asked follow-up questions or not. This gave me a gauge on their enthusiasm, the way the handle themselves/their poise, etc.
Few things you can observe while taking interview -
Well Groomed /Responsive/Approachable/Lively/Immediate attention/On the Ball/Knows her stuff/Shows interest/Good Listener/Confident/Show Respect/Patient / Attitude
Answer This Question