Customer Service Interview Questions

Common customer service interview questions include those questions that explore the candidate's understanding and knowledge of the principles and practice of customer service help and customer support.

Prepare for these questions about providing customer service solutions.

What does excellent customer service mean to you?

Customer service interview questions like this come up regularly in customer service job interviews for any industry. It is asked to evaluate your understanding of good customer service, your level of expectation with regard to customer service and your knowledge of common customer service principles and practices. This is one of customer service interview questions you really need to prepare a proper answer for.

In your interview answer focus on the following points:

• making sure the first impression the customer gets of the business is positive looking at aspects such as accessibility, layout, cleanliness, offer of help from personnel. Alternatively the initial impression the customer gets over the phone must be good - how quickly is the call picked up, is the customer helped and directed correctly?


• good customer service means accurately finding out the customer's needs by listening properly and asking the right questions. Paying close attention to what the customer is saying to make sure you receive the right message.


• filling these needs efficiently or solving the customer's problem by having good product or service knowledge, enough information and a positive attitude.


• providing proper attention to complaints and dealing with them appropriately. Good customer service should be offered with politeness, respect and understanding. It is about attending to customer concerns promptly and accurately.


• keeping to deadlines or delivery dates. Ensuring that the product or service is delivered when promised or the problem addressed by the agreed deadline. Following up with the customer to ensure satisfaction.

Good customer service is more than just a friendly smile and an offer of help - every aspect of the customer's experience should be included. It is about taking the extra step, making the extra effort. Good customer service is about bringing customers back by sending them away happy.

Describe your customer service philosophy.

This question requires a prepared mission statement that sums up the candidate's approach to customer service.

For example,
"My philosophy is to take personal responsibility for developing a positive relationship and providing a positive experience for each customer by giving efficient, accurate and prompt service, by listening to and understanding the customer's needs, by meeting or exceeding these needs and by meeting my commitments, keeping my promises and taking ownership of my mistakes."

How do you measure good customer service?

Interviewers like 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 knowing whether you are delivering good customer service including:

• number of repeat customers


• customer satisfaction surveys


• 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


• benchmarking service with competitors

Prepare excellent answers to these common customer service interview questions and stand out as the right job candidate.

You can expect a number of behavioral interview questions in your customer service job interview. These can be tricky and need some thought and preparation. We show you how to answer frequently asked customer service behavioral interview questions. Go to The Customer Service Interview Question Guide with sample interview answers to get all the help you need.

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Use the Customer Service Job Description to get a full pciture of the tasks and requirements of the customer service job.

What do you need to do to prepare for your interview? Find out by going through this pre interview checklist and be confident that you are ready for your job interview.

Get help with answering interview questions such as "Why should we hire you?"

Free interview answers to standard interview questions such as "What are your strengths and weaknesses?"

Job Interview Tips

5 Common Interview Questions and Answers

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Be well prepared for your customer service interview and stand out as the best candidate for the job.

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