How can I hire the right customer service agents so my customers don't leave?
If you find yourself asking the above question you have 2 problems:
- Your customers are leaving your business. This means you are losing recurring revenue, relationships and promoters. NOT GOOD.
- You either don’t have any customer service agents, or they haven't been given appropriate training to exceed customer's expections. This also doesn’t give your business any credibility.
First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one - so well done for getting this far.
You may have thought up to now that you have put together your dream team: deals get closed, business is expanding and confidence in your team enables you to take some time off worry-free. At some point everything worked - but you may have failed to adapt to changes in your business along the way.
The main two reasons for customer loss are:
- Customers who feel poorly treated/neglected.
- Failure to solve a problem in a timely manner.
The second step involves taking the relevant action.
Hiring new employees is a rewarding task for you as a business, it means you are GROWING. Being proactive can have many benefits in business and can mitigate the risk of customer loss. You have an opportunity to bring new members into your existing ‘family’ and work together to achieve even bigger goals.
Having to hire a customer service agent is a milestone - embrace it!
Here are a number of tips to help you say "Hello top-notch customer service - adios churn!"
- Put together a job spec to suit YOUR Company. Spend some time and think about the exact tasks you will need your customer service agent to take on in order to fulfil the needs of your customers. Highlight what skills you are looking for - don’t settle for anything less.
- Make customer service one of your core company values. This will stress the importance of the job not only to the new hires, but to your existing employees and customers.
- Plan out the interview process. Once the usual HR questions are dealt with ask questions which will show off the candidate’s character, experience, skills and charisma.
- Watch them in action - ask a candidate to take a customer service call during the interview. Check their ability to work under pressure, listen and communicate with your customers.
- Ask one of you team members to be a part of the interview process. This is a great way to check for culture fit and how potential employees will interact with their peers.
We have put together a list of interview questions along with a score sheet to help select the right person for the job. Happy hiring!
