Manager Call Center

Talk the interviewer through a policy you developed, structuring your answer around these recognized steps.

☛ Clearly identify the goals for the policy

☛ Ensure correlation between the customer service goals and the company mission and objectives

☛ Identify the specific processes that will result in goal accomplishment

☛ Develop standard operating procedures and guidelines for the processes

☛ Train your staff in the implementation of the new customer service policy

Describe the metrics you use and why. Common metrics include:

☛ first response time

☛ first contact resolution

☛ problem resolution time

☛ resolution rates

☛ escalation rates

☛ customer retention

☛ referrals

☛ call volumes

There’s no shortage of customer-service-gone-wrong in today’s world, and one of the most important things you can learn about a candidate is what they’ve gleaned from these experiences.

When a candidate can step back and think about a customer interaction and gain insight from it, they have the ability to provide positive experiences when they are on the other side of the interaction.

Demonstrates analytical skills.

This question requires you to understand the benefits of setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound) objectives and developing action plans.

In line with the over-arching goals of the company, I would set personal goals for myself and my team which I would subsequently break down into weekly SMART objectives. I would monitor these closely through general in-office communication and a series of team meetings, as well as through scheduling individual appraisal meetings at 3-, 6- and 12-month intervals.

Customer service professions must deal with different customers with different personalities that are all having the similar issues on a regular basis. It can be difficult to hear the same complaints over and over, but it’s a reality of the job.

The only answer to this is that you love talking to people and that you are also a good listener. Say that your ideal job involves talking with people to help resolve problems and to provide support and information.

Give an example of how you have used your communication skills beneficially in a previous position

Try to be inventive and honest here. If you have not done any call centre work you could talk about experience in meetings, discussing strategies with colleagues. If you have done any voluntary work, especially if it involved speaking with people on a regular basis, this is a good time to mention it.

Shows adaptability and stress handling skills.

An ideal answer to this question will demonstrate that you are capable of assessing a situation and implementing improvements.

I started to notice that a lot of customers were complaining about feeling patronized by my agents. In response to this, I listened to the calls these complaints stemmed from and realized that words such as ‘wonderful’ were being over used.

I then had a meeting with the worst offenders in my team and suggested changes that they could make to correct this behavior. After this meeting, customer complaints reduced and sales increased.

Discuss how you identified the opportunity for cost saving and how you implemented appropriate measures to improve operational efficiency. Examples include:

☛ cross training employees to handle different functions

☛ scheduling employees according to call and query volumes

☛ introducing new technologies and applications

☛ providing information via an interactive website or other digital channel

Shows ability to work with others.

This is a bit of a tricky question to answer, as how you answer can determine whether your interviewer thinks you are too strong-minded or, worse, too sheep-like in your approach to work. An ideal answer will show a degree of balance.

Throughout my term of employment, I keep a constant note of any areas that I feel can be improved. But I only present these concerns to my boss when I have developed in-depth and realistic solutions.

The frequency of these meetings is determined by how stable the company is. If the company implements several changes throughout the course of the year, I am more inclined to provide regular feedback to my boss.

Your answer: My goal is to have a very short learning curve on this particular product portfolio. By doing this, I can aim to be among the top performers in the next 3-6 months. After showing consistent results for another 6 to 12 months, I will aim to become a team leader in the same company because I believe that growing with the same company will give me a strong foundation for my career growth.

Say that you stay focused on the job and stay organised to ensure that you all tasks are completed within good time. If for any reason a target may not be attainable, you will raise this with your team leader to see if there are available resources elsewhere.

A team leader will always appreciate being alerted to the risk of a target being missed because they have their own targets to meet.

If they say things like, “hanging out with friends and watching movies”, they probably aren’t the go-getter type you’re looking for. Great talent has passion outside of the office: Perhaps they like to cycle, play guitar in a band, or they have a side gig (what better way to show a hard work ethic!) In any event, while ‘hanging out with friends’ is a good social trait, you should certainly look for the candidate that offers more to this answer.

This can be your answer: No, my work ethic is strong, so there’s been no reason for conflict. However, at times I have had disagreements on how to resolve a particular problem for a customer, but I have always been able to talk it out and find a solution that my team leader has supported.