3 Steps to identify new recruits who have natural customer service skills
By Cate Schreck - Service Excellence Coach
Many Employers tell me how hard it is to find staff who have a great attitude to customer service AND the soft skills (people skills) to provide that level of service to every customer, every day. They go through a process of what I call "Hopeful Recruitment". They hope the resume, the cover letter and the interview will be enough information for them to identify service focused staff.
The "Hopeful Recruitment" process can leave employers frustrated because after a few weeks or months, their new recruit, who on paper looked great and face to face "promised" they had a service excellence attitude, is no longer focused on providing consistently excellent service or they don't have the soft skills required to adjust their service provision to suit every customer.
Stop "Hopeful Recruitment". Incorporate these 3 steps into your recruitment process:
- Make it very clear in your Job Ad that you are seeking candidates with an excellent customer service attitude. Ask for evidence via Key Selection Criteria or in their Cover Letter. You are looking for examples of what they have done in the past - not what they will do in the future.
- When you have decided who to interview, consider asking them to complete a Behavioural Assessment. This will give you an insight into how the candidates may communicate with your customer, how they will handle customer complaints and how they will fit into your existing customer service team.
- Ask behavioural questions at the interview. Here's an example:
Employers from around the world use Behavioural Assessments and Interview Questions to identify candidates with the right customer service attitudes for their business and their customers.
With these 3 steps included in your recruitment process, you will gain a deeper insight into the candidates thoughts and feelings about customer service and this can save you the time and the money that Hopeful Recruitment could be costing you.
If you want to help recruiting Customer Service Professionals, contact Lightbulb Training Solutions for your free Customer Service Analysis.