I’ve just been reading an excellent
article by Anneke Steenkamp of Zendesk. Anneke suggests that the perfect
customer service employee has five main qualities: loyalty; good employee
traits; natural problem solving skills; conscientiousness; and persuasiveness.
I have reproduced the article below and acknowledge the ownership of the
copyright in this article is held by Anneke Steenkamp and Zendesk.
Personally, I agree with the article,
although I would add four extra characteristics of my own. These would be:
empathy; versatility; tenacity; and being well-organised.
What do you think are the most important characteristics of the perfect customer service employee? Email the Editor Darren Bugg with your suggestions and we will publish the best responses next month.
Five Qualities of the Perfect Customer
Service Employee
Perfection doesn’t exist - but some
people just happen to possess the skills and characteristics that make them
more suited for the role of customer support agent, while others only have the
job traits of a good employee. So what customer service qualities make these
individuals different? Besides possessing the right customer service skills and
job requirements, what are the traits that make them the ideal candidates to handle
other people’s problems?
Below are some guidelines and common
customer service qualities that help set fantastic employees apart from people
in an organisation who are merely doing the job:
1. They are loyal
Author Alexander Kjerulf says: “Happy
employees make the customers happy”. It might sound rather straightforward, but
happiness and satisfaction within a company will inevitably lead to loyalty.
When interviewing a candidate, pay
attention to what they say about the previous companies they’ve worked for.
Some underlying unhappiness may be suggested as they put their experience into
communication, but a potential employee that speaks highly of their previous
company despite having left is one that is both respectful and loyal. A loyal
customer care representative will put the company’s interest during
interactions with angry customers (a skill that takes lots of patience). They
are likely try their best to protect the company’s image even in the presence
of the most difficult customers.
2. Good employee traits
Although most companies have a limited
customer service budget, finding the ideal employee has taken precedence over
lowering costs in recent years. The perfect customer service employees do more
than seek to meet expectations: They have positive attitudes, patience with
customers, and display politeness to all. These are the basics of satisfying
the needs of both the client and the company. If you neglect these details
while hiring, you might find yourself attempting to convert a hot-headed, negative
individual into a suitable member of your customer support team.
Your HR team, or the person conducting
the interview, should also know how to decipher a CV in order to find the right
match. When reading through your prospective employee’s CV, look for keywords
that suggests good soft skills in their testimonials, such as “works well with
others” and “maintains a positive attitude”.
Positivity is important because
dealing with customer issues day after day can strain an employee’s mental health.
Being able to maintain a positive outlook despite the daily churn can help
negate the negative aspects of customer service. Patience and politeness allows
the customer service rep to project their voice, tone, and brand without
sounding rude or agitated. They will also be able to handle complex customer
problems without losing their cool.
3. They are natural problem-solvers
Companies that excel at customer
service don’t wait for a problem to arise before addressing it. One of the
great customer service skills is the ability to take a pre-emptive approach in
managing possible risks and being prepared with a solution when a problem does
arise.
Similarly, customer service employees
must be able to provide a solution even before the customer poses the question
(within reason, of course). In combination with their problem-solving skills,
the candidate should also be a great listener in order to gather “clues” and
read between the lines during communication.
With reference to the above mentioned
temperament types it is ideal for customer service reps to be either the
Artisan or Guardian type since they are known for being stable and
conscientious, as well as pleasant to talk to and great at problem-solving.
In customer service, nothing is
perfect and things will go wrong. This is not a failure. The best businesses show
how they fix their mistakes.
4. They are highly conscientious
Look for candidates who are highly
conscientious. The candidate that arrives late for the interview, looking
completely flustered and confused is probably not the ideal choice.
Conscientious individuals are
reliable, disciplined, methodical, organized, and goal driven. The Journal of
Applied Social Psychology noted that “[individuals] who are identified through
tests as highly conscientious are more likely to be aware of how good
interpersonal interactions positively affect customer service - and are more likely
to behave this way”.
To a degree, conscientious individuals
are ‘pleasers’ in the sense that they are aware of what works for certain
people and what doesn’t. They have a strong intuition about what is morally
right and wrong as well as how to treat another person.
When customers call a company, they’re
actively seeking help in resolving a problem. A conscientious customer service
agent will be better equipped to pick up the clues interlaced in the customer’s
words, which will allow them to resolve pain points.
5. They are persuasive
A great customer service employee will
also have some amazing marketing and sales skills. It’s not always about being
a manipulator, but being able to steer the customer into a direction that is
beneficial for both the company and the client.
If you want to know if your candidates
have this skill, ask a simple question in the interview such as, “Why should we
hire you?” This way they have to sell themselves in a persuasive manner while
listing qualities, traits and reasons - a perfect, practical test of their
customer service skills.
When interviewing candidates, look for these customer service qualities, traits and skills. Look for someone who is communicative, persuasive, is polite, patient, conscientious, and loyal.
Anneke Steenkamp