Boston Scientific Corporation Mock Interview
Practice 30 Boston Scientific interview questions covering medical device innovation, regulatory knowledge, and patient-centered problem solving.
Question 3 of 30
Our medical devices can truly change people's lives. Sometimes, though, a patient may have a question or concern about one of our devices. How have you handled a difficult customer interaction in a previous position?
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Jaymie Payne is passionate about talent acquistion and has nine years of experience in corporate and healthcare recruitment.
The interviewer wants to know you can handle the stress of a difficult customer interaction. The customer could be a physician group who uses the medical device or an actual patient who has a question or concern about your product. Show the interviewer that you can stay cool under pressure and resolve the concern.
Jaymie Payne is passionate about talent acquistion and has nine years of experience in corporate and healthcare recruitment.
"I am a lead in our department, so I take the calls that are escalated or too difficult for one of the other reps to handle. I had a customer who was yelling about how much money he spent on the device and it wasn't working. He was beyond the return date, so we couldn't give him a refund. I let him get all of his anger out and finish talking. I then asked him questions and always addressed him by first name to try and build some rapport. I learned that he hadn't been to see his physician to follow up. We have relationships with the caregivers at one of the local facilities, so I was able to put him on hold and see when they had an appointment available. When I transferred him over to the scheduler, he had calmed down a bit. It wasn't a perfect scenario, but I tried to treat him with dignity and respect and not take it personally."
Jaymie Payne is passionate about talent acquistion and has nine years of experience in corporate and healthcare recruitment.
"I used to be a waitress in college and dealing with difficult customers was my specialty. My co-workers would always give me the regulars who were cranky because I had a way of working with them that made it look easy. One evening, I had a customer who was very upset with his food order. I listened to his concern and asked him if he would like me to bring him something else, but he kept going on and on and was getting quite loud at this point. I apologized again and asked told him I could give him a discount on his order or bring him another choice. He ended up taking the discount and leaving, but at least his volume went down and he left. Difficult customer interactions don't always end perfectly, but I feel I handled the situation appropriately."
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Anonymous Answer
Well, you need to use empathy because patients are more than likely scared. I used to work as a waitress years ago so I was looking after delivering food and drinks to customers. When one would get difficult, I found that customers that a firm but calm and reassuring response usually sorted the issue. I kept responses as easy to understand as direct as possible and they would usually calm down once they understood the situation.
Stephanie's Feedback
Great response; it's clear that you lead with empathy, which is a critical skill set. I have provided a suggestion in the "Revised Answer" box to show how this response could be slightly restated to improve clarity and detail.
In my previous roles, I have handled difficult customer interactions with empathy and grace. One example that comes to mind is when I was working as a waitress years ago, delivering food and drinks to customers. Occasionally, a customer would identify an issue and become upset. I found that active listening and having a firm, calm, reassuring response usually sorted out the issue. I always tried to keep my responses as easy to understand and direct as possible, and my customers would usually calm down once they understood the situation. I believe the skills I gained in this job will translate well into this role because I believe patients who exhibit concerns may be feeling frightened and deserve empathy and active listening.
Anonymous Answer
When I was working as a partitioner on a building site that had people working in a part of the building that was an active insurance company I had someone come to me from the insurance company asking me to move a barricade from a part of the building as people were having to walk the long way around the building to get into the insurance company I stayed calm and explained that I couldn't because it would put people in danger from falling materials or tools and that the measures were put in place to protect them and cover the construction company
Stephanie's Feedback
Great start, but I suggest changing the wording just a bit for clarity, as well as providing a closing sentence to round out your response while showing the outcome of this situation. In the "Revised Answer" section, I have provided an example of how this could be structured.
One challenging customer interaction that comes to mind occurred when I was working as a partitioner on a building site. There was also an active insurance company working in the building, and one day, I had someone come to me from the insurance company asking me to move a barricade from a part of the building as people were having to walk the long way around the building to get into the insurance company. I stayed calm and explained that I couldn't because it would put people in danger from falling materials or tools and that the measures were put in place to protect them and cover the construction company. Although this individual was not initially pleased with my response, I provided active listening and remained calm, and we were able to come to an agreeable solution.
Anonymous Answer
In my time at my previous company, I managed all the communication regarding events for the department. During one of the events, I had a patron who showed up very late and missed the event. He was very angry as he had a broken leg and was using a scooter at the time. He said he was late because the building was not accessible and signage for accessible paths was confusing or non-existent. I apologized profusely and offered to help direct him back out of the space. This did not solve his anger, but it did allow him to leave safely. After the event, I notified my team of the issue and worked with them to implement new policies to make event-specific accessibility signage and to have staff ready to help in multiple parts of the building when events are happening. This allowed us to lower the frustrations of patrons who may run into similar issues and to live up to our values of embracing diversity and inclusion.
Stephanie's Feedback
Excellent response! You outline exactly what happened, how you reacted, and how your actions contributed to a positive impact.
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