Customer service professionals are vital to the success of a company today. Not only can they help boost customer satisfaction, they also can improve repeat business, which has a direct impact on company profitability. To thrive in the current landscape, companies need to hire professionals who meet or exceed industry standards.The Salary Guide From Robert Half reports call center staff and customer service specialists are among the hottest jobs in administrative and customer support.But these days, they and other skilled support professionals can be harder to find, with 85% of hiring managers for administrative and customer support organizations saying they face challenges finding skilled candidates in today’s hiring environment. Still, nearly half (49%) of admin and customer support managers said they plan to expand their teams and staff this year.
As businesses recognize the pivotal role customer service teams hold in shaping a company's profitability and success, the demand for skilled professionals has surged. Roles like customer experience specialists and call center managers have become some of the hottest jobs in the market.A critical first step for attracting top customer service to your team is to update or rewrite your customer service job descriptions for today’s job market. Make sure they contain more than key details, duties and responsibilities of the respective role. They should also accurately reflect the qualities you most want on your customer service team.These qualities should be reflected in keywords used in the job description to increase your chances of attracting candidates with the desired skills and experience.Start with the must-haves. In every role, customer service professionals should be interested and knowledgeable about all of the company’s products and services. They should also be good at data entry and have a high level of emotional intelligence.These specialists should also be great communicators able to handle customer questions and concerns professionally and positively. Because many customer service and call center jobs are already remote by nature, interviewing job seekers by phone or video is a great way to assess their communication abilities and professionalism — key competencies to be successful in the role.Finally, AI is growing fast in customer service applications. But rather than replacing professionals with chatbots and other AI tools, customer service professionals will increasingly bring the critical human element to AI-led customer interactions.
So how can a hiring manager sift through a diverse array of candidates to find star customer service performers? Here are some questions to ask customer service specialist candidates, with added considerations.Can you tell me about a time you experienced great customer service? Does the candidate emphasize a quick resolution to a problem or warmth and empathy? Because everyone has a different idea of what constitutes good service, asking this question will help you determine if this candidate is a fit for your company’s approach to the job.How have you dealt with frustrated customers? Managing dissatisfied clients is a major aspect of the job, so it’s important to find out how the candidate approaches them. How would they diffuse the situation? What’s the most important thing to do when you first get a call from someone who is upset?What do you know about our product or service? Does their reply indicate they have researched your firm to prepare for the interview? While a job seeker doesn’t have to be an expert on your products or services, they should have a solid understanding of them.Have you ever interacted with or utilized AI in a customer service role? If they haven't had direct experience, ask about how they would feel about incorporating AI-assisted tools into their daily workflow and what potential benefits or downsides they foresee.Do they seem adaptable to using AI tools? Are they thinking critically about the pros and cons of AI in customer service? Are they aware of the trends?
