Too many hiring managers focus on candidates’ work histories when filling customer service roles. They get excited when they read that the candidate has six-plus years of working in customer service.
But past work in customer service is not a reliable indicator of future success in serving your customers.
To consistently deliver the best possible customer interactions, you need to hire for emotional intelligence —hiring people with empathy, friendliness, and connection, and then training those people on your systems and policies. These are the people who will do the best job for you.
I will show you how to hire for emotional intelligence using eight strategic interviewing questions in this article.
The Goal In Interviewing for Customer Service Jobs
We’ll get to the interview questions in a moment. But, you must set up the interview properly for the questions to work. When interviewing candidates for customer service jobs, you want to get them relaxed and confident, so they can authentically communicate with you. Here are four things precisely for you to focus on in your interviews.
Make the Candidate Feel As Comfortable As Possible
Small talk is a fantastic way to get candidates relaxed. Talk about anything – traffic, the cup of coffee you spilled in your last meeting, or a unique piece of jewelry the person is wearing. You want candidates to relax because when people are relaxed, they are more communicative and genuine.
Get Candidates to Tell You Stories
When you ask interview questions, and I’ll give you several questions, encourage the person to provide detailed examples of how they recently handled specific situations. When candidates talk to you through stories and examples, you’ll get an honest and comprehensive insight into how the person is likely to perform in a similar situation at your company.
Laying the Interview Foundation
After making a little small talk and getting your candidate relaxed, set the interview up by saying something like, “I’m going to ask you some questions, and what I’m looking for is specific examples that illustrate how you have responded to specific situations in the past. I’ll be taking notes as you talk, but you keep going. Feel free to take your time and think about responses before answering the questions.”
Taking Notes
While your candidate is telling you stories of how they’ve handled specific situations in the past, you need to be taking lots of notes. I want you to jot things down so you can go back and closely examine how all of the people you interviewed measure up to your expectations. It will be easy to forget the many examples you’ve heard during interviews, so you must take meeting notes.
Sample Interview Questions
De-escalation Training for Customer Service & Soft Skills Training 
