How good and bad hires affect customer service culture

Flawed customer care protocols are not always the cause of ineffective customer service. More often than not, poor customer support is rather brought about by the improper execution of these strategies. This means that the people you hire must be qualified with the skills the job calls for. Hiring the right people is therefore your first step in enriching your customer service culture.

How hiring the right people can affect your brand image

Choosing the people who will serve as your frontline personnel is a crucial responsibility. Since your new hires will eventually be the ones to interact with your valued customers, you don’t want to hire people who can’t live up to your brand’s promise. Who you assign to welcome customers in your brick-and-mortar store, assist customers over the phone, or respond to complaint emails will all affect how your customers will look at your company.

Every new employee that you welcome to your organization can potentially be your advocate in showing your company values to prospective customers. Most managers hire their customer support representatives based on their capability to fulfill this responsibility. If you hire people who can’t meet your client’s expectations, it can make your brand look insincere. Your workforce, in other words, serves as your market’s yardstick in gauging your ability to live up to your promises.

Building a strong customer service culture

Hiring brilliant workers can lead to having a healthy work environment. Reliable employees not only perform better than the rest, but they also stay longer with the company. In the long run, they can serve as assets that will inspire other employees to improve their performance, and attract other excellent talents to be part of your company. As a result, you will have a solid customer service team comprised of hardworking individuals.

On the other hand, taking your recruitment process for granted can bring negative effects to your brand. Bad hires commonly don’t take their jobs seriously, which can lead to half-hearted job performance and low productivity—both can cause dents on your customer satisfaction ratings. You will also have to spend resources looking for replacements, since the lack of drive towards work predisposes them to leave the company anytime. Precious time is also lost in both recruiting and training their replacements.

When customers see that you don’t have competent customer support employees, their loyalty is at stake. Poor customer service is one of the biggest causes of customer attrition. Placing someone underqualified on the customer helpdesk could mean loss of several customers. The morale of the rest of the team will also suffer. Since some employees are hired despite being unfit for the job, genuinely hardworking ones are likely to experience frustration and show lack of trust to their coworkers.

Customer service success can only be attained if your company culture allows it be nurtured. Since your employees influence your work environment, it’s wise to hire the right people who can give positive contributions to the team. Every new hire must be of great value not only to you but to your customers and overall customer care strategies as well.