When we think about great customer service, we often think about how to treat our customers the best that we can. But great customer service actually begins with the hiring process. If you hire the right people, you are taking a first step to great customer service.
Ground Rules
First of all, there are two ground rules that we need to set when talking about SurveyGizmo customer service and the hiring process:
- SurveyGizmo uses the term customer differently then some other organizations. We consider customers anyone that we interact with throughout the working day. A customer can be someone that purchased your product, but also the mailman, your co-workers, the person that waters the office plants and your supervisor. So, when we talk about customer service, we are taking about great service to all of these individuals.
- We adhere to the 5-90-5 rule as prescribed by Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service. Basically, it states that 5 percent of people are “born service providers.” About 90 percent of people are willing to give good service if they know what it is and have the opportunity to learn the skills needed to deliver it. And there are 5 percent who — for whatever reason — just can’t or won’t give great service regardless of how much training they receive. We strive to hire the born service providers, or ones that we can teach.
Start at the Very Beginning
The beginning is a very good place to start. Knowing that great service starts with hiring the right people, we start the process of great customer service training during the application process. With this, we can evaluate each candidate and see where they fall on the great service spectrum.
Our application process is not easy; in fact it is quite hard. We have multiple individual and group interviews and an assignment. Throughout each step, we look for cues for great service; those candidates that go the extra mile, quickly learn the SurveyGizmo application, and have positive reactions to constructive feedback. By viewing their behavior, we can get a clue at how they will interact with customers.
If they are not providing us, their potential employer with great customer service, will they do it for SurveyGizmo’s customers?
By starting the training from our very first interaction with a candidate, not only can we determine if they have what it takes to provide good service, but we also start from day one reinforcing our service-based culture. We also model this behavior by offering great service to each potential candidate.
Learn More
We preach it; we practice it, and now we are offering a chance for you to learn it: Great Customer Service!
Are you interested in learning more about providing your customer with great customer service? Why don’t you joins us for our 2-day workshop on Building Customer Happiness? Great customer service is at the heart of everything that we do and the foundation of our success. We have decided to share our proven techniques with you! Find out all you need to know here.
After reading about our hiring process, are you even more interested in joining the SurveyGizmo team? We are a growing company and often have open positions. Check out our current open positions here.