Customer Service Mock Interview

Master 25 Customer Service interview questions covering conflict resolution, empathy, and problem-solving under pressure.

Question 11 of 25

Give me an example of how you delivered excellent customer service at your last position.

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Ryan Brown

Ryan Brown created and launched MockQuestions in 2008.

The interviewer wants to know that your definition of excellent customer service exceeds minimal expectations. You could talk about a time when you calmed an upset customer or went above the expectations of your role to make a customer want to return.

Perhaps you had a customer dispute and were able to smooth over the issue using your great instinct and friendly disposition. Be sure to close with how happy the customer was when they left. Include any feedback that you received from your supervisor or co-workers afterward.

Here are some ways that you can deliver exceptional customer service:

- Exercise endless patience with challenging customers.
- Use positive verbiage at all times. For instance, instead of saying 'I don't know,' say 'I am happy to find out for you.'
- Actively listen to your customers' needs and be able to repeat them back.
- Have the ability to explain product pricing, so the customer knows what to expect on their bill or invoice.
- Display exceptional product knowledge.
- Ask the customer if you have met their expectations before they leave.
- Smile and maintain positive body language.
- Support your coworkers and encourage a positive workplace culture.

Ryan Brown

Ryan Brown created and launched MockQuestions in 2008.

"In my last role, as a server, I went above the customer service expectations by introducing myself to each table when I sat them. Having that small personal touch made all the difference. Once the customers knew my name, and I knew theirs, they felt more confident in my capabilities. Over time, I would have customers coming in and requesting a table in my section. It felt nice to make that connection, and the increase in tips was a nice bonus too! After a few weeks, the restaurant manager made this a general practice across all serving staff."

Rachelle Enns

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.

"In my last position, I had a great deal of challenging customers who would call in nearly every day. Although my patience was often tested, I always remained level-headed, helpful, and positive. Becoming outwardly frustrated would have only made the customer feel bad or even upset them, which is something I would never want."

Rachelle Enns

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.

"I ensured the delivery of excellent customer service by training my team to be positive minded and encouraging to everyone around them. Customers can tell when someone wants to help them versus being forced to because it's their job. I created a friendly and welcoming environment which my customers greatly appreciated."

Rachelle Enns

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.

"Before I close up any client accounts, I will phone my client and ask them if there is anything more I can do to help, and if I exceeded their expectations. On a phone call, I can hear if they are truly excited about the service or seem emotionally flat about their experience. If they do not sound truly elated, I ask for feedback on what I could have done differently. I want to improve at all times and am very good at implementing feedback, which my clients like."

Rachelle Enns

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.

"I showed great customer service by having a great amount of product knowledge. I made sure that I was the product expert so that I could be a wealth of knowledge to my clients. I would never want to say "I don't know" to a customer. I will always find an answer if I don't already have one."

Rachelle Enns

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.

"I ensured excellent customer service in my last role by having regular conversations with my accounts on what they needed, where I was exceeding, where I could do better, and what services they felt they were missing. This active communication meant that I could quickly pivot if a client were not happy with the way their project was going."

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Anonymous Answer

In my job as a cashier at ______, we had a policy of checking the driver's license for age proof before the sale of alcohol. We were required to check the license irrespective of age. One customer was very upset that I had refused the sale of the alcohol as he had forgotten his license in the car. He was upset because I felt that I could easily make a judgement call that he was not underage.
I apologized for the inconvenience to the customer and explained how it was store policy to check the age proof before selling alcohol. I offered to him I could hold on to the wine bottle so that he can make the purchase at the customer service desk rather than standing in the line again.

Rachelle's Feedback

It's nice that you provided an alternative option for the customer! Despite being faced with a dispute, you were able to keep calm and remain helpful. Great response!

Anonymous Answer

In my last position, I had several challenging customers who called in nearly every day. Although my patience was often tested, I always remained level-headed, helpful, and positive. Becoming outwardly frustrated would have only made the customer feel bad or even upset them, which is something I would never want to do.

Kevin's Feedback

Wonderful answer! Consider sharing what your prior role was and why calling daily was not ideal.

In my last position, I had several challenging customers who called in nearly every day. At first, this challenged the patience of our staff. We did a fine job at remaining level-headed, helpful, and positive. However, I shifted my perspective, and realized the only thing that was tripping us up was our frustration. These customers had no idea what our daily pressures were, and their phone calls at that busy hour were no more of an interruption than a micro break. So, I shifted my perspective and tried to make those predictable phone calls more fun for me and the customer. I knew all of them by name, and would start each phone call I received with warm greetings and fun banter. After we had a friendly laugh, I jump in and write a list of all the products they were inquiring to see if we had on the shelf that day to set aside. So I developed systems to address these customer’s needs, was warm and friendly, and made it clear I looked forward to talking to them again. A fun micro-break. They felt appreciated and well served. A win-win.

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25Customer Service Interview Questions & Answers

Performance Based

1.Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond for customer service.

Customer Service

2.How do you define good customer service?

Compatibility

3.What customer engagement strategy is the most rewarding for you?

Experience

4.What skills do you believe you possess that help you deliver excellent customer service?

Experience

5.Tell me about your customer service experience.

Experience

6.When have you received exceptional customer service? What made the experience stand out?

Conflict

7.How would you handle a rude customer?

Experience

8.Have you received any formal customer service training?

Direct

9.Have you ever broken company rules to make a customer happy?

Communication

10.How do you feel about saying 'no' to a customer with unreasonable requests?

Accomplishment

11.Give me an example of how you delivered excellent customer service at your last position.

Conflict

12.When was the last time you turned an angry customer around?

Customer Service

13.If you could not make a customer happy, what would you do?

Behavioral

14.Do you like being around people?

Behavioral

15.What would cause you to lose your temper with a customer?

Compatibility

16.How would you react if a customer was lying to you to gain a refund or free product?

Situational

17.What tools do you need to deliver excellent customer service?

Experience

18.Have you ever worked with a CRM, or client management software?

Capability

19.What is the difference between customer service and customer support?

Direct

20.Have you ever received a negative review from a customer?

Adaptability

21.How would you help a customer who you found difficult to understand due to a language barrier?

Education

22.Tell me about the last customer service skill you learned.

Discovery

23.How do you feel about promoting a product, or upselling, during a customer service based interaction?

Adaptability

24.How would you sell a product that you did not believe in?

EQ

25.How do you deal with customer rejection?