“How customers feel when they interact with an employee determines how they feel about the company itself. “ – Daniel Goleman
Good customer service can make or break any business. Your customer service reps are often the first people that any client interacts with and, unfortunately, people are known to make judgements about a business based on their first impression-just read a few Yelp Feeds to see this in action. Providing exceptional customer service starts with finding and hiring the right employees for your team. While you’re probably not ever going to find an absolutely perfect employee, some people possess innate behavioral traits that make them more naturally suited for the role of a customer service representative, while others simply don’t. Although it may seem obvious that you don’t want an extremely aggressive person greeting (or, rather, yelling at) your customers, it’s sometimes hard to determine how a person will respond to customers by only observing them in an interview. However, with our tools, you can see if a prospective employee possesses these golden traits before you hire them, so that you can take your customer service to the next level. Here are three behavioral traits to look for in a customer service rep:
Proactivity: The desire to pursue achievement of excellence in activities acknowledged by others as important for status in a community.
Target Score- 55%+
High Scorers in proactivity thrive on setting goals and working hard. They are often determined, ambitious and self- motivated, and tend to be energetic and enterprising. Others might describe them as capable, persistent, and someone who shows initiative.
It may seem obvious that Proactivity is an essential behavioral scale for a top customer service rep. However, People commonly think being proactive only means being a good planner, not procrastinating, or working hard. Though it means all of those things, it is a lot more than that. One of the most effective ways to create customer loyalty is to take an initiative to fix a problem for them before they even realize they have a problem. For example, everyone is always grateful to a server at a restaurant when they refill your water before you even have to ask, and this often deems them as a “good” server. This simple act of being one step ahead of your customer requires heightened awareness that is essential to a top performing Customer service rep. We can all remember a time when our flight was suddenly cancelled and a customer service rep was proactive in getting us rebooked on another flight before we even had a chance to stress about it on our own. As you may know from experience, this goes a long way in establishing brand loyalty.
Support: The ability to be encouraging and kind in a way that attempts to benefit others.
Target Score- 60%+
High scorers in support care about people deeply. They are supportive and sensitive to the physical and emotional needs and wants of others. They are thoughtful, peace-loving and warm. They like to “touch” others at the heart level. People often confide in them. They are encouragers who see the good in others. Relationships are often their number one priority.
Being a great Customer Service Rep means caring about your customers and their struggles, and genuinely wanting to help them. However, caring is shown not only through a positive attitude and kind words, but consistent, mindful actions: following up when you say you’re going to, processing customer requests in a timely manner, offering in depth troubleshooting that is customized to that customers needs etc. Customers like to feel cared about and appreciate when a company goes out of their way to cater to them. People who possess this genuine caring create trust and loyalty with their customers, and loyalty is what makes customers stick around.
Networking: The ability to collect and maintain many diverse personal and professional relationships.
Target Score-60%+
High scorers in networking prefer to maintain numerous personal friendships. They have a “more the merrier” approach to life. They tend to be very comfortable in group settings and enjoy socializing. They also tend to take people “at face value” and do not over-complicate relationships.
Being comfortable (and good at) talking to other people and maintaining relationships is essential for a top customer service rep. Someone who is timid in social settings is probably going to be timid when dealing with customers and is not going to be as effective as someone who has a “more the merrier” approach. People who score low in networking will probably get overwhelmed by the amount of people they have to talk to on a daily basis and may just let the phone ring if they don’t want to deal with someone else.
Though these aren’t all of the behavioral traits that make up a top customer service rep, looking for these is a great first step and your company will benefit greatly if your customers are interacting with frontline employees who possess these behaviors.
Ready to level up your customer service reps? Contact us today to start using our Behavioral Assessment in your hiring process.
