A great way to prepare for your interview for a customer service manager position is to practice common job interview questions and prepare your answers to them. By doing mock interviews with family members or friends, you’ll feel more prepared, calm, and confident going into the real interview. 

Since you’ll be interviewing for a customer service manager position, the interviewer will likely ask you questions related to your customer service skills and experience working in similar environments. 

Customer Service Supervisor Interview Questions

Here is a list of the top five common interview questions and sample answers and tips to help get you started. 

1. Why do you want this position?

While this question is asked in interviews for many types of positions, you can use this as an opportunity to prove your passion for customer service, as well as show your experiences in other customer service management positions. You should also share your experience with leadership, and confidence in your strengths. 

You can also show off the research you’ve done on the company by explaining how your skills relate to their core values and the role.

“I want this position because excellent customer service is something I value, and I enjoy the opportunity to help manage and inspire others to provide excellent service as well. I have managerial skills from being a ahead lifeguard, as well as an assistant manager at Jimmy John’s, and I believe my leadership abilities reflect good customer service. I also appreciate the company’s focus on providing an exceptional guest experience and giving back to the community, which is important to me in an employer.”

1. Tell us about a time where you had to give a team member feedback on their work. 

As a customer service manager, you’ll likely have to provide feedback to team members on their work performance. Employers want to make sure you can accomplish that aspect of the job efficiently and effectively. Talk about the process you follow to understand the reasons for poor performance, and your commitment to helping resolve the issue with the team member. 

“If one of my staff members is underperforming, I first sit with them in a private meeting to understand why they aren’t performing well. Together, we work on developing a program outlining required actions for them to follow and discuss any training or coaching I can provide to help them improve. We create a list of necessary resources or information that can help them as well. Then, we schedule weekly check-ins to ensure they have what they need and are working on resolving the issue and improving performance. 

1. What is the most challenging customer service issue you’ve resolved in the past?

As a leader of your customer service team, it’s important that you showcase the ability to problem solve - both in general and with customers. Your answer can also help show the interviewer that you’re able to handle challenging customers with grace and resolve the conflict while ensuring customer satisfaction.

Start the story by explaining the importance of the situation, and share how you improved the experience. Be sure to highlight your willingness to help the customer and resolve the issue, as well as how your customer service and management skills were utilized. 

Additionally, you can help show the interviewer that you can identify issues, and use past challenges to create solutions before a situation arises in the future. 

1. What do you consider the most important criteria for a successful customer service department?

Interviewing for a management or supervisor position is more in-depth than an interview for a customer service representative role. In addition to excellent customer service skills, you also need to showcase your ability to lead a team. The interviewer wants to ensure you have a good understanding of the needs of the customer and your team, as well as have the right resources and processes in place to meet those needs. 

You may want to include examples of criteria such as:

• I ensure expectations and objectives are clearly communicated to all staff.

• I try to empower my staff to meet customer demands and do what is necessary to ensure customer satisfaction.

• I go out of my way to make sure my staff is engaged, and I listen to feedback from staff and customers and do my best to effectively and quickly act on it.

1. What do you use to measure customer satisfaction?

As a customer service manager, you’ll likely be expected to report on your team’s success to others within the company. You should be able to share metrics you use to measure your team’s success, as well as areas for improvement. Knowledge of these metrics shows the interviewer your experience in customer service, as well as management, and gives them the information they need to feel confident in hiring you.

Examples of metrics you may want to discuss are:

• First response time

• Problem resolution time

• Resolution rates

• Escalation rates

• Customer retention

• Referrals

• Call volumes

• First contact resolution rates

As a bonus, provide an example of how you can use these metrics to support a policy change to benefit either the customer or your team.