Customers may be the essence of a company’s existence, but it is actually people working in the customer service department who are responsible for ensuring that customers stay happy and provide repeat business.
People working as part of a customer service department are in constant contact with customers, so companies deem it essential to hire the right people.
Interviews for customer service assistant positions are designed to determine many things in a candidate, including people skills, ability to handle stress, and communication abilities.
These things, coupled with many more, are what make a customer service assistant truly well-suited for this position.
If you read the job description of a customer service assistant correctly, you will know that there is much responsibility involved for people who work in this role.
You may be asked anything ranging from the standard “tell me about yourself” question to the more complicated situation-based one.
During either of these, it is up to you to show your mettle and knowledge of working in a customer service assistant role.
Related: Customer Service Resume
Given below are some questions that you might encounter during an interview for this position:
Customer Service Assistant Interview Questions and Answers
1. How would you describe good customer service?
If the end result of a customer-company encounter is a pleasant one, I would say that good customer service is responsible.
Knowing what a customer is looking for, helping him achieve his buying targets, and ensuring that he leaves happy (with a promise to come back for another shopping experience) is what good customer services are all about.
2. Have you ever dealt with an angry customer? Looking back now, would you have done something different to handle the situation?
I once encountered a customer who found fault in all the products that the company was offering.
Something was not good enough because of its color; others were bad because they were either too pricey or not pricey enough. After a harrowing three hours, he lost his patience and began yelling at a sales representative for not having enough “choice of things” at the store.
I intervened and politely informed him that we had displayed all 88 types of merchandise that we had and that is all we had to offer at the time. If he would come a few weeks later, maybe he would find something to his liking.
I don’t think that I would have done anything differently. I could not be rude but had to make him leave the premises so that other customers would not be disturbed.
3. What type of team structure have you worked within?
I was hired to oversee the work of a small team of customer service representatives within a small retail operation.
Additionally, I was required to guide them, assist them in meeting their service objectives, and resolve complaints and grievances. I reported to my supervisor with whom I exchanged notes on a daily basis.
4. What are some of the important duties of a customer service assistant in a retail environment?
Customer service assistants provide tier one services to a company’s clients.
They assist them with making purchases, handling returns and refunds, and are responsible for ensuring good aftersales services.
In case there is a problem, it is up to him or her to ensure timely resolution so that customers are not affected adversely.
5. Speaking of adversity, how would you handle a particularly dissatisfied customer?
The first thing I do when I have to deal with a disgruntled customer is to calmly figure out why he/she is dissatisfied in the first place. I would then try to resolve the issue to the best of my abilities. If there is something that I am not qualified to handle, I will ask a supervisor to intervene.
6. There are 3 elements that play important roles in the retail business; price, product value, and communication. Which do you think has a key role?
From a customer service point of view, I would say communication plays a key role. Recurring business usually occurs partly because patrons like the approach of the staff, so it is important to be communicative and responsive.
7. What strengths and weaknesses have you discovered while working in a customer service role?
I am a good listener, which is why I almost always succeed in helping customers find what they are looking for. I am also patient – a customer can take a long time deciding, and I will not succumb to fidgeting.
A weakness that I have recently discovered is that I often provide customers with more information than asked for. I believe that it can become a bit overwhelming for them. But I am in the process of training myself to be concise.
8. Tell us about one of your recent achievements in this role.
Recently, I received a call from an old customer who insisted that we owed him money because of some apparent “mess up” five years ago. I looked through the records and realized that he was mistaken and informed him so.
During the call, I applied my best upselling skills and managed to convince him to activate his buying account with us. It turned out that he was deemed as one of the company’s best corporate clients and had brought in a lot of business previously.