23 questions for a support candidate
Hello, Habr! I present to you the translation of article 23 Interview Questions You Should Ask Every Customer Service Candidate
How to determine what exactly this candidate for customer support will become a productive and involved member of the team?
If you have not invented a time machine, then the interview remains one of the most important tools for selecting the right candidate for support.
The right questions will reveal more useful and necessary information about the candidates than an entry in the work book, because they will force you to improvise, relying on your experience when answering questions. Observing their reaction will tell you how they will cope in life situations, and you can save time and effort in finding the candidate you need.
Distribute the questions between the interviewers and you will have everything you need to hire the best support candidate. If you are not quite sure what to look for when answering the candidate, then we have prepared clarifying comments on each group of questions.
1 . What does quality service mean to you?
2 . What exactly attracts you to your customer service ?
3 . The best example of service from your personal life? Why ?
4 . Tell us about an example of poor-quality service?
5 . Is there a difference between service and customer support?
A good candidate can easily explain why high-quality service is so important for a business and provide good examples of good and bad service. Candidates should be prepared to talk about the specifics of your company and how customer service can contribute to its success.
Avoid candidates who apply for a different position and consider customer service as an easy way to get into the company. As a rule, they do not understand what an important role customer service plays in the development of a company.
6 . Could you give an example when you were really proud of yourself after helping a client?
7 . Have you ever encountered inappropriate client behavior? How did you deal with this then and how would you do it now?
8 . Have you ever broken instructions while helping a client? Tell us about this situation and how did it end?
9 . Have you received negative feedback from a client and how did you deal with him?
10 . Have you met a client with whom it was difficult to find a common language? How did you try to interact with him?
11 . Tell us about the case when you had to say no to an important issue?
12 .What is the best way to help a client who has already talked with several managers from support, but who hasn’t received what he wants?
An excellent candidate will tell you real cases from his experience and answer all clarifying questions about them. Look for people who know how to admit their mistakes and take responsibility for them.
Avoid candidates who give far-fetched examples, preferring them to real ones, or those who give examples a la “the client was wrong” or “the colleague was mistaken”.
13 . Have you ever had a case when a customer reported a technical problem and you did not know what to do with it? How did you eventually help him?
14 . Did you have a situation with the client when there was a violation of the rights of use, and you had to call and report it. How did you get out of the situation, and how did it end?
15 . Give an example of a situation where significant problems were identified with your product / service, while you had to respond to a client’s request without any idea how to fix this?
Avoid those who will convince you that they have never been stumped and those who claim that he and his team have always found a solution right away.
16 . Give an example of how you reacted to an alarm message from a client complaining about a non-working product / service.
17 . When you answer a customer, how do you decide which information to communicate and which not?
18 . Tell us about the situation when you had to convince a client or colleagues that you need to change the approach (adapt the process or change the message). How did you get through this?
Excellent candidates will be able to recognize the needs of customers and adapt to the communication style of each client. Those who always use only one approach and are not flexible enough in communication do not deserve your attention.
19 . What was the last skill you acquired? Why did you choose it and how did you fix it?
20 . Tell us about how you made a truly valuable contribution to teamwork?
21 . Which next book do you recommend me to read and why?
22 . What have you become better over the past year?
23 . What makes a good team player different?
The best interviewers do not build a question-answer dialogue. They break up the conversation into parts in which the candidate’s attitude to work, his strengths and weaknesses will be visible.
Encourage candidates to use storytelling. Say that you are not looking for hypothetical situations such as "I would have done it if this had happened." Ask to tell real cases from the experience of customer service, and how they showed themselves in them. Ask about their personal excellent service experience.
Do not be afraid to dive into the details. Your questions are just the beginning of the conversation. If you hear answers that are interesting or relevant to your industry, ask for more details and more.
Asking similar questions is normal.Usually the most interesting stories are recalled a little later, after some time. Therefore, returning to the same topics, you give candidates a chance to prove themselves and show their best.
Take a short pause. It’s normal practice to let people think before answering. A pause will allow them to collect their thoughts and respond more fully and consciously.
How to determine what exactly this candidate for customer support will become a productive and involved member of the team?
If you have not invented a time machine, then the interview remains one of the most important tools for selecting the right candidate for support.
The right questions will reveal more useful and necessary information about the candidates than an entry in the work book, because they will force you to improvise, relying on your experience when answering questions. Observing their reaction will tell you how they will cope in life situations, and you can save time and effort in finding the candidate you need.
Distribute the questions between the interviewers and you will have everything you need to hire the best support candidate. If you are not quite sure what to look for when answering the candidate, then we have prepared clarifying comments on each group of questions.
23 questions for a support candidate
Customer Service Approach
1 . What does quality service mean to you?
2 . What exactly attracts you to your customer service ?
3 . The best example of service from your personal life? Why ?
4 . Tell us about an example of poor-quality service?
5 . Is there a difference between service and customer support?
At this point, you are looking for people who share your views on the role of customer service within the company. You know what quality service is, but is your potential candidate sharing your vision?
A good candidate can easily explain why high-quality service is so important for a business and provide good examples of good and bad service. Candidates should be prepared to talk about the specifics of your company and how customer service can contribute to its success.
Avoid candidates who apply for a different position and consider customer service as an easy way to get into the company. As a rule, they do not understand what an important role customer service plays in the development of a company.
Emotional Intelligence, Empathy, and Behavior
6 . Could you give an example when you were really proud of yourself after helping a client?
7 . Have you ever encountered inappropriate client behavior? How did you deal with this then and how would you do it now?
8 . Have you ever broken instructions while helping a client? Tell us about this situation and how did it end?
9 . Have you received negative feedback from a client and how did you deal with him?
10 . Have you met a client with whom it was difficult to find a common language? How did you try to interact with him?
11 . Tell us about the case when you had to say no to an important issue?
12 .What is the best way to help a client who has already talked with several managers from support, but who hasn’t received what he wants?
At this stage, you need to listen to cases and stories from the candidate’s past experience. Even if he worked at the starting position, he should have real life examples.
An excellent candidate will tell you real cases from his experience and answer all clarifying questions about them. Look for people who know how to admit their mistakes and take responsibility for them.
Avoid candidates who give far-fetched examples, preferring them to real ones, or those who give examples a la “the client was wrong” or “the colleague was mistaken”.
Problem Solving
13 . Have you ever had a case when a customer reported a technical problem and you did not know what to do with it? How did you eventually help him?
14 . Did you have a situation with the client when there was a violation of the rights of use, and you had to call and report it. How did you get out of the situation, and how did it end?
15 . Give an example of a situation where significant problems were identified with your product / service, while you had to respond to a client’s request without any idea how to fix this?
Problem-solving orientation is an invaluable skill that can always be improved. The best candidates will tell cases when they did not have a ready-made solution to the problem and how they got out of the situation. Ask what they learned from this and how they used their experience in the future.
Avoid those who will convince you that they have never been stumped and those who claim that he and his team have always found a solution right away.
Sociability
16 . Give an example of how you reacted to an alarm message from a client complaining about a non-working product / service.
17 . When you answer a customer, how do you decide which information to communicate and which not?
18 . Tell us about the situation when you had to convince a client or colleagues that you need to change the approach (adapt the process or change the message). How did you get through this?
There is no better skill for a support specialist than the ability to simply communicate with a client and tell him everything that is needed. This part of the interview is a chance for the best candidates to show how they talk or write messages to clients.
Excellent candidates will be able to recognize the needs of customers and adapt to the communication style of each client. Those who always use only one approach and are not flexible enough in communication do not deserve your attention.
Attitude to work
19 . What was the last skill you acquired? Why did you choose it and how did you fix it?
20 . Tell us about how you made a truly valuable contribution to teamwork?
21 . Which next book do you recommend me to read and why?
22 . What have you become better over the past year?
23 . What makes a good team player different?
The final part will help you understand what the candidate is in the job. Does he want to constantly improve? Will it benefit customers and the whole team? People who are free to speak about their interests and who can keep up the conversation tend to be successful in customer service.
Make the interview more than just answering questions
The best interviewers do not build a question-answer dialogue. They break up the conversation into parts in which the candidate’s attitude to work, his strengths and weaknesses will be visible.
Encourage candidates to use storytelling. Say that you are not looking for hypothetical situations such as "I would have done it if this had happened." Ask to tell real cases from the experience of customer service, and how they showed themselves in them. Ask about their personal excellent service experience.
Do not be afraid to dive into the details. Your questions are just the beginning of the conversation. If you hear answers that are interesting or relevant to your industry, ask for more details and more.
Asking similar questions is normal.Usually the most interesting stories are recalled a little later, after some time. Therefore, returning to the same topics, you give candidates a chance to prove themselves and show their best.
Take a short pause. It’s normal practice to let people think before answering. A pause will allow them to collect their thoughts and respond more fully and consciously.