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Employers discuss how to find a good customer service rep
By LaShell Stratton
CSR Competencies
Excellent customer service can be the key to establishing a superior identity in the marketplace. Reps that not only treat customers well, but are also great problem solvers who understand the needs of each client can help secure accounts and lead to increased sales.
Different managers have different hiring strategies. Jay Vento, president of ProForma Spectrum Graphics, West Caldwell, N.J., suggests hiring young college grads. Steve Reiss, president of Business Stationery Inc., Cleveland, says he often seeks candidates outside the print industry. “They can learn the process,” Reiss says. “They can learn the technology, but they need relationship management, which you can find in any industry.”
Brian Dorney of Caliper Human Strategies Inc. says a common mistake employers make when hiring CSRs is seeking the wrong traits in their candidates. “Most of us tend to like the person who mirrors us, but that’s a problem because I wouldn’t hire myself for every job,” Dorney says.
Employers also fail to consider external factors that may influence the hiring process like layoffs in other industries or the rate of retiring experienced people out-pacing the growth of new employees with experience. “Most of us look for candidates with experience, but with the exiting of the baby boomers from the job market, we don’t have that luxury anymore,” Dorney says. “You have to look for potential.” It has therefore become necessary to “redefine the job description in consideration of all the environmental factors that may influence it.”
To help employers narrow down the search for ideal candidates, Dorney says they should seek traits in a CSR found through tests Caliper conducted with several CSRs that were rated as superior by their employers. These tests are impartial to the race, sex, socioeconomic background, or experience of the test takers. The composite sketch showed that ideal CSRs are customer focused, pay attention to detail, have a strong urgency to get things done, are team players and have strong organizational skills.
But the tests also showed that top CSRs are more likely to be pragmatic rather than innovative, lack independence, often ask permission, will not bend the rules and can be overly structured. “They’re almost like the good soldier,” Dorney says.
Dorney notes that the trick is to understand the ideal candidate’s strengths and weaknesses and make sure the job description fits accordingly. “What we find is that when people are given tasks that are outside of their job description, you start to see work production go down and you have higher turnover rates,” he says. But “if you can match someone’s competency and skills to the job description, they will out perform others by up to 30 percent.”
For more information on customer service in the printing industry, go to www.sspp.org.