Employers may ask you about a time you provided excellent customer service during an interview for a customer-facing job to evaluate your skills and experience. Learning about steps and approaches for answering this interview question can help you prepare to answer it successfully in a job interview. In this article, we describe why employers ask about your past customer service successes, offer steps for answering this interview question and provide sample answers you can use to prepare for a job interview.
CUSTOMER SERVICE Interview Question! “When Have You Provided Excellent Customer Service?”
Example 1
“In my current position as a front desk associate for a hotel, I experienced a situation where a guests booking information didnt appear in our system. I communicated to the guest that the hotel was experiencing technical issues and asked to view the confirmation email to certify that the guest indeed had a reservation. Throughout the situation, I kept a calm and upbeat demeanor to help diffuse the guests tension while we addressed the issue.
I spoke to my manager to determine our options and my manager gave me the approval to give the guests an available room. I also offered the guests free room service for the inconvenience of having to wait for a hotel room. The guests were so satisfied that they left a glowing review online after their stay.”
How to answer “Describe a specific situation where you provided excellent customer service”
Here are steps you can take to answer this interview question:
Example 3
“When I worked for a retail clothing store, I delivered excellent customer service by placing online orders for customers who wanted to purchase products that werent in stock at our location. My ability to help customers receive specific products in a tangible way helped me hone my customer service skills and language.
When my manager noticed what I was doing to handle customers complaints about low stock, she praised me and asked me to teach other employees my procedure for placing online orders for customers. The extra work I did to exceed customers expectations convenienced customers by delivering products right to their homes and brought in money for the company.”
Example 2
“In a previous position as a sales representative for a software company, I often answered customer questions about how to use the software products. In one instance, a midsize company bought the software, but the companys employees expressed dissatisfaction and frustration with the software. I didnt want to lose a client that I knew could benefit from the software.
In response, I set up a training session to help answer questions about how to install and use the software. My in-depth knowledge about the products allowed me to answer employees technical questions and demonstrate how the teams could use the software to increase their efficiency. As a result of the extra time and effort I gave the client, employees successfully implemented the software and the client recommended my services to other businesses in its industry. This led to a 30% increase in my sales that quarter.”
7 sample answers to “Give an example of a time that you provided great customer service” interview question
* May also interest you: Top 10 Customer Service jobs interview questions and answers.
* Do not forget to check also: How to dress for an interview – 5 steps guide on choosing perfect clothes for the meeting with the hiring managers.
If you apply for your first job, tell them what you plan to do to deliver an excellent customer service to their customers
Everyone has to start somewhere. If they invited you for an interview, your lack of experience certainly isn’t s showstopper. But you can hardly talk about a situation when you delivered an excellent customer service. Hence you have two options at this point.
One is emphasizing the importance of such a service, and explain what it means to you–how you plan to deliver it. Second option is narrating a situation when you actually received such a service from someone–in a store, in a bank, from a flight attendant, etc. In both cases, you demonstrate that you understand what it means to provide an excellent service, though you haven’t provided it to anyone yet–simply because you lack the experience, the chance to did so in the past.
Special Tip: This question won’t be the only difficult scenario-based question you will face while interviewing for any decent job. You will face questions about prioritization, dealing with pressure, dealing with ambiguity, and other tricky scenarios that happen in the workplace, and when dealing with customers. If you want to make sure that you stand out with your answers and outclass your competitors, have a look at our Interview Success Package. Up to 10 premium answers to 31 tricky scenario based questions (+ more) will help you streamline your interview preparation, outclass your competitors, and eventually get the job.
What does good customer service mean to you?
Before entering an interview for a customer service job, get a handle on what good customer service means to you. Good customer service typically means providing timely, attentive, upbeat service to a customer, and making sure their needs are met in a manner that reflects positively on the company or business.
As with most questions like this one, a hiring manager asks them to learn many aspects about you and how well you will perform in a particular position. Typically, he or she wants to identify the candidates who show true passion for the position, and a good answer can make you stand out. Hiring managers may also want to find out about your outlook and mentality toward dealing and working with customers and how you would effectively respond when specific situations arise.
If you are concerned about how to answer this commonly asked question, there is no need to worry. You must prepare for it and have your answer ready to go when the time comes. The better you prepare yourself, the better and more effective your answer will be — and it will be more likely to impress the hiring manager.
FAQ
Can you give an example of when you have provided excellent customer service?
What is an example of exceptional customer service?
What is a good example of customer service interview question?
