Your customer service representative is the face of your company. They’re the people customers come to with questions, and they’re the team that ensures a positive customer experience.
That’s why, when hiring customer service reps, or CSRs, adaptability is the most important competency and greatest indicator of a successful hire.
Why adaptability matters
The customer service representative upholds your company’s image and strives to ensure that every customer is happy with their service. That image and experience are even more important during times of economic turbulence.
An adaptable CSR creates opportunities by building connections and navigating difficult conversations to better understand your customers’ needs. They do this by adapting quickly to change and through confident decision-making on the fly.
What other competencies help define a successful CSR?
If adaptability takes the gold medal for CSR competencies, customer focus, dependability and stress tolerance round out the top four.
Because the CSR is the face and voice of your company, the best customer service reps are laser-focused on creating memorable experiences for your customers. When hiring customer service reps, finding the right candidate with these competencies helps ensure consistent results and the ability to navigate through customer complaints to positive outcomes.
How are CSRs and inside sales different?
Countless business owners and even sales managers confuse CSRs with inside salespeople. Both are valued gears in the sales mechanism, but inside salespeople thrive on making orders, and CSRs excel at inspiring customer loyalty.
In a sales environment, your CSR is the person doing everything from taking orders to data entry and answering phones, while the inside salesperson focuses on building new business, cross-selling and upselling.
At Hire Me A Salesperson, we have a detailed report that measures your CSR candidate’s core competencies. Hiring customer service reps? Contact us online or call 1-888-966-2284 for a sample of the report.