Introduction
Congratulations on landing a customer service interview! If you applied for retail, a customer service job, or any other post requiring you to contact the user, you should definitely expect customer service interview questions. You need to know a few things to ace your interview. Let us dive right in and look at a few critical points.
What is customer service?
This question isn’t just for knowledge purposes, but you might be asked as a part of customer service interview questions. Of course, you would be expected to know what your job is if you applied for it.
So customer service, in simple terms, means the act of providing help or assistance to people who use the products of your company. You interact with people, and if they have any grievances, you try to solve their problems. Your job might also entail collecting feedbacks and customer experience. But if the interviewer throws this question at you during an interview, he is not looking for the dictionary meaning of the term. What he wants to know is your personal interpretation of it. Often, when asked such questions as defining the job profile, the interviewer is trying to get an idea about your philosophy and see if it matches with the company’s philosophy.
What skills is your interviewer looking for?
Every job requires a different skill set. Therefore, when you appear for an interview, the interviewer will try to look for specific skills to ensure that you can indeed handle the job. So what are the skills that your interviewer is looking for when you apply for a customer service interview? The interviewer will try to gauge these skills by posing different types of customer service interview questions.
1. Communication skills
It is a no-brainer. If you are applying for a job that would require you to talk to hundreds of people on an everyday basis, you need to have excellent communication skills. In addition, you should be able to convey the instructions correctly when trying to solve an issue.
2. Problem solving skills
People call customer service only when they face an issue with the product or service. So, you have to know everything about the products and services so that you can solve their problems. This requires you to have excellent problem-solving skills so that you don’t struggle every time a person calls you with a new problem.
3. Remaining patient in stressful conditions
On some days, you might have to be deal with people who aren’t ready to understand what you are saying. Or maybe they are having a little difficulty and need extra help. You have to be patient with every customer. If you are rude, then your company loses a customer. No one wants an employee who lets their valuable customers slip away. So, your interviewer will definitely want to know if you can be calm and patient.
A few example questions with answer pointers
1. What does good customer service mean to you?
- Listening to the client
- Figuring out the easiest way to solve their problems
- Being humble and polite
- Making sure that the problem has been solved
2. Tell us about an instance when you helped an unhappy customer and made them happy.
- Use the STAR method. Start with narrating a specific incident. Then tell them what your task was. After that, mention the steps you took and the results you got.
- Display conflict resolution skills.
- Show an ability to solve problems while also following the company guidelines.
- Being polite, apologizing for the inconvenience, and letting the customer vent.
3. Tell us about a situation where you had to work with a customer who had already spoken to a lot of executives, but the problem hadn’t been solved?
- Use the STAR method again, as it works best for behavioral questions.
- Tell them about a situation, the task you had at hand, the actions you took, and the result you received.
- If you have never faced the situation, be honest and tell them what you would have done instead.
- Apologize for their unsatisfactory experience
- Listening to them
- Talking to your seniors and figuring out how the problem can be best resolved
- Getting back to the customer with the solution as soon as possible
4. How do you know how much information to reveal to a customer?
- The question aims at looking at your communication skills
- Mention the appropriate details
- Don’t mention anything unnecessary
- Strictly abide by the company guidelines
- Modifying communication styles with the customer’s needs
5. What was your most significant moment of failure in your past job?
- The interviewer wants to see how self-aware you are
- Honestly mention a mistake or a failure
- Make sure it isn’t a huge mistake
- Talk about the steps you took to rectify your mistake
- Tell them why the same mistake won’t happen again
- Talk of it like a learning experience
6. What will you do if you find yourself in a situation where you don’t know how to help a customer?
- The interviewer wants to know whether you can remain calm in such situations
- Mention that you would be honest and tell the customer you would get back to them.
- Display your ability to be absolutely okay with not knowing
- Tell them that you would learn about the problem so that you can solve it the next time someone calls with the same problem.
Six final things to remember when appearing for a customer service interview
Let us look at a few things apart from answering customer service interview questions that you would need for a customer service interview.
- Dress appropriately
- Be polite
- Don’t talk too much
- Keep your answers short and to the point
- Display as much communication skills as you can
- Be honest
Conclusion
The most important thing before you go for an interview is to prepare for it. Practice general interview questions as well as customer service interview questions before going for an interview. Please do not skip the practice step as it is the only way you can do well in an interview. All the best for your customer service interview!
