Now that your business has finally taken off, there are a few changes that you should implement so as to manage the growing workload and stress. From expanding your marketing campaigns to hiring new employees, a growing enterprise has to do it all to ensure its position in the market. Moreover, with the sudden shift in customer preferences, it becomes all the more important that you focus on strengthening the communication channels and develop a robust helpdesk based on cloud or other latest technologies. A client service representative becomes an important part of the support team monitoring all the customer interactions and gathering valuable leads.
Need For A Customer Services Reps
Establishing your own business enterprise is no easy feat, it requires consistency and a lot of hard work. However, as your business expands and starts getting recognized, it becomes increasingly difficult to cater to everything on your own. Running an organization is not a one man job; you need a competent and efficient team of managers and skilled employees to handle the different aspects of your company. A customer service representative is perhaps the smartest solution for a growing enterprise to manage and monitor the tremendous work pressure and deadlines. Read on to know more about the many qualities of a customer rep and how to hire the best support team for your business:
Qualities To Look For
Hiring a client services representative is not an easy feat. You need to look into the most intricate of aspects and qualities of a person before you trust him with your business. Mentioned below the essential defining qualities that every competent customer support agent must possess:
Clarity of Action
A customer representative is responsible for handling the entire support team and customer help desk. This involves collecting leads, channelizing online traffic, converting the leads to potential sales and replying to the client queries and suggestions. He should be smart enough to handle emergency situations and reduce the risk of loss.
Sincerity and Attentiveness
Sincerity and attentiveness are two qualities that almost every employee must possess. However, the features are mandatory in a customer rep. Customer support agents and representatives have to deal with all sorts of customer feedback and queries, not all of them positive. Therefore it requires immense patience and politeness to deal with the demanding clients.
Presence of Mind
With the wide communication channels that connect the consumer to the company, it becomes all the more necessary that you hire an agent who is absolutely clear of his plan of action. He should have an in-depth knowledge about the product or service so as to answer all the customer queries efficiently.
Communication Skills
Excellent communication skills are part and parcel of the job. As a representative customer agent, the candidate will have to interact with thousands of customers online. With a pleasant demeanor and impressive communication skills, your support team can quickly win the trust and appeal of the client.
Create A Standard Job Description
Now that you know what to expect out of a customer service representative let us move on to discuss the more practical aspects of the hiring process. Before you begin sending out applications, make sure that you put up a job description so as to inform the potential candidates of the responsibilities and tasks the job entails. The job description should also mention the company details, remuneration and other technicalities of the position. Post the application notices on a popular job portal (this usually requires a nominal registration fee), and you are ready to go.
Screen The Applicants With Test Projects
Once you have sent out the applications, all you can do is wait for the interested candidates to submit their resumes and forms. Shortlist the ones best suited to the job before moving them up the next round. The screening process involves assigning some tasks or projects to the prospective candidates. Conduct a written test or a joint venture where the applicants can prove their mettle. Resumes are not the perfect judge of the applicant’s abilities, crosscheck whether they are skilled enough to complete the practical assignments and prove to be an asset for the company.
Interview The Top Candidates
The select few who manage to clear the screening process and test projects are then moved onto the direct interview stage. Here the candidate is questioned by the top management of the company. However, avoid asking the cliché questions that don’t really give you an insight into the candidate. Opt for role-playing scenarios and interactive sessions instead to gauge their problem-solving abilities and presence of mind.
The bottom line
Finding a qualified customer service representative might seem like an arduous task, but with careful screening, analysis, and practical projects you can pick the perfect candidate for the job.