Customer Service Manager Interview Questions And Answers

Provide examples of the types of motivation you have used and their effectiveness. Examples include cash incentives, training programs, career development, time off, recognition. Focus on identifying and meeting individual motivations with specific rewards tied to the employee's interests and needs.

Other factors to discuss in your interview answer include providing the right resources for the team to do their job including skills, knowledge, support and equipment. A team that is not armed with the right resources will find it difficult to do their job and stay motivated.

Time spent individually with each team member listening to them and developing them is another strong motivational tool. Taking the time to encourage them in their work and providing constructive, factual and sincere feedback are motivating factors.

Discuss how you identified the opportunity for cost saving and how you implemented appropriate measures to improve operational efficiency. Examples include:

► cross training employees to handle different functions
► scheduling employees according to call and query volumes
► introducing new technologies
► providing information via an interactive website or other digital channel

This should be directly related to the last question. Any research you've done on the company should have led you to the conclusion that you'd want to work there. After all, you're at the interview, right? Put some thought into this answer before you have your interview, mention your career goals and highlight forward-thinking goals and career plans.

Of course, you have a list as long as your arm. But you can't say that, it shows you as being negative and difficult to work with. The best way to answer this one is to think for a while and then say something like "I've always got on just fine with my co-workers actually."

Key factors include a good understanding of the needs of the customer and having the right skills, resources and processes in place to meet these needs.

From a customer service management perspective criteria include clear communication of objectives and expectations to staff, consistent performance management, empowering staff to meet customer demands, ensuring staff are sufficiently engaged, listening to feedback from staff and customers and effectively acting on it.

Arrgh! If you fall for this one you shouldn't be hired anyway. The interviewer is testing you to see if you'll speak badly about your previous supervisor. Simply answer this question with extreme tact, diplomacy and if necessary, a big fat loss of memory. In short, you've never had any issues.

Focus on utilizing different management styles to increase effectiveness in different situations and with different employees. Why do certain management styles work in particular scenarios?

"I find that it is most effective to have a variety of management styles and to use them appropriately. I have to adapt according to the team member and the situation. However one aspect of my management style that remains consistent is that I employ a hands-on approach.

I get a better appreciation for what my team does by spending time on the front lines, it builds a strong relationship with them and keeps me informed. I have found a participative approach to management helps build commitment and consensus among employees "

It's important here to focus on the word "implemented." There's nothing wrong with having a thousand great ideas, but if the only place they live is on your notepad what's the point? Better still, you need a good ending. If your previous company took your advice and ended up going bankrupt, that's not such a great example either. Be prepared with a story about an idea of yours that was taken from idea to implementation, and considered successful.

Talk the interviewer through a policy you developed, structuring your answer around these recognized steps.

► Clearly identify the goals for the policy
► Ensure correlation between the customer service goals and the company mission and objectives
► Identify the specific processes that will result in goal accomplishment
► Develop standard operating procedures and guidelines for the processes
► Train your staff in the implementation of the new customer service policy

As I'm sure you know, "because I'm great" or "I really need a job" are not good answers here. This is a time to give the employer a laundry list of your greatest talents that just so happen to match the job description. It's also good to avoid taking potshots at other potential candidates here. Focus on yourself and your talents, not other people's flaws.

Focus on the strengths and skills required to successfully manage a customer service team including clear communication, organizational and planning skills, people development and empowerment, motivational skills and problem-solving skills. Support your answer with examples of actual feedback you have received from team members.

Again, another nasty question. If you say yes, you're a corporate whore who doesn't care about family. If you say no, you're disloyal to the company. I'm afraid that you'll probably have to say yes to this one though, because you're trying to be the perfect employee at this point, and perfect employees don't cut out early for Jimmy's baseball game.

What process did you follow to understand the reasons for the poor performance, gain commitment to the need for change and resolve the issues?

Approaches include developing a program of required actions for the team member to follow, providing training, coaching and mentoring, allocating necessary resources.

I have been asked this a lot, in various incarnations. The first time I just drew a blank and said, "I don't know." That went over badly, but it was right at the start of my career when I had little to no experience. Since then I've realized that my genuine answer is "Neither, I'd rather be respected." You don't want to be feared because fear is no way to motivate a team. You may got the job done but at what cost? Similarly, if you're everyone's best friend you'll find it difficult to make tough decisions or hit deadlines. But when you're respected, you don't have to be a complete bastard or a lame duck to get the job done.

Describe the metrics you use and why. Common metrics include:

► first response time
► first contact resolution
► problem resolution time
► resolution rates
► escalation rates
► customer retention
► referrals
► call volumes

Unless you have the I.Q. of a houseplant, you'll always answer YES to this one. It's the only answer. How can anyone function inside an organization if they are a loner? You may want to mention what part you like to play in a team though; it's a great chance to explain that you're a natural leader.

► What would you do if you where given 10 tasks but only have time for 8?
► Tell me what you know about a ticketing system.
► What do you know about a ticketing system?
► How well do you work under pressure?
► Do you work well within a team?
► What would you do if you had to deal with a problem last minute?
► How would you deal with an angry client/customer?
► Give me an example of when you went the extra mile for a customer?
► How would you solve a problem creatively or in a creative way?
► If you had to decline an urgent request from a client what would you do?
► What targets did you deal with in the past and what where their results?
► Why should we hire you for this Customer Service Role?

► Describe a feature that was often requested by customers at your previous position.
► The product team asks for your opinion on the next feature to implement. What would you recommend?
► List some upcoming features on the product roadmap and discuss their relevance and value to your customers.
► How do you stay current on the industry of your customers?
► Describe a situation wherein you helped to exceed customer expectations.
► How have you gathering feedback from customers? How have you turned this feedback into actionable insights?
► Tell us about a time you had to give a team member candid feedback on their work.
► What is the most challenging aspect of working in customer service?
► Describe your approach to training a customer service representative.

► How would you handle negative feedback from a client?
► How would you handle a situation where a customer has asked for some service or product that is in violation of the company's policies and is against the better interests of the company?
► What would be the most important service skill that you would need to have in your day to day business?
► How would you initiate contact with the clients and customers?
► What would you do if you had to turn down a request from a valued customer?
► A customer is repeatedly using abusive language, but he has a valid point; what would you do?
► If you have to change any current activities in the company, how would go about doing it?
► Do you have any computer or technical knowledge?
► Do you have the necessary technical know-how for information and data transferring?
► Describe any intimidating situation you experienced in your previous job; did you handle it?
► Describe any unpleasant situation that your colleague was in. Did you intervene? What did you do?

► Who have you spoken with so far in the interview process and what did you talk about? [This demonstrates if can they retain knowledge of names and other details]
► Tell me about your last or current position - what did you love and what didn't you like?
► Tell me about problems with the products or services you previously supported?
► What things on your resume are you really an expert on? [Ask to provide a really tough issue they resolved that involved those items.]
► How do you respond when you don't know the answer to a question?
► The customer is saying you're taking too long to solve the issue, what do you do?
► The customer is pointing out a big known problem with your product, what do you do? [This indicates if they can show empathy and/or have the ability to apologize.]
► Give an example of a customer that you turned around from a position of unhappiness to sheer joy.
► Define really great support. What experiences have you had personally that are great examples?
► Have you tried our product/service and what do you know about it?

Run for cover! This is one tricky game to play in an interview. Even if you know the salary range for the job, if you answer first you're already showing all your cards. You want as much as possible, the employer wants you for as little as you're willing to take. Before you apply, take a look at salary.com for a good idea of what someone with your specific experience should be paid. You may want to say, "well, that's something I've thought long and hard about and I think someone with my experience should get between X & Y." Or, you could be sly and say, "right now, I'm more interested in talking more about what the position can offer my career." That could at least buy you a little time to scope out the situation. But if you do have a specific figure in mind and you are confident that you can get it, I'd say go for it. I have on many occasions, and every time I got very close to that figure (both below and sometimes above).

I identified that we were not getting the feedback we needed from customers. To ensure we knew about all the experiences our customers have we had to create an easily accessible way for them to give us feedback.

One way we resolved this was with a phone survey at the end of a service call. By creating a means for customers to provide immediate feedback it was easier to learn what needed improvement.

If you're completely honest, you may be kicking yourself in the butt. If you say you don't have one, you're obviously lying. This is a horrible question and one that politicians have become masters at answering. They say things like "I'm perhaps too committed to my work and don't spend enough time with my family." Oh, there's a fireable offense. I've even heard "I think I'm too good at my job, it can often make people jealous." Please, let's keep our feet on the ground. If you're asked this question, give a small, work-related flaw that you're working hard to improve. Example: "I've been told I occasionally focus on details and miss the bigger picture, so I've been spending time laying out the complete project every day to see my overall progress."

In your answer describe receiving feedback from customers to identify areas for improvement, looking at every touch-point in the customer life-cycle and implementing actions to improve the process.

"I identified that customer satisfaction with our email support was not what it should be. The rule of thumb has been providing a response within 24 to 48 hours. However with the pace of everything increasing online I understood that we needed to achieve more impressive response times. I instituted a response time of 4 to 8 hours as the standard. This has set us apart from our competitors and improved customer satisfaction"

Hopefully if you're applying for this position you have bags of related experience, and if that's the case you should mention it all. But if you're switching careers or trying something a little different, your experience may initially not look like it's matching up. That's when you need a little honest creativity to match the experiences required with the ones you have. People skills are people skills after all, you just need to show how customer service skills can apply to internal management positions, and so on.