Personality Traits that Make a Customer Service Expert

Happy customers will spend more with your business, this is backed by stats that claim 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for an excellent customer experience. Driving customer satisfaction will elevate commercial performance, support operational efficiency, and positively grow a company’s brand profile. However, do employers always appropriately consider the competency of colleagues who are accountable for service delivery?

This article intends to probe into what traits are desirable in a Customer Service Representative (CSR). Furthermore, it demonstrates how these characteristics impact the customer journey tangibly and how this may affect their future activity and spending pattern. In light of this, here are six personality traits that you should look for when recruiting a CSR. 

Emotional Intelligence

One of the central skills needed to be a high-performing CSR is tapping into exactly how a customer feels. And, the sooner into the interaction, the better! This competency can be defined under the umbrella term, ‘emotional intelligence,’ and is delivered through a series of developed personality traits. 

Being receptive to social cues allows an operator to identify different emotions swiftly, even when they are negative. Competent self-management techniques enable the CSRs to respond to such frustrations in a lucid & controlled manner. Heightened self-awareness facilitates an understanding of personal emotional triggers, helping the individual to suitably navigate these in the pursuit of customer satisfaction. This also mitigates against confrontation, as internal feelings can be controlled whilst a problem is being addressed. 

Another elusive skill set within this bracket is the aptitude for building customer relationships based on honesty and respect. By providing transparency, being attentive to customer feedback detail, and lending an empathetic ear, individuals can create a sense of trust and integrity. This is essential for maintaining a desirable marketplace reputation and securing continual growth of sales. 

Extraversion

Those who radiate positivity, friendliness, and approachability will most likely be ideal candidates for a CSR position. Their natural aura creates instant connections with customers, and the energy of their communication style fosters client confidence and assurance. These individuals thrive in social situations, allowing them to integrate seamlessly into the wider team. 

Also, they’ll likely be receptive to new ideas and keen to embrace improved ways of working. This accommodates great attitudes towards change management processes and offers the opportunity for them to champion fresh concepts enthusiastically. 

However, recruiters should proceed with some caution. Due to their impulsive nature, extroverts can sometimes make rash decisions or commit naively to certain tasks or projects. Introverts are more likely to be more methodical in their approach but offer less on the role’s primary function.

Attentiveness

We’ve already fleetingly referenced the need for attention to detail. Being engaged on the multiple components of a customer query makes for efficient interactions and offers a certain genuineness to their approach. In the instance of a customer complaint, there’s every chance that contact has been made based on missed information or lack of awareness. Attentiveness is often a salient ingredient towards repairing and recovering a customer relationship. 

Furthermore, if in a perpetually intensive customer-facing role, the capability to maintain focus on detail is critical. This helps to reduce feelings of monotony or repetitiveness and therefore enhances customer service consistency and energy levels. 

Patience 

An ability to wait, listen, and process information is critical in this sector. Competent CROs will understand the linkage between customer comfortability and increased sales and satisfaction performance. In this way, they appreciate the requirement for customers to express details, thoughts, and opinions. As difficult as it may be, operators will resist the temptation to interject or override, even if they feel they’re aware of the necessary response. 

These individuals will also consider knowledge dynamics between themselves, peers, and customers. They’ll acknowledge that not all customers are familiar with company procedures and cannot comprehend why certain events have transpired. Furthermore, there is a desire to support colleagues who may have learning gaps or be confused with specific job role elements. These individuals are happy to set aside time to coach, upskill, and conduct this activity with patience and compassion.

Discipline

This trait can take several forms. Discipline accommodates the CSRs in maintaining an exclusive focus on the customer requirement. This will produce positive outcomes. If customer needs can be quantified at a business-wide level, positive customer satisfaction scores can only follow. 

Discipline during customer interaction enables strong service representatives to envisage what ‘good looks like’ in their communication exchanges. By building a successful framework in a pre-planned approach, CSRs can regularly exceed expectations and provide increasingly bespoke services. This enables businesses to dive deep into how customers behave and create personalized solutions to retain and grow their client base. 

Finally, a propensity to be disciplined in offering flexibility and availability can hugely support business functionality. This can manifest in both customer and internal processes. By being agile when dealing with abstract or challenging customer demands, the likelihood of delivering a solution is significantly increased. Furthermore, if a CSR can conform to frequent, impromptu working pattern adjustments, they’ll serve to support the broader operation. 

Optimism 

Perhaps sometimes an under-valued trait, but optimism can hugely influence customer interactions. A positive, energetic, and ‘anything can happen’ attitude converts cold opportunities into tangible lead generation. It also facilitates the hope that any issue can be overcome, no matter how considerable in size and complexity. 

Leaders should also not underestimate the benefit of the optimistic individual in the context of the team. These types of CSRs can enthuse ambition amidst mediocrity, dynamism out of passivity, and innovation from single-mindedness. This characteristic offers an integral role in maintaining the pace and resilience of any business. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, a candidate harnessing all of the above traits would be a perfect addition to any customer services team in any industry. Although this may be relatively challenging to acquire, it’s important to remember that many of these characteristics are innate rather than learned behaviors. A genuinely positive-minded, outgoing, and approachable person will serve to tick a lot of the boxes articulated. In essence, if there is an individual with a clear intention to help people, there’s every chance that they’ll make a good customer service operator. 

Unfortunately, some apply for service roles as they believe it involves a series of simple interactions between customer and operator. This is, of course, a myth. No less because, as time passes, we progress ever closer towards the principles of customer analysis, retention, and service mastery.

Recruiters should not, and must not, compromise in their quest to find suitable individuals for this role. They’re encouraged to use the listed characteristics above to support them in decision-making processes. Also, they also have a wide range of services they can use to help them determine the traits and skill levels of their candidates. 

Pipplet is a company that can help you on the path to hiring the best CSRs. We help you determine the aptitude of your candidate, in 30+ languages. Our website is full of facts, tips, and offers for you to consider. 

Choosing your CSR is a hugely important decision that can impact the growth and development of your company. Therefore, think about the qualities you need and use the right tools to uncover them in your candidates. Do a thorough selection because you want to make sure you make the right decision.