Employees of field-based organizations have to perform a unique type of multiple-tier customer service. That is, these reps must be able to service both business professionals (or those people who stock the reps’ product) as well as end-consumers on a daily basis. There are specific characteristics and skills that ideal reps should have for this job.
We spoke with Liz Kislik, President of LizKislik Associates LLC, a consulting firm that develops solutions for organizational problems and specializes in customer service, about best practices for hiring and training reps for this type of multiple-tier service. She began by saying these reps need to be “aware of the needs of anybody they deal with, the nuances of the way different people present [in] different environments...and have personal diligence [and] commitment to the purpose of the employer.” Kislik’s specific advice on hiring and training for this type of rep are broken down below.
Hiring
Specific Instructions
The first piece of guidance Kislik offered about the hiring process of reps who will provide multiple-tier customer service is to make sure they follow specific instructions. For example, in the job positing, an employer should always require a potential hire to do specific actions like telling them to make the subject line of an email “Interested in Field Rep Job.” Any person who replies with a subject line that differs may not be the best fit for this type of job. “If they’re not following the instructions then,” said Kislik “you know you’re going to have process problems later.” Only reps with attention to detail will be able to pick up on the different service needs of those they interact with.
Multiple Interviews
Kislik also said that “for someone who might be facing so many different kinds of people it is so useful to have them be interviewed by multiple people in the business.” For example, have a potential hire interview with the hiring manager, the CEO, and even have a secretary offer insights into their his/her first impression. This will help the hiring manager determine if the rep has the capacity to successfully interact with different styles of people.
Behavioral Interviewing
Kislik also said she was a proponent of what is called behavioral interviewing, or the practice of asking a potential hire what they would do or have done in certain scenarios. Kislik said “you base those scenarios on the kinds of normal, everyday business problems that happen in your target market.” For example, a beverage business may ask a potential hire how they would handle stocking a fridge when a retail manager is asking about paperwork and a customer is asking why they aren’t stocking a certain product that week. If they are able to offer a compelling solution based off their experience, that’s a sign of potential.
Training
Kislik said the awareness of different types of people and environments “can be taught and it can be learned, but that’s tough. It’s much easier if someone already comes in with that.”
Instead, she said, “what [reps] do need to learn and the employer really needs to be conscious about teaching is deep enough knowledge in whatever the employer’s business is.” With that in mind, she offered two essential steps to follow during the training process of reps who will be performing multiple-tier customer service.
Integral Breakdown of Responsibilities
Kislik said, “the first aspect of training...is analyzing the situation the employee is going to be in and breaking that down into its components.” She said it is important to identify which aspects of the job are things that come to people naturally and which “having experience in the field really makes a difference.” Once you’ve identified what those things are, it is important to zero in on them and teach them. For example, while some reps may inherently have the skill of switching conversational styles, the complex nature of a merchandising audit is something that will need to be taught step-by-step.
Teach Different Style Behaviors
A second tip Kislik gave on training reps on multiple-tier customer service was to “break down the differences for an employee who has to work at the [multiple] levels.” For example, a medical device rep will need to be gracious with a doctor, who may meet with five more reps that day offering a similar kind of product, while that same rep would need to efficient and quick with the office clerk who is managing the paperwork between the office and the rep’s business. For multiple-tier service, Kislik said reps “may have to learn...completely different styles of behavior that are all service behaviors.” Managers can do this during training with role play exercises between new hires.
Training and hiring employees that will perform multiple-tier customer service can be a challenge, but by following the guidance offered by Kislik, managers can start developing more focused and successful teams. To gain more insights about customer service and workplace best practices visit http://www.lizkislik.com/blog/.
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