Call Center Customer Service Interview Questions and Answers

You applied for a call center customer service job and have got an interview scheduled with the call center manager. Congrats! So if you have a call center customer service interview coming up for any organization, make sure you read this article very well because it will teach you how to pass your job interview. Call Center Customer Service Interview Questions and Answers.

Call Center Customer Service Interview Questions and Answers

• Question #1: Tell me about yourself.

Answer: “First of all, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to be interviewed for this call center position today.

I would describe myself as somebody who is very positive, I am conscientious in my work, I am hardworking and I am resilient so I can deal with difficult scenarios as and when required.

Before I applied for this call center job, I spent some time reading the job description to make sure that I have the necessary skills and qualities to carry out my duties to the standards that you would expect.

I am professional, I am a strong communicator and I am able to always follow rules and procedures. I would also describe myself as somebody who is a fast learner. I am confident I will be able to get through lots of calls during the working day and I will always meet call handling targets.

I also have previous experience in customer facing roles, and I think that gives me an advantage in this call center position. Outside of work, I keep myself fit and active, which helps me to maintain concentration levels whilst I am at work.

So if you hire me, I will always be reliable, I will be flexible, adaptable and I will always act as a positive role model for the company whenever I am answering calls.”

• Question #2: Why do you want to work in a call center?

Answer: “I want to work in a call center for several reasons. So the first reason is I enjoy working in a busy environment where everyone is working towards challenging targets. So I’m a fast worker and I thrive under pressure and call center work will certainly give me that.

I’m also attracted to the reliability call center work gives you. So I’m saving up for a deposit to buy my first house, so I need reliable and consistent work and I will get that when working in a call center.

I also want to work in a call center because I enjoy communicating with lots of different people. So I will have to communicate with my call center manager, the other call center handlers. Also on a daily basis I will deal with lots and lots of different customers, and I’ll be responsible for dealing with their challenges and problems, and I find that very attractive.”

• Question #3: What skills and qualities are needed to work in a call center?

Answer: “There are various skills and qualities needed to work in a call center. You need first and foremost, excellent communication skills, so you have to communicate in a concise and confident manner, and you also have to be a good listener and ask the right questions.

You need to be a good company brand ambassador. So you need to be a positive role model for the company and you need to have knowledge of the company’s products and services so you can answer any questions the customers will have.

You need to obviously be reliable, flexible, and adaptable.

You need to represent the company positively in all of the work you do, remain calm under pressure and you need to have a positive, confident, and resilient nature.”

• Question #4: How would you deal with an irate customer?

Answer: “Whenever dealing with an irate customer, I would make sure that I followed company procedures and I would remain calm. It’s really important to remain calm and to listen to the customer. That is vital.

So when a customer is annoyed or they are irate by listening to them and by acknowledging that you understand their issue, it helps to resolve the situation quickly. So just by saying to the customer, I would feel the same if I were in your situation can really help to calm them down. So I would demonstrate really good listening skills.

I would let the customer vent their frustrations and at the appropriate time I would ask them questions and I would reassure them and then put a plan of action in place, a suggestion of what I would do to resolve the complaint or the issue for them. I would then check that they were happy with that, and I would then follow up after to make sure that they were satisfied.”

• Question #5: Tell me, how do you deliver bad news to a customer on the telephone?

Answer: “Whenever I was delivering bad news to a customer, I would prepare for the call beforehand. I think that’s important because if you know what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it, it helps you to achieve a successful outcome.

So whenever I was delivering bad news during the call, I would give that bad news relatively quickly at the start of the call, that’s important. I would tell the truth and I would apologize to the customer. I would also try and focus on something positive.

So if there’s a positive outcome to be had, I would focus on that during the call. I would keep control of the call, I would show understanding and I would always follow through on what it is I was going to do for the customer.”

• Question #6: Where do you see yourself in five years time?

Answer: “I believe in five years time I would still be working for your company, either in the same position or having gained advancement to a more senior level. So in five years time, I would hope to be seen as a fully competent and reliable member of the call handling team.

I would have hoped to have undertaken numerous training development courses within the organization to help enhance my skills as a call handler, and I would also like to be seen as someone who could help train up newer call handlers as and when they joined the company.”

• Question #7: Tell me about time when you delivered excellent customer service.

Answer: “In a previous role, I was helping a customer choose a product. Now, the customer had expressed an interest in a really expensive product.

However, when I started asking them questions about their needs and requirements, I felt they didn’t need the expensive product, so I felt it would be unfair to sell them a really expensive product when they didn’t need it.

Now, of course, the easy thing for me to do would be to say, yeah, no problem. This product is perfect for your needs, but I wanted to be transparent and I wanted to deliver good customer service.

So I explained to the customer that we had alternative products available that were half the price. Now the customer was really thankful for me giving them these alternative options. I explained the benefits of the cheaper products and they were very satisfied with the service they received.

In fact, they went online and left a glowing five star review about the service they had received from me.”

• Question #8: Tell me what’s your biggest weakness?

Answer: “I would say my biggest weakness is the fact I find it really hard saying no to people. I’m that type of person who says yes to everything and then becomes a little bit overwhelmed when I have too many responsibilities.

So I am trying to be more mindful in situations like that than to assess my workload, before I say yes to things.

I am the type of person who will always continually develop and improve in the role. So if you see something about my performance, you want me to improve on, I will take on board your advice and expertise, go away and implement the necessary actions to improve.”

• Question #9: Tell me about time when you went above and beyond what was expected at work.

Answer: “In a previous role, the company website went down late on a Friday afternoon. Now, this was disastrous for the company because we had an online sale plan for that weekend and we’ve put in a lot of effort into this online sale and we really wanted it to be successful.

So my manager came into the office and he asked for a volunteer, somebody to stay behind late that Friday evening to try and fix the website problem and get it back up and running for the following day. I volunteered to be that person.

So I started out by calling around local it companies to try and find one who could help us. Unfortunately, because it was so late on a Friday, none of them were available. So I then used my initiative.

I came up with an alternative solution to the problem, so I went online and I managed to find a web developer on a website, who was readily available to try and fix the problem.

So I then arranged a zoom call. I went online and I spoke to him about the issue we were having. I gave him access to our server and I checked his reviews to make sure that he was a competent individual, which he was.

He then spent a couple of hours trying to fix the issue. I stayed online and answered loads of questions that he had and then he came back to me and said finally at 07:00 p.m. He’d fix the issue and we got the website back up and running again, which was a great result because the online sale was a success.

I am the type of person who will always be flexible and adaptable and I will always go above and beyond what is required to help the company.”

Questions to ask at the end of the interview

Now at the end of the interview, the hiring manager or the interviewer will say to you, that’s the end of the interview, do you have any questions?

THIS SHOULD BE YOUR RESPOND: “I just have several questions. The first one is, what advice would you give to the successful candidate who wants to do a really good job in this role?”

INTERVIEWER RESPOND: “I think my advice to the successful candidate would be to always work hard, learn the company procedures, always give great customer service and be a team player.”

SECOND QUESTION YOU CAN ASK: “What are the next stages of the process? And when can I contact you to find out the results of the interview?”

INTERVIEWER RESPOND: “The next step of the process is I still have several other candidates to interview. I hope to have a decision made by the end of the day, so I’ll be in touch in due course.”

Thank you so much for reading this article, Call center customer service interview questions and answers, and I wish you all the best for passing your call center interview.