The candidate seated across the table from me thought for several seconds. Finally, his face lit up and he proudly declared, “I can type really fast!” On its own, typing skills aren’t a bad attribute; however, the question posed to him had been, “What quality makes you a perfect choice to join our Customer Care team?”
Let’s take a step back. It probably wasn’t entirely the candidate’s fault that he chose that response. Looking around at customer support rep job postings for other companies, I see a lot of the same generic must-have skills: fast typing, the ability to operate a phone system, hardware/software proficiency and a passel of other generic items. No wonder candidates answer interview questions accordingly; from what’s been laid out in job descriptions, why would one think anything else matters?
A recent study revealed that 64% of consumers “don’t feel they are treated like valued customers when they interact with customer service.” It should be no surprise when the emphasis of finding support representatives is placed on those who can merely type, operate phones and know how to turn on a computer. This becomes even more frightening when you consider the vast scores of customers whose only human contact with a company or brand is with its customer support department.
Truth is, I can teach anyone how to type or work a phone. What I can’t teach is how to truly understand people, gain the self-confidence and personality to connect with a customer and, ultimately, be the brand’s voice.
You Get What You Pay For
No matter the industry, your company creates a value proposition enticing customers to invest in your product. However, there is a frequently missed opportunity in considering customer/technical support as part of the product’s value proposition. An awesome product is fine, but not having equally awesome support to build brand loyalty can be devastating. Therefore, companies don’t need to merely hire support staff; they must invest in support professionals who understand how to sell a brand. This may cost a little more in salary, but the long-term value of low turnover and high brand value yield more than offset the difference.
In San Francisco International Airport’s terminal three, a large sign reminds us that “Performers follow convention. Top performers break from it.” Sharing that same sentiment, we do things differently at Ask.com when interviewing prospective support team members. Job postings say nothing about typing, computers or phones. We assume applicants interested in working at a tech company have at least a basic, working knowledge of these devices. So far, we’ve been right. Our job descriptions request charisma and charm, the ability to make any seemingly hot-button issue for a customer suddenly seem completely manageable. We discuss the need for possessing the correct internal yardstick to gauge for whether or not humor is appropriate in any given situation. Finally, we state up front that we’re looking for people who are comfortable not just solving problems, but also representing the brand and creating lifetime users out of support interactions.
Sometimes, our interviews even take us to a restaurant so we can watch how candidates treat the wait staff, and generally interact with people in a more casual setting. In the interview, we ask probing questions that truly get at what makes a person tick, such as, “What’s the best gift you’ve ever given someone,” or “What’s your personal mission statement in life?”
The challenge is for a company is to recognize the long-term impact of good customer service, and then identify the real attributes that qualify a person for the work. Crafting a job description tailored to finding those people will weed out the clock-punchers and bring top performers to your doorstep. They really do exist!
