| How many parties have you been to where the topic | | | | specific situations in the past. You can bet that they will |
| of conversation turns to customer service and, usually, | | | | be good indicators of how they will handle similar |
| some horror story about a bad customer service | | | | situations in the future. Once you have the basic |
| experience? If you are like me, it happens all of the | | | | interview questions structured, you are ready to move |
| time. Imagine, if you will, if you were responsible for a | | | | onto Company Fit. |
| customer service organization and the topic of | | | | Generally, Company Fit is a bit more challenging that |
| conversation turned to a bad experience with your | | | | Skill Fit and good interview questions can often get us |
| customer service department. Now what do you do? | | | | the information that we need. In order to focus on |
| My guess is you start to examine your customer | | | | company fit, you first need to know what types of |
| service department. | | | | behaviors are expected at your organization. Are you |
| Generally, the best place to begin your examination is | | | | a team oriented culture or one that rewards individual |
| at the beginning. How are you recruiting and | | | | contributors? Are things flexible or do you hold to |
| interviewing your customer service representatives? Is | | | | specific policy? Shorts and a T-Shirt or suit and tie? |
| there a structured interview process? Is it willy-nilly? Do | | | | Closed or open door policy with an executive? All of |
| your hiring managers really know how to interview? | | | | these components make up company fit. Your |
| I'm going to share a three step approach to | | | | interviewer will want to ask questions like: |
| interviewing customer service representatives that will | | | | - "Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a |
| lead you to better results. All employees' success is | | | | policy. What was your disagreement and how did you |
| based on three critical success factors: The first is Skill | | | | handle it?" |
| Fit. Skill fit is the most natural piece of information for | | | | - "Tell me about a manager that you worked for that |
| us to evaluate from a resume. It includes education, | | | | was particularly effective. What behaviors did he/she |
| training and experience. The second is Company Fit. | | | | display?" |
| Company Fit includes values, attitudes and | | | | - "Tell me about a very busy day that you have had in |
| appearance. The third, and often most overlooked, is | | | | the past. How did you go about accomplishing |
| Job Match. Job Match includes personality, interests, | | | | everything?" |
| and abilities. By bringing together all three, you can raise | | | | The final component is Job Match. Using Job Match |
| the bar of your customer service team. | | | | technology, you can assess successful incumbents in |
| Now, how to do it. | | | | customer service roles and find out what their learning |
| First, you've got to make sure that your hiring | | | | styles, behavioral traits, and occupational interests are. |
| managers know how to interview. Good solid | | | | Each of these three components have been studied |
| interviewing skills are critical. Using the tried and true | | | | and found to be key indicators of job success-more |
| behavioral interviewing approach will always provide | | | | so than experience and education alone. They indicate |
| better results than an "off the cuff" methodology or an | | | | the following: |
| interviewing style that relies on anecdotal responses to | | | | Thinking Style: Shows how the person processes and |
| hypothetical questions. The crux of behavioral | | | | learns new information. It answers the question "Can |
| interviewing is this philosophy: Past Performance | | | | the candidate cope with the mental demands of the |
| Predicts Future Behavior When interviewing, generally, | | | | job?" |
| you can create behaviorally based interviewing | | | | Behavioral Traits: What are the key behaviors the job |
| questions by formulating your questions as follows: | | | | demands? It answers the question "Will the candidate |
| - Tell me about a time when... | | | | be comfortable in the job environment?" It also |
| - Give me an example of... | | | | answers the question "Will the candidate be motivated |
| - Walk me thorough an experience where you... Some | | | | by this kind of work?" |
| customer service interview questions might include: | | | | Occupational Interests: What is this person interested in |
| - "Tell me about a time where you had to go around | | | | doing? Are they an artist who is applying for a data |
| company policy to get something done for a | | | | driven job? |
| customer?" | | | | By understanding those key components, you can |
| - "Can you give me an example of a time when a | | | | then create a job match pattern for people who you |
| customer was being unreasonable? Tell me exactly | | | | know to be successful in the job. Once that pattern is |
| what the situation was and how you handled it." And, | | | | created, you can then assess incoming potential talent |
| as a follow-up you can ask, "What did you learn from | | | | and see where they fit in the pattern and where they |
| that situation?" | | | | lie outside of the pattern. Some job match tools even |
| - "Oftentimes we are asked to be a part of a project | | | | provide behavior-based interviewing questions that |
| team. Can you tell me about a time in your last job | | | | target areas where candidates lie outside of the job |
| when you were a part of a project team? What was | | | | match pattern making the interviewing process even |
| the team asked to do and what role did you play?" | | | | easier. |
| Of course these are just examples. You'll want to | | | | By utilizing behavior based interviewing to target Skill Fit |
| create your own specific questions that you'll ask | | | | and Company Fit and then adding in Job Match |
| every single candidate. In general, you'll need to push | | | | technology, you can go a long way in improving |
| for a story but that is exactly what you want the | | | | customer service. It is not easy to find great people |
| interview to be...a series of stories where the | | | | but it is possible. Putting a solid, repeatable |
| candidate tells you about the way they handled | | | | methodology in place is the key. |