Exceptional customer service begins with hiring the right customer service representatives. Although it’s possible to hire such a staff to do the job, it may be challenging to select the most ideal people from a horde of candidates. Here are a few practical tips that can help you end up with a customer-focused team—and happier customers!

Hire Good Communicators

Because customer service mainly focuses on dealing with clients, hiring good communicators helps create positive interaction between your business and the clients. Proper communication also improves relationship with clients besides instilling trust in them. One way to determine if a candidate is a good communicator is to call them on phone and inquire about something they does not have full knowledge about, but which is related to the job he is applying for. A candidate who handles such a situation in a proper way and provides an honest answer, rather than just avoiding the question, is probably a good communicator. If you use a business instant messenger system to provide chat support to customers, test every candidate's ability to express themselves clearly and politely via chat message. Whether by phone or by instant message, a candidate’s ability to provide helpful, honest answers to questions will tell you a lot about their future customer interactions.

Hire Candidates Who Are Willing To Learn

A candidate who is willing to learn possesses the ability to improve their knowledge for the good of your business. The willingness to learn also indicates that the candidate is able read or learn the mood of clients and adjust accordingly to suit circumstances. One way to determine that an interviewee possesses the willingness to learn is to ask them about a concept discussed earlier during an interview. A good learner should be able to remember what was discussed.

Allow the Candidate To Narrate Their Experience

Knowing how a candidate handles particular situations can help determine their ability to deal with your business’ customers. Asking the candidate to narrate how they handled a certain situation in the past help to know if they are a proper candidate for your customer-focused position. For instance, you may ask the candidate to explain how they would handle a pestering, disrespectful customer who fails to understand the information they are being given. Their answer can give you a clue as to how they will behave once presented with a real-life version of the difficult customer.

Allow Your Employees To Recommend Proper Candidates

You employees probably already know a number of people who would be a great fit for your customer service positions. Giving them a chance to refer such candidates to you does not only helps you get proper candidates, but also candidates who already have already established relationships with your current employees. This facilitates teamwork and togetherness among the employees as they work towards achieving a common goal.

In summary, inasmuch as it is essential to consider the resume and educational qualifications of job candidates when hiring a customer-focused staff, looking beyond such requirements is equally important. This is why it’s important to interview each candidate with the customer in mind. When you do so, you have the best chance of building a customer-focused, dynamic team.