It takes an enormous amount of time and effort to run a small business. Between quality assurance, marketing, inventory, handling day-to-day customer demands, dealing with finances, staying current with market trends, legal compliance, maintenance and upkeep for the physical structure as well as the technical systems employed, the time devoted to hiring and training new staff, too often receives less attention than it deserves.
As difficult as it is to find good, reliable employees, it can be particularly difficult when hiring for customer service as owners don’t always know what they’re looking for. And when no hard skills are needed, they frequently hire people who are unqualified, thinking that anyone can do the job.
Not knowing what they’re looking for, desperate due to being short-staffed they do a quickie interview and “hope” the applicant will just work out, ignoring any obvious red flags in the interview.
After 30 years of hiring for customer service jobs in sales departments then customer service people to work at my Family Entertainment Centre, I’ve learned the hard way, not to rush interviews, no matter what else is pressing. In the time allotted you need to give the applicant your full attention. And when red flags appear, don’t deny what you’re seeing. Don’t hope that somehow, they’ll work out.
If you’re willing to be patient, put in the extra time and effort looking for the right people, you’ll save yourself many of the extra hours you normally spend fixing problems. Problems created by the disinterested staff who shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
When you’re hiring for customer service, you’re looking for soft skills: how do they make you feel; do you like being around them? Are they good-natured? Smart? How responsible do they seem?
Take your time so you can get a real sense of them. Find out what they’re passionate about, things they might love and hate about past jobs or organizations they belonged to; what they accomplished or didn’t. Add follow-up questions after their initial answers, to get past the prepared responses they’ve rehearsed. And if you’re uncertain about them, ask one of your veteran staff to join in and get their feedback afterwards.
Meanwhile 2-3 references are a must and be sure to call each one afterwards. You need to have some sense of the person’s connections to the world outside of your business.
People being interviewed for a job are on their absolute very best behavior. You’re seeing them as “nice” as they can possibly be. So, take note when you see a flash of hostility, condescension, or passive aggressiveness. Because there’s a lot more where that came from.
Hiring for customer service is an ongoing process. Larger companies have HR departments, small businesses don’t. No matter how set you feel with your current employees, the need will arise (sooner than you think) to hire someone new. Be prepared. Keep notes on recent applicants you like, friends of current staff that might be available…referrals from your best, current employees are a great source of candidates.
Once hired, new employees need continuing attention and training. Give it to them, no matter what else is going on, even if you think it’s taking longer than it should. They’ll not only become more effective when all their questions are resolved. But they’ll feel better and more confident about you and your place of business.
And when you do find great employees, treat them like gold! They deserve it. Not only is it the right thing to do. But it also helps create a happy work environment, which in turn makes finding great employees that much easier.
The Little Customer Service Book
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