{"id":221,"date":"2015-04-26T20:05:29","date_gmt":"2015-04-26T20:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/csm210469\/?p=221"},"modified":"2022-10-21T15:44:16","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T15:44:16","slug":"hiring-customer-service-representatives-that-are-a-perfect-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/hiring-customer-service-representatives-that-are-a-perfect-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiring Customer Service Representatives that are a Perfect Fit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Have you ever phoned a customer service department only to receive an attitude rather than help?<\/strong><\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-8417\" src=\"http:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/csagents.jpg\" alt=\"Customer service reps\" width=\"500\" height=\"262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/csagents.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/csagents-300x157.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/>\n<p>Not a pleasant experience! It is quite obvious that the person on the other end of the phone is not pleased with his\/her job.<\/p>\n<p>This has a tremendous impact on your customers!<\/p>\n<p>When you reached the customer service rep with an attitude, what did you think? How did you feel?<\/p>\n<p>Did you question your decision to buy from that company? All these things come into play when your customers don\u2019t receive excellent service\u2026\u00a0especially from the Customer Service Department.<\/p>\n<p>The problem can be caused by a number of factors such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>lack of ability to deal with stress<\/li>\n<li>lack of sensitivity toward customers<\/li>\n<li>overbearing or threatening voice<\/li>\n<li>impatience<\/li>\n<li>critical thinking<\/li>\n<li>easily excitable<\/li>\n<li>lack of job satisfaction<\/li>\n<li>and others<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But how would you know this employee would respond that way after you hired him\/her? Applicants always put their best foot forward during an interview. How can you see past the smiles and polish to truly know this employee will perform well as a CSR?<\/p>\n<p>Most people who are customer service oriented fall into two categories within the a profile called the DISC Behavioral Model. They are:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Influence and Steadiness<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These are the two styles that focus on people which are extremely important in the area of customer service. There are also some other important\u00a0characteristics about those two groups:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Influence<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>social and verbal aggressiveness<\/li>\n<li>optimism<\/li>\n<li>good persuasion skills<\/li>\n<li>vision of the big picture<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Steadiness<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>people-oriented loyal to those they identify with<br \/>\ngood listener<\/li>\n<li>patient and empathetic<\/li>\n<li>likes a team environment<\/li>\n<li>long service is deemed important<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A combination of Influence and Steadiness make for excellent customer service reps because they focus on people, they are good listeners and\u00a0communicators, positive and patient.<\/p>\n<p>Also, this combination of styles lends itself to people who like to continually work in a stable environment, appreciate the security of being located in\u00a0an office and receiving a steady pay check; but also like the challenge and excitement of dealing with new people on a regular basis.<\/p>\n<p>In order to hire customer service reps that are a \u201cperfect fit\u201d, you need to locate those who have these attributes. To do so, look for the following\u00a0\u201cclues\u201d to their behavioral style which might show up during your interview:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Influence \u2013<\/strong> wears designer label clothes, enjoys personal development activities, likes magazines such as People, Inc., Success and Psychology\u00a0Today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steadiness \u2013<\/strong> casual dresser, likes group activities, enjoys magazines such as Reader\u2019s Digest, National Geographic and Better Homes &amp; Gardens.<\/p>\n<p>Creating a good match between your new hire and the position will help to achieve loyalty, longevity and job satisfaction for both the employee and\u00a0your business.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kathigrahamleviss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kathi Graham-Leviss<\/a> is Certified Coach and Behavioral Analyst who assists companies with defining and developing their Human Resource practices.\u00a0\u00a9 Kathi Graham-Leviss<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how to see past the smiles and polish to truly know this employee will perform well as a CSR.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[126],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/153"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36025,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions\/36025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}