Run it with less chaos · Every business
Interview Questions That Predict Good Customer Service
The customer service interview questions that predict performance ask about real past situations, are the same for every candidate and are scored against a scale written before the first interview.
The best customer service interview questions ask candidates to describe what they actually did in a specific past situation, such as calming an upset customer or juggling two people at once, and every candidate should hear the same questions in the same order. Score each answer from 1 to 5 against notes you write in advance, because a 2022 review of selection research found that structured interviews like this predict job performance better than any other common hiring method.
The seven questions to copy
| # | Question | What a strong answer includes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tell me about a time a customer was upset with you or your workplace. What happened, and what did you say first? | Listened before explaining, named the problem back, took a concrete next step |
| 2 | Describe a day when two people needed you at the same moment. How did you decide who came first? | Acknowledged both, set a time for the second person, followed through |
| 3 | Tell me about a mistake you made at work that affected a customer. | Owned it plainly, fixed it, changed a habit afterward |
| 4 | What did you do in your last job when you were not sure of the answer to a customer's question? | Asked or checked rather than guessing, told the customer when they would hear back |
| 5 | Tell me about a time you noticed something small that made a customer's visit better. | A specific detail, done without being asked |
| 6 | Describe a rule at a past job you thought was wrong. What did you do about it? | Followed it while raising it with a manager, gave a reason |
| 7 | If you started here on a busy Saturday, what would you want to learn in your first hour? | Asked about people and systems, not only tasks |
The scoring sheet
- Before the first interview, write a one-line description of a 1, a 3 and a 5 answer for each question.
- Ask every question in order, and use only neutral follow-ups such as "What did you do next?" and "How did it turn out?"
- Score each answer right after the candidate gives it, before moving to the next question.
- Have a second person score independently when possible, then compare totals.
- Add a short paid working trial for the top one or two candidates, since a work sample is another strong predictor.
Why it works
Questions about real past behavior give the interviewer evidence instead of impressions, and scoring each answer separately keeps one charming story from coloring the whole conversation. A 2022 reanalysis of decades of selection research in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that structured interviews had the highest average validity of any method studied, at .42, ahead of job knowledge tests at .40, work samples at .33 and general cognitive ability at .31.
A validity of .42 is a correlation that still leaves room for error, and the same review noted a wide spread around that average, so the questions work best when they are tied to the moments your own customers notice and the scoring notes are specific to your business.
Sources
- Sackett, P. R., Zhang, C., Berry, C. M. and Lievens, F. Revisiting Meta-Analytic Estimates of Validity in Personnel Selection. Journal of Applied Psychology 107, 2022. Summarized by SIOP and HumRRO.
Related reading: The Front-Desk Playbook: Greetings, Hand-Offs and Hard Moments · How to Hire Your First Employee: A Step-by-Step Guide for Service Businesses · Hiring for Attitude, Training for Skill: A Hiring System for Service Businesses · The Job Post That Attracts Service-Minded Applicants
Email hello@osnovaops.com about your next hire
Not ready to talk? osNOVA runs free live events for owners.