What Signs Indicate A Customer May Not Be A Reliable Loan Recipient
When applying to positions that require you to decide on loan recipients, showing your ability to make good decisions is vital. So, the interviewer wants to know what red flags you use to identify an unreliable loan recipient.
Example: “I make sure every loan I approve is responsible to avoid harming the bank financially. I start by evaluating the candidate’s credit report and payment history. I note how they managed previously borrowed money and whether they defaulted on loans. I also review their debt-to-income ratio and check how they used their credit card over a period. In my experience, high utilization is typically a sign the applicant is overleveraging.I also make sure the client has a solid cash flow to repay the loan and relevant collateral. After my analysis, I offer loan options that are safe for the bank to high-risk applicants.”
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Csm Interview Questions: Key Takeaway
Customer success roles are booming right now. There has been a 34% annual growth in job openings, according to LinkedIn. As SaaS companies put more and more focus on customer retention, customer success teams are becoming extremely important.
But a great customer success manager is a difficult catch. A thorough CSM interview process is critical. And the right questions will help you screen out those who arent cut out for the customer success managers job.
At the end of the day, you are looking for specific customer success skills.
You should come up with customer success manager interview questions that examine:
- Emotional intelligence and empathy
- Familiarity with the SaaS industry work culture
- Expectation and relationship management
Describe Your Experience Working In A Bank
Interviewers ask this question to evaluate your banking experience and determine whether it prepares you for the position. Mention relevant duties and responsibilities at previous positions, and explain how you can apply what you learned in your new role. When answering, summarize and consider quantifying your work history.
Example: “I have 12 years of banking experience. Starting my career as a bank teller at the Bank of Montreal, I provided account services to customers and minimized annual losses by 18%. I learned how to manage demanding customers and developed my business acumen in this position. I later went back to study for an advanced degree and became an investment banker.In my current position, I help companies raise money for expansion and assist startups to go public. I’m confident I’d be a worthy addition to the team and contribute to this bank’s mission.”
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How Do I Determine The Value Of The Customer Experience
For customers, only one metric matters: switching costs. As long as there are no viable alternatives in the market, or switching to a competitor would cost more than the product or service itself, customer experience becomes less important to revenues. A company with a poor customer experience is more likely to retain customers who perceive high switching costs, reducing the potential returns from improving the experience. A good customer experience increases customer loyalty. Because it costs more to acquire new customers than to keep existing ones, most experts say loyalty is the key. They cite lifetime customer value, which is the revenue generated by each customer throughout the relationship Companies should calculate lifetime profit per customer minus acquisition costs.
What Are Your Pet Peeves In The Workplace
This question helps you screen for positivity. Bad answers involve blaming others or dodging the question entirely.
What to Look For in Good Answers
Good answers are honest, but polite. The best answer is when the candidate explains how they understand that the pet peeve is their own personal downfall, and how they proactively avoid making this pet peeve a problem for others.
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Why Do You Want This Job
Because your company has a good reputation and a lot of satisfied customers, Id like to work for you in this job. If I work for you, I can learn more about providing good customer service. A big company with many people and many things to learn from has always been my dream job.
As it says in the job description, I have the same skills your company needs for this job. A person who is self-motivated and hard-working is me. I want to improve myself and want to be better. Please hire me! It would be an honor, and I will work hard to improve your company.
How Do You Measure Good Customer Service
Interviewers like to ask this customer service interview question because it explores the candidate’s understanding of how to quantify good customer service in a business context.
Customer service is intangible but there are many ways of measuring whether you are delivering good customer service including:
- number of repeat customers
- number and type of customer complaints received
- number of new customers
- number of referrals given by current customers
- sales figures on specific products
- the number of returns
- social media/website reviews and comments
- benchmarking service with competitors
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How You Would Handle A Customer Who Was Upset About A Known Problem With Your Product Or Service
The hiring manager wants to know if you’re able to handle difficult issues, like a defective product. This is another great opportunity to share an anecdote from a past position if you have one. If you don’t, consider providing an example using one of the company’s own services or products.
Example:”If a customer came to me stating that the zipper on their bag broke after a week, and the company was aware of the zipper issue, I would start by apologizing profusely. Next, I would offer either a full refund or a trade-in for a different product. If the company issued specific guidelines to mitigate the problem, I would adhere to those.”
Have You Ever Gone Above And Beyond For A Customer
Skill:Customer focus
If you want to make customers happy, you should always show that you are willing to go the extra mile. Some companies make it an official rule. You can even find it in Disneys customer service training manual.
If your candidates care about customer satisfaction, they shouldnt have any problems with describing at least one situation that proves it. You can ask some follow-up questions about the final outcome of their actions too.
Questions of this sort work really well with the STAR methodology:
Example answer
One of the customers at my previous job wanted to integrate our app with a third-party solution. At that point, the integration was not possible. But the customer really had to connect the tools. I decided to personally walk the customer through using Zapier. It took some time but weve managed to set up an advanced workflow. It worked like a charm. The customer keeps the whole configuration to this day and even bought a higher plan.
What you should pay attention to as candidates: Make sure that the situation you describe is aligned with the companys values. Being helpful and going the extra mile is usually appreciated. But dont confuse it with the lack of assertiveness. Be prepared that recruiters may challenge you and ask if it was the right call.
Extra follow-up question: What was the most unpleasant interaction with a customer that you have ever had?
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What Customer Service Software Do You Have Experience Using
Customer service software performs various customer relationship management functions. Some of the most common customer service software include collaboration tools, ticketing systems and CRMs. You also need to show your desire to learn new systems.
Example:I have considerable experience using customer service software like Zendesk for customer relationship management live chat software and Jira for ticketing. I also constantly research new tools and am willing to learn how your company makes customer service more efficient through automation.
Would You Be Willing To Introduce Us To A Current Or Former Boss As A Reference
This question is part of the Topgrading method, and serves as a truth serum for all subsequent questions. Once a candidate knows that you will be asking for an introduction to their current or former boss, they will be far less likely to embellish their achievements.
What to Look For in Good Answers
Ask this question about every company they have on their resume. The candidate might not jump at the chance to connect you with their current boss if they’re looking for other opportunities, but they should be ready and willing to connect you to a prior manager or mentor listed on their resume.
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Remote Customer Service Interview Questions
Below youll find a list of remote customer service interview questions that you should ask to gauge customer service skills, initiative, ability to work remotely, and management skills. These questions are great to ask when hiring for customer service agents or customer service representative, customer support members, customer service manager, and more.
Elements Of Good Customer Service
When answering interview questions about customer service, it can be helpful to consider the core elements that make it up. These elements are:
Catherine Song
Product Awareness: Whether you’re talking about books, ads on a website, or a widget, having a thorough knowledge of the company’s products is vital for providing strong customer service. Arrive at your interview with a solid base of understanding of both the company and its reputation amongst customers, as well as detailed knowledge of the company’s services/products.
Attitude: Attitude is everything, or almost everything. Greeting people with a smile or friendly hello can make a big difference in a retail store. For any customer service position, in-person or by phone, a friendly and patient attitude is important. Show everyone you meet during the interview process the positive and engaging attitude that you have. If youre not feeling upbeat, review these tips for staying positive during job interviews.
Efficiency: Customers value a prompt, effective response. Be ready to share your achievements in customer service efficiency with the interviewer. Have you beaten productivity goals, cut down on response time, or reduced the need for follow-up calls? Anything youve done to be more efficient in your job is worth sharing with your interviewers.
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Have You Ever Had To Say No To A Client How Did You Handle The Situation
The interviewer is assessing your problem solving skills. Give a situation that you refused the clients request and share how it worked out.
Sample Answer
Some clients may have unrealistic expectations. One time I had a client whose purchases are infrequent and of low volumes. He requested for a huge discount on the purchases which would not be sustainable based on the volume of business he used to give us. He threatened to leave and source for his supplies from a competitor. I had to firmly refuse his request. I explained to him the implication of the discount percentage he was asking for on our business. He understood my reasons and did not move to the competition.
What Do You Know About Our Product Or Service
Interviewers point of view:
This is where your preparation gets tested. It shows how much youve explored what the company does and how well you understand the key processes, as well as your general ability to do research. This is your signal to show off all youve done while preparing for this interview.
Answer example:
XY company is focused primarily on small businesses. They are the primary target since you develop features that are for companies of smaller size. Apart from that, the XY company is looking into new job prospects. After launching new features, the company is targeting more prominent companies since these features are applicable to their needs. This is a great move since it will definitely increase the companys revenue and market share.
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What Are Your Biggest Strengths And Weaknesses When Interacting With A Customer
This is a very specific question. You could also hear a simple What are your strengths and weaknesses?
When you hear this question in a customer service interview, the employer wants to know what you are good at and what you need to improve. Dont be afraid to tell them about your struggles but make sure to mention that youre working on them and want to improve.
Why Are You A Good Fit For This Job
Skill: Self-presentation
This is a very general question but you should ask it at some point nonetheless. It gives your candidate an opportunity to fill in some core details. Do they have the necessary experience? What personality traits or achievements do they value in themselves?
If they are struggling with presenting their strengths, it may be a problem. A customer success professional must be able to convince customers that your products are the best choice. If they cant even present and sell themselves, its not a good sign.
Example answer
Ive been working in this sector at a similar job for several years. My role wasnt managerial but I had an amazing opportunity to work with awesome leaders. I learned many things from them. And it turned out that working with customers is something that I really enjoy. Every case offers a slightly different challenge. And figuring out the best way in which customers can apply our solutions gives me a lot of satisfaction. After I joined the previous team, we managed to increase our NPS from 49 to almost 60.
What you should pay attention to as a candidate: Be careful not to brag too much. This may seem exaggerated or dishonest. Focus on your results. But if you want to mention how good you are at something, try to quote a happy customer or a teammate. Otherwise, it may sound like just your opinion about yourself and not a fact.
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Have You Ever Successfully Managed A Conflict Between Two Colleagues
Potential employers sometimes like to know what experience you have resolving workplace disputes. Being able to effectively communicate with team members and discover compromises to certain conflicts are key skills that companies and businesses might look for in a customer service manager.
Example answer:”While working for my current employer, I asked two team members to develop some ideas for customer satisfaction goals we could implement at the company. However, when the deadline came for their presentation, neither were prepared. Apparently, they both had different ideas for department objectives and couldn’t find a suitable compromise.
I asked to hear both ideas, and when they were finished, I highlighted some of the fundamental similarities between their two concepts and gave them a few more days to find a third goal that used both ideas. After a few days, they found a third, even better goal for increasing customer satisfaction and presented it to me.”
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Why Use Customer Service Interview Question Templates
You should use templated customer service interview questions because it allow you to compare every candidate in an apples-to-apples way. When candidates answer the same questions, you can then compare how they responded and make an informed decision that has less hiring bias. Customer service interview question templates are also great if you have team members who are not used to the interview process because it provides them with a roadmap to follow.
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Describe An Instance When You Had To Improvise Or Think On Your Feet To Solve A Problem
Another part of being great at customer service is solving problems and improvising on the spot.
Sometimes the unexpected happens.
A power outage.
An injury to a customer
So try to use the S.T.A.R. method that we discussed earlier to tell a story of how you improvised in the past to find a solution to an unexpected problem.
Why Do You Think Youd Be A Good Fit For Our Company
Interviewers point of view:
If you get this question than the interviewer wants to make a connection to the companys culture. This type of question is similar to Why should we hire you. In this case the interviewer would just like to see if you would make a good fit into the companys atmosphere and culture.
Answer example:
After a thorough research on your company, I can see that you nourish a friendly company atmosphere and that you are making an effort to protect the environment as well as to optimize your business to be more sustainable. With my skills and expertise I would fit perfectly in such a company culture. I am a great listener and always oriented towards solving a problem. Ive gathered relevant experience and have an extremely positive attitude towards doing anything in my life. Because of these qualities, I think I would be a valuable asset for your customer service team.
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Can You Walk Me Through Every Step In A Common Process
This comes recommended by Michael Jones, a customer support manager at JazzHR. “Use product documentation for your own products or pick a multi-step process such as finding and opening a file on a computer,” he recommends asking. It’s a must-have interview question for customer support roles specifically because these individuals will be assisting customers on a deeper level daily.
What to Look For in Good Answers
This is particularly useful when interviewing a customer service rep, where being able to explain step-by-step processes is an essential part of the job. Look for answers that you can understand and follow yourself, as well as steps are detailed and contextualized enough to be helpful for even a brand-new user of your product or service.