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One of the first things you should ask yourself when hiring customer service representatives (CSR) is, "Do they have the personality qualities to want to please and help my company’s clients and prospects?" To even be considered for a customer service position, an individual must have a high level of responsibility, the ability to relate to others, excellent verbal skills and an overall desire to please others, as well as be self-disciplined and detail oriented. Those are the starting points. Without those qualities, your customer service people could be sending your clients and prospects flying out the door faster than you can bring them in. The reason customer service people are so important is because they, in many ways, represent your distributorship. When they make contact with your customers, they are your company. In some cases, this can be someone calling in for the first time; in other cases it can be a longstanding client who expects to be treated “special.” How the CSR performs in either of these situations reflects directly upon what people think of your company. So, before hiring your next CSR, you should ask yourself some very important questions. First of all, you should determine if your customer service people are primarily responsible for information—that is, if they check and recheck orders all day long. If that is so, then you probably can get along with people whose primary motivators are to do a good job and be of service to others. If, on the other hand, your CSRs are responsible for a variety of other functions as well—if they try to get customers to accept substitutes and/or they try to get suppliers to deliver on time or move up their schedules—then you need someone who is motivated to persuade. Often our clients view the customer service role as solely a "helpful" function and fail to recognize that their CSRs are regularly called upon to deal persuasively with both customers and principals. This failure to recognize what the job really entails has led many employers and employees into situations which neither of them could retreat from gracefully. As a manager, you do not want to be on the phone with an irate customer who expected one item and got another, or expected a delivery on a certain date and got nothing. These situations should be straightened out by effective CSRs. It is vital to your operation to determine the real responsibilities of your customer service role. The CSR who has regular, persuasive contact with clients is a natural to increase orders and introduce the customers to new products. If your CSR is responsible for dealing persuasively with customers and suppliers, everyone in the organization should know that from the very beginning. If not, state it clearly. So, look at your operation. Define the roles which various people actually play. If your salespeople turn their "headaches" over to the CSR for resolution, then you need a persuader. Before you conclude, however, that you always need a persuader, think again. If your operation relies on the CSR to "clean up" after everyone else; if, in fact, your present sales force regularly neglects the detail and follow-up aspects of the job, your primary need is not for a persuader; but rather for someone who will take care of the details and make sure that sales are not lost due to lack of follow-up. Your ideal CSR, in this situation, may be someone who is quite structured, detail-oriented and quite calm; someone who has good empathy, but retains a certain resilience in dealing with others and in accepting criticism and rejection. In the end, the answer to the question, "Should the CSR be a persuasive or helpful person?" is: It depends on what you have now and what you want for the future. What is essential is that there be a balance—a balance between persuaders who bring in the business and helpers who take care of the business. Some people present an array of qualities which allow them to function effectively and comfortably in both capacities. If you have such employees, treasure them. If you find them, employ them. In most instances though, you will have to make a choice—persuader or helper. Make that an informed choice. Determine the strengths and weakness within your company. Then identify and hire individuals who possess the qualities that you need (persuader or helper) to strengthen the overall effectiveness of your organization.
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