Some businesses – healthcare providers, mortgage lenders, nonprofits, government agencies and others – are seeing a surge in service requests. Among other things, these employers need to recruit customer service representatives, including call center representatives.

But how do you go about hiring these professionals? Because excellence in customer service plays a key role in today’s particularly challenging business environment, companies must recruit customer service representatives who meet or exceed industry standards. Here is an overview of common customer service positions, average starting salaries, interview questions, and tips to ease the process of hiring telecommuters.

Responsibilities of customer service representatives

The first big step in recruiting customer service representatives is to write or update job descriptions to include all the important details. Make sure job descriptions paint a true picture of the type of employee you are looking for. Using them to write your vacancies will increase your chances of attracting the right candidates.

Every business is unique, but here are four customer service positions and typical roles for each.

1. Customer service representative

• Perform data entry
• Make and answer phone calls (online: chat with clients)
• Answer questions, provide information, offer technical support and resolve problems

2. Senior Customer Service Representative

• Carry out the above responsibilities
• Manage database files
• Act as a resource person in the event of a referral to the next level
• Provide follow-up reports on issues and their resolution
• Train and supervise employees as needed

3. Call center representative

• In an inbound call center: respond to customer requests, process orders and route calls to the appropriate departments
• In an outbound call center: calling businesses and consumers – with or without an existing account – to offer products and services, obtain customer information and find potential customers
• Handling a high volume of calls

4. Senior Call Center Representative

• In addition to understanding the duties of a call center representative, this position requires in-depth knowledge of accounts, products and services, as well as additional experience.
• Communicate proactively with suppliers and potential customers
• Outperform products or increase services for existing customers through upselling techniques
• Provide training or management of call center representatives, as needed

Required skills

Customer service representatives should also be familiar with and understand the company’s products and services, as they may need to answer questions. They must also know how to enter data. People skills are another crucial skill in this role; these days it is even more important than ever. Candidates must be excellent communicators in order to be able to answer clients’ questions and reassure them with professionalism.

Questions to ask when hiring customer service representatives

Due to containment measures in effect across much of the country, the majority of job interviews are now conducted remotely. Since many customer services and call center jobs are remote in nature, conducting interviews by phone or video is a great way to assess candidates’ communication skills and professionalism. Questions addressing the main aspects of the work:

• What is the candidate’s behavior during the interview?
• Is he polite? Does he listen carefully to your questions? Are his answers complete?
• Does he ask his own questions if he needs to clarify certain points?

Here are some additional questions to ask candidates for Customer Service Representative positions after their communication skills and professionalism have been assessed, as well as questions to ask yourself after the interview.

• Can you tell me about a time when you had a great customer service experience? Does the candidate resolve the issue expeditiously or does he show empathy? We all have an opinion on what defines “good service”. Asking this question will help you determine if the candidate is suitable for the company.
• How do you handle calls from unhappy customers? Calls from frustrated customers are a major part of the job, so knowing how the candidate approaches them is important. How would he defuse the situation? What is the first thing to do when the caller is angry?
• What do you know about our products and services? Does the candidate’s response show that they have researched your company before the job interview? While a candidate doesn’t have to be an expert in your products and services, they should at the very least be familiar with them.

The salary scale for customer service representatives

Ready to hire? Here are the salary midpoints (or national median salaries) for four customer service positions taken from OfficeTeam’s Salary Guide.

• Customer service representative: $ 35,750
• Call center representative: $ 40,000
• Senior Customer Service Representative: $ 46,750
• Senior Call Center Representative: $ 48,500