Top Customer Service Interview Questions and Answers
Ece Yildirim
If you’re applying for a customer service job or a position where you need to actively communicate with consumers, the customer service interview question and answer examples on this blog are sure to make this process easier.
Throughout the content, you will find questions for practice. With practicing, you can complete the interview without a problem and feel more confident in your answers.
Let’s start!
What is Customer Service?
- Customer service is the communication between the buyer of a product/service and the selling company regarding customer queries.
- It is the customer support representative’s responsibility to solve customer queries in the fastest way to improve customer satisfaction.
- The perception of customer service today means more than a telephone support representative. Email, social media, text messages, and even self-service helplines are available to support customers 24/7
- It plays an important role in ensuring the customer’s loyalty to the brand.
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Elements of Good Customer Service
Product Awareness: Having broad information about the products and services of a company is very important to give comprehensive answers to the recruitment questions.
Attitude: It is one of the most important factors to influence people positively. Approaching people in a good manner will affect every aspect of your job performance. Keeping your tone stable, warm and sincere will go a long way.
Problem Solving: Customers always expect support and want to reach you for any problem they experience. Descriptive and supportive answers always impress customers. Explaining each step of the problem you solve will increase your reliability.
Efficiency: Customers want fast and accurate answers to their questions. If you want your efficiency level to impress the customer and change their opinion about your company for the better, you need to fasten your response time and pay attention to your productivity.
Examples of Customer Service Interview Questions and Answers
- What does good customer service mean to you?
What the recruiter wants to know: They want to discover how knowledgeable you are about this position and how effectively you will perform. It is one of the crucial questions that shows your point of view.
Example Answer: A good customer service experience is giving a quick, energetic, and pleasant service to a customer. Furthermore, it is to guarantee that the consumer departs with a favorable impression of the company as a consequence of the service obtained.
- Why would you want to work in this department?
What the recruiter wants to know: Do you like interacting with people? Are you satisfied with solving customers’ problems? Do you believe and support the products the company wants to market? They want to know the answers to all of these.
Example Answer: I don’t hesitate to interact with a customer, it would be my great pleasure to help them. When I researched your previous works and saw that you were innovative, I thought that I would be very suitable for your job. Also, communication has always been easy for me. One of my strengths is that I can easily solve problems with people.
- Do you think you might be a good fit for our company?
What the recruiter wants to know: This question is asked to understand if you will be in harmony with the unique culture of the company. Also, ‘Why should we hire you?’ is a different version of the question.
Example Answer: I am impressed by the interaction with your customers and the value you give to your employees. I felt that I should be on this team. In addition, I’ll be glad to be here since I realize that many of my qualifications are more than adequate for the job criteria you’re seeking, and I feel I can contribute to your company.
- What do you think are the most important characteristics or features that should be in those who should apply for this job?
What the recruiter wants to know: It is important to mention the values that the company seeks, but it is always better to answer this question honestly.
Example Answer: It is very important to act as quickly as possible in times of crisis by establishing sincere yet professional communication with customers. My most essential combination of personal attributes is my ability to communicate with others and solve problems successfully. As a result of these factors, I believe I am qualified for this position.
- Can you tell us what you did when you had to deal with a difficult customer?
What the recruiter wants to know: They want to analyze people’s personalities and learn how they try to communicate with your customers.
Example Answer: I attentively listen to the customer, ask questions about the problem, and seek for the quickest and most appropriate solution. I would respond that I understand the consumer and that if I were in their situation, I would be frustrated and outraged as well. I repeat the problem they explain once more to ensure that I understand it correctly. I apologize to the client and do my best to resolve the issue. And, no matter what, I attempt to stay calm.
- What do you do when you don’t know how to help the customer?
What the recruiter wants to know: They want to learn about candidates’ emotional intelligence, problem-solving abilities, and their responses in times of crisis and pressure.
Prioritizing those who talk about themselves by giving examples from previous work experience can help you more easily choose among the candidates you want to hire for customer service.
Example Answer: Even though this is my job, there were times when I had difficulties. In these times, I try to help the customer by making the most detailed explanations I can. If we still encounter a result that does not satisfy the customer, I immediately ask my teammate for help. This way, the customer can be problem-free in a short time as well as leave our customer service line satisfied.
- How would you react if the customer said you spent too much time solving the problem?
What the recruiter wants to know: They want to know how you deal with negative feedback and what you do to fix it.
Example Answer: Usually, when helping the customer, I inform them about how long it will take on average after learning about the problem. If they say it’s taking longer than necessary, since it’s taking longer than we anticipated, I’d admit my mistake and try to do it as fast as I could. Afterward, I would send an apology email for the mishaps in the experience.
- Have you ever received negative feedback in your previous job? If you did, what was your reaction?
What the recruiter wants to know: They want to know how you deal with negative feedback and what you do to fix it.
Example Answer: While satisfying everyone is one of the most essential aspects of my profession, we occasionally struggle to give people what they want. Accepting this and doing my profession has always been beneficial to me. When the consumers I contact with a calm tone and empathy are dissatisfied with their experiences, I would want to call them again and listen to their difficulties again, as well as think about and discuss ideas with them. Then I send an email apologizing for the late solution.
Remember, ‘’ Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.’’
Bill Gates
- If you face a situation where you need to convince a client or a teammate about a matter, how do you plan to do it?
What the recruiter wants to know: Such questions are questions to measure the communication skills of the candidates.
It is also important to learn the variability and adaptability of their thoughts to different situations. Shows how to get out of a situation better by using their interpretation and creativity.
Example Answer: I would try to approach the matter with empathy. As I have to convince the person I’m talking to, I’d try to seize what they would be thinking about the situation and to turn it around, of course, I have to talk it through my way. After I talk my sense to the person I’m talking with, I’m pretty sure that my bond with my teammate or the customer would progress more sincere and easily.
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Tips for Giving the Best Answer
- Make your answers sound like you know how to deal with customers and understand the company’s wants and needs. If you really do, then you can make them think you’re the right person for the customer service job position.
- You can prepare yourself by reviewing an example of customer service interview questions and answers.
Pay attention to your attitude during the interview. A positive, upbeat display is an important criterion for customer service.
One Last Step to Succeed
The hardest thing in interviews is to find the right frequency and act accordingly. Of course, having only one chance to decide what you want or even don’t want makes everything even more stressful.
Remember, a good interview does not only consist of questions and answers; it offers flexible questions that can understand the characteristics, spot strengths, and weaknesses of the candidate with clear and honest answers given by them, for realistic results.
This does not mean that it is correct to enter an interview without a specific plan. You can differentiate both answers and questions for the above examples; as you’ve understood the main idea.
We can summarize the importance of customer service with the following quote;
“Excellent customer service is the number one job in any company! It is the personality of the company and the reason customers come back. Without customers, there is no company!”
Connie Edler
That’s why you should pay attention while preparing for the customer service interview.
