What Does Customer Service Mean to You
When given the opportunity to work in the job of your dreams, it’s typically a good idea to start preparing for the interview immediately.
One common question many interviewers tend to ask is “What does customer service mean to you?”– Especially within a retail, hospitality, or service based business.
Follow along for techniques and examples on how to answer it properly.
Questions Answered:
- What is customer service?
- How to answer what customer service means to you
- Job interview example answers
- Top customer service jobs
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How to Answer "Tell Me About Yourself" in a Job Interview
Business is all about dealing with customers, and correctly answering this question will enable you to outshine the other interviewees.
What Is Customer Service?
Customer service is the support and assistance an organization offers its customers before, during, and after a purchase is made.
While person-to-person support often provides the best solution, chatbots and other self-service support techniques are a growing trend that help customers find their own answers.
8 tips for answering “what does customer service mean to you”
1. Start by Stating Personal Experiences
Interviews are usually highly tense environments.
When you are asked what customer service means to you, it’s wise to start by sharing your personal customer service experiences. This will ease the tension in the room, placing the interviewers in your point of view.
You should talk about what your best and worst customer experience’s have been so far. Doing so will give the interviewer confidence that you understand both ends of the customer service spectrum.
Inform your interviewers how these experiences changed your approach to customer service.
Explain how you think the business with the best customer service experience could improve. Moreover, tell them how the business with the worst customer service experience could perform better.
2. Is the Customer Always Right?
“The customer is always right!” This is a common statement within the customer service industry.
When answering the customer service question during an interview, it’s proper to bring up this statement as most employers have different thoughts on it.
The most appropriate response to give when asked if the customer is always right is “definitely”. This is because the customer knows what they need, and the business exists to meet the customer’s needs.
The customer is always right, but they might not have the best approach to finding the solution to their problem.
Customer service’s role is to listen to the client, find out what they want, and figure out a way to provide them with exceptional service.
Sometimes it may be impossible to get them exactly what they want. No matter the situation, it’s customer service’s role to ensure the clients are satisfied with the solutions they receive.
3. Share Your Idea of Excellent Customer Service
Good customer service keeps customers coming back to purchase a company’s products and services. Excellent customer service enables an organization to win its customers’ loyalty to the point where they are willing to support it through any challenge that arises.
It’s no surprise that most of the businesses with outstanding customer service are also very successful. Share your idea of what excellent customer service.
4. Proper Attitude Is the Key to Customer Service Excellence
A proper attitude is a key that unlocks the door to customer service excellence.
You should point out that every company should take steps to ensure its customer service department engages with clients using a proper attitude.
If your customer service team is radiating a positive vibe, it can help calm down even the most furious customers.
Thus, you have a better chance at solving their problem are are more likely to be a returning customer. This will help solidify your brands’ reputation.
5. Customer Service Should Exceed Expectations
While most enterprises usually go for the bare minimum of customer service, your belief should be that customer service should exceed expectations.
Customers should be amazed by the quality of customer service they receive, not left wishing you had done more.
The easiest way for an enterprise to exceed customer expectations is to make customer service easily accessible.
Moreover, you should comprehensively address the client’s issues and give timely responses. It’s best to take the approach of honesty from the very beginning.
Explain when things might and might not be possible and what you are doing to address the problem.
6. The Customer Service Process Should Be Efficient
Explain to the interviewers that to you, excellent customer service also involves having an efficient process to address problems.
The time between when a client asks for assistance and when it is handled should be as short as possible. The clients shouldn’t feel like seeking customer service is a difficult task to undertake.
7. Customer Service Should Be Proactive, Not Reactive
A company’s customer service department can fulfill its mandate better by anticipating problems before they arise.
This allows it to coordinate with other departments to find a swift solution to the problem.
You should explain to your interviewers that taking a proactive approach to customer service puts the company in the correct position to provide exceptional customer service.
8. Customer Service Should Be Sensitive and Detail-Oriented
A company will prosper if it is sensitive to the customers needs. This is because it will go out of its way to provide customers with the assistance they need.
Being sensitive means taking the time to listen to the client to understand what they need.
As you listen, also ask about the details. Good customer service is detail-oriented; take time to hear the details of the customer’s challenges to solve them comprehensively.
Related:
- Free Resume Review
- How to Prepare for a Video Interview
- Second Round Interview Questions
- How to Announce Your New Job on LinkedIn
Job Interview Example Answers
Once you’ve ran through the 8 resources above, it’s time to form your own answer. Here are some example answers on how you might respond to the question, what does customer service mean to you?
- “To me, customer service means exceeding the client’s expectations and doing what is necessary to keep the customer satisfied. Resolving customer issues with a positive attitude should be a top priority for any business. In my role as a Service Representative for…(example of when you provided great customer service)”
- “Providing good customer service means consistently going above and beyond to help solve the customer’s problems. For example, I recently…(example of when you provided great customer service)”
- “I would define customer service as making sure the customer has a pleasant experience in any way possible before leaving the store/office. That could be through handling complaints, greeting customers, or helping them find the right product. When I was at…(example of when you provided great customer service).”
- “Customer service to me not only means assisting the customers with whatever is needed but also making sure they are treated like I would want to be treated in their place. When I worked at…(example of when you provided great customer service).”
Top Customer Service Roles
Almost all service related roles today have some aspect of customer service to them. Here are a few roles that require great customer service.
- Account Manager
- Client Relationship Specialist
- Admin Assistant
- Flight Attendant
- Cashier
- Call Center Representative
- Customer Service Representative
- Technical Support
- Implementation Specialist
What are 3 important qualities of customer service?
There are many important qualities that are important for customer service representatives to possess. Here are three key qualities:
- Patience: Customer service can be a challenging and stressful job, and it is important for representatives to be able to remain patient and calm even when dealing with difficult or angry customers.
- Empathy: The ability to understand and relate to the feelings of others is critical in customer service. Representatives should be able to put themselves in the customer’s shoes and show genuine concern for their needs.
- Communication skills: Effective communication is essential for customer service representatives. They should be able to clearly and concisely convey information to customers, as well as listen actively and ask questions to fully understand the customer’s needs and concerns.
“If the company’s customer service is excellent, 78% of consumers will do business with a company again after a mistake.”
— Salesforce Research
Wrapping Up | what does customer service mean to you answer
Now that you know one of the primary interview questions for customer service related jobs is, “What does customer service mean to you?” you can practice your answers.
To recap our techniques for answering the question:
- Open with Personal Experiences of Customer Service
- The Customer is Always (ish) Right
- Share Your Idea of Excellent Service
- Proper Attitude is Key
- Exceed Expectations
- There Must Be a Process
- Be Proactive
- Remain Sensitive and Detail Oriented
Prepare and rehearse answering this question before the interview. It will enable you to feel more confident and comfortable while discussing the role with a hiring manager.
We hope this helps and best of luck during your next job interview!
Title: “What Does Customer Service Mean to You?” Interview Answers
Category: the Interview
Tags: what does good customer service mean to you best answer, what are 3 important qualities of excellent customer service, what is customer service short answer, tell us what exceptional customer service means to you, what does customer happiness mean to you, why do you want to work in customer service, what does customer service mean to you, job interview, customer service position, customer service roles, customer service professional
Author: Reid is a contributor to theJub. He’s an employment and marketing enthusiast who studied business before taking on various recruiting, management, and marketing roles. More from the author. | Author Profile
FAQs
Why is customer service important explain your answer? ›
Customer service is important because it inspires customer loyalty and makes employees' jobs easier. This, in turn, helps businesses grow. By providing great customer service, organizations can recover customer acquisition costs, retain talent, and foster brand loyalty.
How do you answer please tell us about your customer service experience? ›- Research the organization. Before your interview, research the organization. ...
- Think about the job. ...
- Highlight your most relevant role. ...
- Share a specific example. ...
- Discuss relevant skills. ...
- Ask the interviewer a question.
"Customer service means listening to customers and helping them resolve their issues quickly.
What does customer service mean to you good answers? ›The short answer is, “making sure the customer is happy.” A longer answer is, “ensuring the customer or client is satisfied with the product or service provided.” Your interviewer wants to know what you consider quality customer service.
What is a good example of excellent customer service? ›An excellent customer service experience example is to hand-write a thank you message when a customer orders online. You can find other ways to welcome new customers if a hand-written note doesn't fit. You might send a personalized welcome email, call a new customer or record a brief video welcome for each client.
What can I say about customer service experience? ›Customer service experience is the overall experience of a customer based on interaction with a company's sales, support and service teams before, during and after a purchase.
What is customer service in simple words? ›Customer service is the support you offer your customers — both before and after they buy and use your products or services — that helps them have an easy and enjoyable experience with you. Offering amazing customer service is important if you want to retain customers and grow your business.
Why is customer service important to you interview question? ›“To me, customer service means ensuring that the client or customer has the best experience possible. I've learned that by listening to the customer's desires, concerns, and perspective, I'm able to figure out the best way to solve any issues that come up.
What are the 3 most important things in customer service? ›Essentially, the 3 important qualities of customer service center around three “p”s: professionalism, patience, and a “people-first” attitude. Although customer service varies from customer to customer, as long as you're following these guidelines, you're on the right track.
What is customer service and why is it important essay? ›Customer Service is the act of dealing with the customers needs by giving and delivering professional, helpful, high quality service and help some time recently, amid, and after the customer's requirements are met. Customer Service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.