Customer Service Skills Test: Your CSR Hiring Ally
How Do You Test Customer Service Skills?
To assess candidates’ customer service skills, use a research-based customer service skills test. CSR skills assessments created by experts include but aren’t limited to, role-playing exercises with mock customer situations, online assessments measuring traits like communication and problem-solving, and situational judgment tests that gauge conflict resolution skills.
The way customers engage and interact with businesses has changed dramatically during the past five years. Although it’s common sense that positive customer experiences are important for business success, the need for more thoughtful customer service has skyrocketed.
According to Hubspot research, 93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies that offer excellent customer service. On the other hand, Zendesk reports that after more than one bad experience, around 80% of consumers say they would rather do business with a competitor.
These attitude changes have put new pressure on businesses when looking for the best CSR’s. Here’s how a pre-employment customer service skills test can help you when filling these roles.
What Do Customer Service or Support Representatives Do?
One key factor that distinguishes thriving businesses from failing ones is how they face and address potential problems. Successful businesses tend to take a more proactive approach and tackle issues as they happen, working hard to ensure customers stay happy.
Customer service teams are the first contact point between a business and its clients and are a crucial link for customer retention and business growth. It makes business sense that the quality of customer service has a direct impact on profitability.
Customer service representatives handle a variety of tasks daily. They are primarily in charge of helping customers with questions and complaints, while also giving product information, such as pricing, specifications, and available options. They take orders, handle returns, and may also demonstrate ways of using products or services.
Sometimes, customer service reps can even be a part of the sales team, including emailing and making outbound calls.
Why is Customer Service Important?
The opportunities that come from good customer service are immeasurable. Its value shows in customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and increased profitability.
Satisfied customers will, for example, talk about their positive experiences with peers, through social media, and/or online reviews.
Poor customer service can also have a negative financial impact. It’s been proven that investing in good customer service teams, instead of relying solely on the quality of the product to keep up a good reputation, is far less expensive in the long run.
Disregarding the value of customer experience can only lead to less than stellar outcomes: client loss, low corporate morale, a damaged reputation, and increased price sensitivity.
On the positive side, satisfied clients are much more likely to return to the same company when they require the same product or service. Nurturing customer loyalty, in turn, helps build a more positive brand image.
Finally, research has shown that happy customers are generally prepared to pay more for a product. Providing they have a strong reputation, companies can charge higher rates and enjoy the resulting profits.
What Are The Basic Skills For Customer Service?
Providing exceptional customer service is the secret recipe for success in any industry, regardless of business type. Hiring people who are ambitious and driven to provide helpful advice is the first step toward building a reputation for service.
Still, no specific set of job experiences or education level qualifies candidates for a customer service position. Hiring managers should instead be focusing on skill sets that can’t always be taught.
So, what are the ideal characteristics of a good customer service representative? In short, look for candidates who thrive in one-on-one interactions. Find applicants who value community over individualism. They’d also need to be able to think on their feet and be good at explaining how things work.
When assessing job applicants, HR should prioritize some of these skills:
1) Problem-solving skills
Customers do not always self-diagnose their issues correctly, so support reps need to know how to take the initiative and work with them to find a solution.
2) Patience
Customers who contact support are frequently frustrated. Treating them with respect, as well as showing patience during a challenging troubleshooting process, can go a long way.
3) Attentiveness
The ability to fully focus on the specific question or problem received is vital when providing stellar customer service. Representatives should not only pay attention to consumers’ experiences but also be able to provide mindful feedback.
4) Emotional intelligence
A great customer service representative should be able to relate to anyone. Sometimes, though, trouble can arise with frustrated customers. Instead of taking things personally, they should intuitively understand where the other person is coming from and easily navigate difficult conversations.
5) Clear communication skills
Miscommunications can lead to disappointment and frustration. The best customer service representatives are masters of simple and effective dialogue, solving problems quickly while leaving nothing to doubt.
6) Writing skills
Writing well entails getting as close to reality as words will allow. With much of customer support now happening via email and chat, being a good writer (and a fast typer) is the most undervalued skill to look for.
7) Creativity and resourcefulness
Finding imaginative ways to go the extra mile – and having the willingness to do so in the first place – is just as crucial as solving the problem.
How to Evaluate Your Applicants’ Customer Service Skills: Customer Service Skills Test
Evaluating your customer service applicants’ abilities can be hard, and relying on resumes alone isn’t a very effective strategy anymore. Fortunately, there is a way to determine whether an employee working as a customer service representative has the necessary skills before being hired.
Pre-employment tests have been shown to be efficient and effective because they provide unbiased and objective data that predicts job performance. These assessments can cover both soft and hard skills, including troubleshooting, decision-making, communication clarity, comprehension, and others.
How a Customer Service Skills Test Separates the Best from the Rest
While there are a number of pre-employment tests available, the customer service skills test that will ultimately be used depends solely on the needs of the role that needs to be filled. These tests measure desirable customer service behavioral traits and statistically compare them with other candidates who have taken the test.
Customer service aptitude tests are aligned with EEOC guidelines, which is helpful in assessing and hiring diverse teams while avoiding hiring bias.
The main advantage of using customer service aptitude tests is that hiring managers can independently screen for traits such as conscientiousness, service orientation, ability to maintain composure, self-management, flexibility, and the ability to work well with others.
Also, because customer service representatives typically work in large groups, it may be helpful to include a supervisor aptitude test for future potential team leads. Other skills that can be easily assessed with the help of pre-employment tests are dependability, helpful disposition, self-confidence, supervision, and candor.
Customer service tests can also be used when hiring for many roles in various industries, such as healthcare, financial services and even government.
- Customer Service Representative
- Customer Service Executive
- Customer Service Associate
- Customer Service Consultant
- Customer Service Analyst
- Customer Service Specialist
Customer Service Skills Test: Wrapping It Up
While every company should work hard to provide an excellent customer experience, customer service representatives are the ones on the front lines. Ensuring everyone’s pre- and post-purchase experiences are as positive as possible can sometimes be a difficult job, but perhaps the most vital job of all.
CSRs have unique insight into both the positive and negative aspects of users’ experiences. This is precisely why customer service reps must be well-equipped to handle any situation.
Customer service representatives who are calm and composed, driven to help people in need, and creative enough to actually do it can enrich and enhance customer experience.
Rather than relying on interviews, which can be unreliable predictors of future job performance, HR Teams and hiring managers should consider a validated customer service skills test to identify the character traits of a customer service representative.
Analyzing the results outlined in our blog comparing EmployTest to Test Gorilla, it’s important to choose a trusted and peer reviewed test provider that offers a variety of validated pre-employment assessment tests to help businesses properly assess candidates for these important skills.
If you are a business that wants to improve their bottom line, reduce customer churn, and increase customer satisfaction, request a free sample of a customer service skills test to see the process in action.