We seek to hire those with strong customer instincts. How do you 'think like a customer'?
To think like a customer shows that you can put yourself in their shoes, being helpful and empathetic to their needs. Discuss with the interviewer how you can 'think like a customer' and mention how this practice boosts your effectiveness at work.
"If I were to tap into the mind of a Wayfair customer, I would think about the biggest issue they need to overcome in their home. I would think about the most convenient way to solve that problem and any potential objections or issues that could come up along the way. Also, I have a good idea of what a Wayfair customer would need because I am one! I deeply understand the importance of getting into the minds of the customer."
"I have been well trained in customer service and sales. To think like a customer, you first need to ask yourself what the customer's top 3 problems are. Then, think about the products that could help them overcome that problem. Customers want to be heard and offered a viable solution from someone knowledgable and able to step into their shoes at the same time."
The questions your interviewer asks are posed for a reason. More often than not, they are company specific. How you answer will reveal how prepared you are for your interview. For example, this question is touched on in one of their careers pages, where they state, "Relentless Customer Focus: Delivering an exceptional customer experience drives everything we do. We invest in understanding our customers and partners. We are all in customer service." Explain how you would invest your time and efforts in understanding each unique customer according to their values. Share how you relate to them with empathy, and showcase that you are a loyal Wayfair customer.
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
Teams building software today interact with users a lot. We should be running interviews with customers to identify wants and needs and collecting a rich set of qualitative and quantitative user feedback on the product. We should also conduct usability sessions to make sure what we're about to build is useful and usable.
Going one step further, I'd want to run empathy sessions, where we bring together a cross-functional team of product, engineers, customer support and take a specific part of the app and try to use it as a customer would. We'd give the group a few tasks to complete and a customer persona and scenario to embody throughout the session and incorporate feedback into the product.
Rachelle's Feedback
10/10! Your response is comprehensive, well laid out, and full of awesome suggestions. Well done.
Anonymous Answer
What I'm used to doing in my current position is thinking about what a customer needs and looks for on our website. An important part of the process is trend research, analyzing the top seller products, the strongest selling time periods, and of course KPIs like the return rate and reasons for returns. Reviews are of course crucial to get direct feedback. I also tried to get this feedback directly from people (in my case parents) in my surroundings to maybe get a different point of view that I maybe haven't thought about yet, a kind of private survey. I think with time and experience, and also through mistakes you learn to understand your customers quicker in order to provide better products and service. After the first year, it has been much easier for me to identify a top-seller article and invest in it.
Jaymie's Feedback
Your answer reflects your extensive experience and expertise in this area! You sound very knowledgeable, and it seems you have gone above and beyond to solicit feedback and perspectives from others to help improve the customer experience.
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