Customer Service (General)
When you attend a Behavioural Competency Interview, you are expected to share specific examples. The reasons recruiters ask for specific examples are to gather information about how you have demonstrated different behaviours in the past. The thinking is that past behaviours are a good reflection of future behaviour.
Here are some examples of various customer service roles to demonstrate the different positive and negative indicators used to assess your specific examples.
Positive Indicators for Customer Service (General)
Communication Skills
- Positive: Clear, concise, and professional communication; ability to actively listen to customers; using a polite and friendly tone.
- Negative: Interrupting customers, using jargon or technical language the customer doesn’t understand, sounding rushed or disengaged.
Problem-Solving Ability
- Positive: Quickly identifies the customer’s needs; offers practical and effective solutions; remains calm and solution-focused even in stressful situations.
- Negative: Inability to find solutions, passing the issue to someone else without taking responsibility, displaying frustration or impatience.
Patience and Empathy
- Positive: Shows understanding and patience when customers are upset; uses positive language to diffuse tension; makes customers feel heard and valued.
- Negative: Being dismissive, impatient, or indifferent when customers express dissatisfaction.
Product/Service Knowledge
- Positive: Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of the product/service; can provide detailed explanations and recommendations.
- Negative: Lack of product knowledge; giving incorrect information; deflecting questions rather than answering them.
Professionalism
- Positive: Maintains a positive and friendly attitude, even in difficult situations; adheres to company policies and procedures; remains respectful and courteous.
- Negative: Being rude or unprofessional; disregarding company policies; showing a lack of respect to customers.
Time Management and Efficiency
- Positive: Handles multiple customer inquiries efficiently without compromising service quality; manages time well and meets customer expectations promptly.
- Negative: Taking too long to resolve issues; failing to follow up or provide timely feedback.
Positive Indicators for Customer Service in Different Roles
Customer Service in a Small Local Corner Store
In this setting, customer service can be highly personalised and requires a close connection with the community. The positive indicators would reflect the ability to engage with regular customers and create a friendly, personalised shopping experience.
Relationship Building:
Positive: Taking time to remember regular customers’ preferences and making personal recommendations based on previous visits.
Negative: Not remembering customers’ names or preferences, failing to recognise repeat customers.
Problem-Solving with Limited Resources:
Positive: Finding solutions to problems within the store’s small-scale capacity, such as offering creative alternatives when an item is out of stock.
Negative: Refusing to help customers find solutions, making excuses for not being able to help due to limited resources.
Community Focus:
Positive: Understanding the local area’s needs, such as providing personalised greetings, staying up-to-date on local events, and showing involvement in community activities.
Negative: Not engaging with the community or being disengaged from customer needs.
Attentiveness and Warmth:
Positive: Always greeting customers with a smile, offering assistance immediately, and showing enthusiasm about the store’s products or services.
Negative: Being dismissive or indifferent, ignoring customers when they enter or needing constant prompting to assist.
Customer Service in a Busy Call Centre
In a busy call centre, customer service is typically measured by efficiency, the ability to handle high call volumes, and the consistency of service quality across various customer scenarios.
Handling High-Pressure Situations:
Positive: Remains calm and focused when dealing with multiple calls or upset customers; uses active listening and defuses tension.
Negative: Appears flustered or overwhelmed; interrupts customers or handles calls hastily due to pressure.
Adherence to Scripts and Procedures:
Positive: Follows the company’s procedures and policies effectively, even while adapting responses to meet the customer’s unique needs.
Negative: Skipping steps in the process or failing to follow the script, leading to incomplete solutions or mishandling of issues.
Efficiency and Meeting Targets:
Positive: Able to resolve customer inquiries or complaints within set timeframes without sacrificing quality; meets or exceeds performance targets.
Negative: Taking excessive time to address issues; failing to meet productivity goals; leaving customers on hold for long periods.
Tone and Empathy:
Positive: Maintains a friendly and empathetic tone even during long or complex calls; ensures customers feel heard and valued.
Negative: Having a flat or robotic tone; coming off as disengaged or unhelpful when dealing with frustrated customers.
Ability to Upsell or Cross-Sell (when appropriate):
Positive: Uses a consultative approach to upsell or cross-sell in a way that feels natural and beneficial to the customer.
Negative: Aggressively pushing products or services, making customers feel pressured or uncomfortable.
Summary: Key Differences in Customer Service Based on Role
In a small local corner store, customer service often relies on developing a personal connection with each customer, offering a tailored shopping experience, and engaging with the community. Positive indicators in this context include relationship-building, empathy, and personalised service.
In contrast, call centre customer service focuses more on efficiency, problem-solving under pressure, and maintaining professionalism despite high call volumes. Here, the indicators for success are rooted in handling customer inquiries quickly while ensuring consistent, high-quality interactions.
Recent Comments