Customer Service
Take Good Care of Your Customers
How can you keep your existing customers and win back ones you've
lost? Become a customer caretaker. Here are the four C's of excellent customer care:
Concern
Sincerely care about your customers' complete satisfaction, and convey that caring in all
your interactions with customers. Not only is this doing the right thing, it's also doing
the smart thing: After all, customers' satisfaction and continued business can definitely
impact your job security.
Consideration
In today's bustling business environment, customers relish good, old-fashioned courtesy
and genuine kindness. Even when you're tired or stressed, act as though you were feeling
energetic and cheerful. Your customers will appreciate your efforts.
Conscientiousness
Always do what you promised in a timely manner. This is essential to earning customers'
trust, and that trust is the key to gaining repeat business.
Cooperation
If one of your co-workers needs a hand in order to provide excellent service, roll up your
sleeves and help out--even if you know your co-worker may get all the credit afterward. It
doesn't matter who gets the glory; what does matter is whether or not the customers' needs
are met completely.
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- What are the steps involved in successfully handling an irate
customer?
Your steps should include listening to the customer, letting the customer vent,
identifying the problem, trying to solve the problem, and following-up with the customer.
- What does good customer service involve?
- Tell us about how you have handled a dissatisfied customer in
the past.
- Tell us about your experience in dealing with the public.
The more public or customer contact the better. Include a situation where you
provided exemplary service.
- A citizen becomes irate because his permit application cannot
be found. How will you handle the citizen?
- A salesperson comes in to talk to your boss without an
appointment. How will you handle the salesperson?
- What do you think your customers would say about your work?
- Give us an example of a situation you handled exemplifying
superior customer service.
- Tell us about a situation in which you dealt with a customer
and what you would have done differently.
- How would you handle a customer who used abusive language?
- Tell us about your experience in working a public service
counter.
- A citizen calls in and states that one of your company's
trucks ran over her mailbox. How will you handle the citizen?
- Name five criteria essential to establishing effective service
standards.
- Name some of the criteria that may be included in a citizen
satisfaction survey.
- What are some of the ways to measure customer/user
satisfaction?
- What steps can you take to establish a
"customer first" attitude in the organization?
- In what ways can an organization transfer
a "customer first" attitude to the Internet?
- Tell us about the customer service
training programs that you have implemented.
- In what manner can business processes
reinforce customer service training?
For more interview questions
and answer tips, order the Complete
Interview Guide.
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INTERVIEW IN DEPTH
A detailed analysis of a tough
interview question from Matt & Nan DeLuca, authors of the best selling
"Best
Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions"
What does "customer service" mean to you?
Think of yourself as a customer -- what do you expect from
salespeople ... regardless of the circumstances and/or the problem. An example may
be "Customer service is a two-piece reaction. First---respect; second --
problem solving." See if that makes sense and if you sound convincing when you
do practice it. If you can give a brief story or two of what you have witnessed as
extraordinary examples of customer service behavior. By using yourself as a focal
point you will be able to enunciate clearly your understanding of customer service.
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