Hiring new Customer Service representatives: Here are some interview questions you need to ask
When you’re putting together your customer service team, you need to make sure you are hiring people who not only know how to take care of your customers, you also have to make sure you are hiring people who fit well with your company and its ideals. Here are some interview questions you need to ask when hiring for customer service.
How’s your tolerance for stress?
Even with great customers and fun coworkers, busy days in customer service can become stressful very easily. Customer service agents are the frontline face of any business, so they need to be able to handle the slings and arrows of unexpected problems, irate customers, or heavy call volume without losing their cool. Ask them to describe a stressful event in their past and explain to you how they handled it.
Do you feel comfortable making decisions?
Employees who feel empowered to make decisions based on their customers’ best needs will do well in the customer service industry. If you give your employees enough control (and you should), you need to be sure they can be counted on to make good decisions, especially under stressful situations. Ask about any times that they’ve had to make difficult or stressful decisions in their past work life.
How do you handle difficult people?
This question really has two purposes. First, you need to know how they’ll handle a difficult customer in a stressful situation. Second, you need to know how they’ll handle working with co-workers that they may not agree with. Ideally, all your customer service representatives will be friendly and get along well, but realistically, that’s not always going to be the case. Look for answers that include how they’ll use problem solving skills to find solutions to the disagreements. Ask about previous times when they’ve had to deal with difficult people.
Why do you want to work in customer service?
Knowing what motivates your customer service staff will help you help them to do the best job possible. What do they like best about this type of work? What do they like least? If you know the Û÷why’ behind their desire to work for your company, you can be sure that they’re taking a customer service job for the right reasons.