The ideal candidate for the position of a customer services division should be able to respect the individual ideas, opinions, and values of the employees in the services division. The manager should practice empathy and should be able to respond, listen, and offer encouragement and praises to employees when they make progress. As the boss, of the customer services decision a successful manager should be able to develop confidence and trust, and resolve issues and problems.
This will result in a work group that is goal oriented and productive. The ideal manager should be able to instill into his team a strong sense of prioritizing the customer in any business practice. The manager should be able encourage the employees to concentrate on their customer and how best they can serve a customer so that a problem is solved in a polite, efficient, and friendly way (Atwood, 2008). The candidate should also demonstrate the ability to build and maintain positive working relationship with colleagues and the ability to adapt to a multicultural environment.
Communication skill The required candidate should have exceptional oral and written communication skills, and should act as the intermediary between the team that reports to him and top-level management. The candidate should have top-class people to people skills, and should be able to develop and maintain networks of contacts. Planning skills The ideal candidate have a proven analytical ability, capability to identify constraints and needs, to set priorities and translate them into action, and the capacity to pursue a solution oriented approach. The candidate should also have a proven ability and initiative to work independently, focus on priorities, evaluate and monitor progress, and meet deadlines (Mckinney, 2005).
Leadership skills The ideal candidate should demonstrate leadership in giving direction and guidance to the employees so to enable them achieve their objectives. A high degree of integrity and the ability to deal with confidential information are needed. Appraisal skillsThe right candidate should have the capacity to examine and evaluate a procedure or process and choose the best option to produce the desired outcome. The successful manager should be able to track the progress of the activities and effectiveness of each individual, review them and give counseling and feedback. The candidate should also demonstrate the ability to coach and train assistants (Chatzkel, 2003). Experience The ideal candidate should have at least 5 years experience in a similar position.
He/she should also be conversant with facilities management, procurement, office administration, occupational health and safety management. A relevant master’s degree is a prerequisite for this position. List 5–10 questions that will determine if this candidate can take charge, organize things, and get people motivated and working again in a service department. Describe what exceptional customer service means to you? This question aims at evaluating a candidate’s view of excellent customer service, level of a candidate’s knowledge of customer service practices and principles, and their expectations in relation to customer service (Blacharski, 2006). What is your customer service philosophy? This question is aimed at describing the customer service approach that candidate uses.
How do you gauge excellent customer service? This question aims at understanding how a candidate measures exceptional customer service (Kador, 2006). Describe a situation where you experienced a conflict with members of you team? This question is testing a manager’s interpersonal skill and ability to solve problems (Kador, 2006). What do you consider as the greatest threat in the customer service industry today? This question aims at testing a candidate’s motivation to be in the business of customer service.
