Customer Support Executive Interview Preparation Guide

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This question should give you a sense of how the candidate views their role. A great answer won’t just involve solving a problem or answering a question, but ensuring that the customer had as positive an interaction as possible.

This might sound like a trick question, but it isn’t. A great candidate should feel comfortable talking about their experience using your product or service, and pointing out places where their experience could have been improved.

It is a common phenomenon for a customer service representative to encounter a customer that they consider to be difficult. This question will seek to find out how the interviewee would handle customers when pushed to the brink and subjected to pressure. Will they maintain their calm? What image of the business will they project? In order to answer these customer service interview questions effectively, the interviewee should clearly explain how they would listen to customer complains, handle a customer who is wrong and deal with a rude customer. Previous examples of how they handled such situations may be helpful.

The most difficult customer I’ve ever seen was someone who came to the customer service counter at the office supply store where I worked. The customer was irate that we would not match a price even though the products were not the same. After I politely explained this to the customer, she began screaming personal insults at me. I kept a smile on my face, apologized for the inconvenience and suggested checking another store. The customer realized that I wasn’t reacting to her tirade and soon left.

Relatively easy one to start off, but to be great at customer service, a person really has to love it. Otherwise, irate and impatient customers are going to grind on them, and they are going to burn out.

Ideally, when you ask a candidate this question, their should eyes’ light up and they’ll clearly demonstrate some passion in their answer. Hopefully, the reason is they give is they legitimately like helping people, and are thrilled to do it every day.

This can be your answer: No, my work ethic is strong, so there’s been no reason for conflict. However, at times I have had disagreements on how to resolve a particular problem for a customer, but I have always been able to talk it out and find a solution that my team leader has supported.

Not every customer is in the right mood for a sales call, and I understand that. Irate customers are part of the game, and I can easily calm them down with an apology; however, I will usually attempt to get a callback time so a valuable potential customer doesn’t lose out on the great benefits your products can give them.

Report it to the leaders within the company. True leaders understand business ethics are important to the company's longevity

Admit to the mistake without being emotional, but then discuss how you are being proactive in getting it fixed. Lastly, pull the co-worker aside later on to tell them that you'd appreciate it if they gave you the feedback 1:1 first before throwing you under the bus.

Example stories could be a class project, an internal meeting presentation, or a customer facing presentation.

It’s important for customer service reps to be empathetic and people-oriented. Good answers might include “I like talking to people and finding out about their lives” or “I love the feeling of helping somebody solve a problem they’re having.”

This question should give you a sense of the candidate’s ability to empathize with a customer. Good customer service reps should be able to apologize and acknowledge known problems while assuring customers that your team is working on a solution.

I was part of two teams in college: the baseball team and the student government. Both experiences involved working closely with people who held very different viewpoints from mine. Those differences turned out to be valuable because opposing perspectives resulted in greater solutions than we would have otherwise found. The most important thing I have learned about teamwork is that in order for a team to reach its potential, everyone must contribute and be valued. On those college teams and in every job I’ve held, believing that everyone has something to bring to the table has resulted in better results and a better culture.

This should be an easy question for a great customer service representative to answer. In fact, some candidates might wow you with their response, as they cite a time they personally delivered a particular product to someone or spent 45 minutes after their shift ended talking a customer through a problem.

As soon as I know that this is a DNC number, I will apologize at once to the customer for the error and assure them that their number will be immediately included in our internal DNC list. I will also make a note in the CRM application so even if the system error happens again the next agent won’t be forced to deal with an escalated problem. I will also report the problem to my team leader or manager as soon as I hang up.

I would first consult the company policy on returns. Then, assuming it follows company policy, I would try to see if they have an account with the store so I could look up their past transactions. If I found their transaction in the system, I would refund them for the purchase.
I would search for the price of the item and offer to refund the customer with store credit.

Focus on the issue that impacts the business most first.

First, find out which skills are the ones that you're currently lacking. Then identify what the steps would be to acquire/build those skills. Then take action to do so.

First, the key is to state the differences in personality to give the interviewer some background. Second, you want to discuss how that was affecting the situation. Third, show how you were able to adapt to the way the person wanted to be communicated with to achieve your goals

My first reaction to conflict is to try to understand the perspective of whomever the conflict involves. My rule of thumb is to first seek to understand, then seek to be understood. Not only does listening to the other person allow me to clearly determine the root of the problem, it also helps ease the tension so we can communicate more calmly and effectively.