Use these questions to identify a candidate’s technical knowledge and abilities
Use these questions to determine how a candidate handled situations in the past
Use these questions to assess a candidate’s personal traits and cognitive skills
Why this matters:
Personal rapport, kindness, and other non-measurable skills are great for a candidate to have—but they are also inherently hard to scale or replicate. A great customer success specialist also optimizes data, taking an analytical approach to every account. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) like quality scores, customer calls, and turnover rates are measurable ways to gauge and scale overall effort and satisfaction.
What to listen for:
- Listen for evidence they look to customer surveys, focus groups, predictive analytics, and other quantitative data for a definition of success.
- Look for a comprehensive outlook that includes both qualitative and quantitative measures of success.
Why this matters:
There is no right or wrong answer to this question, but it will provide insight into your candidate's thinking process. Strong customer success specialists are counted on for building relationships and retention, which involves strategy, processes, people, and technology. If your candidate touches on these themes, they could be the right fit.
What to listen for:
- Answers should highlight the importance of relationship-building, communication, and understanding.
- An ideal candidate will show they always take big-picture strategy and details into account.
Why this matters:
You’re going to need a suite of effective tools to drive customer success as they grow. This is not something you can do with a phone book and a few spreadsheets. Great candidates will have experience with specific project management systems and processes, and will also be willing to learn about new ones as technology evolves.
What to listen for:
- Listen for types of software they’ve used in the past and what they like or dislike about those applications.
- Look for clues about the candidate’s willingness and ability to try new solutions.
Why this matters:
Top customer success specialists are driven to serve and please. They have an innate capacity to support others, which is a uniquely different skill set than you might find in a salesperson or marketing specialist. A great candidate will have numerous examples to share.
What to listen for:
- Candidates should concisely detail the situation and how it led to a positive outcome.
- Great answers will demonstrate insight and creativity.
- Taking time to think of an answer may be an indication that the instances are rare for this candidate.
Why this matters:
Even though the purpose of a customer success specialist is to keep customers satisfied, they will inevitably face disagreements, dissatisfaction, and even aggression. How do they approach these conversations? Do they have specific strategies to de-escalate the situation? Specific examples will demonstrate they know what comes with the territory.
What to listen for:
- A great answer demonstrates that the candidate can stay calm under pressure.
- Experienced candidates should have many examples to draw from and be able to talk through an effective and systematic approach.
- Listen for signs of good judgment, patience, reason, and the ability to solve problems nimbly under pressure.
Why this matters:
There are bound to be a few mishaps on the road to success—whether or not these stem directly from actions taken by your candidate. In those situations, you want a customer success specialist who takes responsibility and looks forward, rather than making excuses, blaming others, or dwelling unnecessarily over what happened. Great candidates will focus on what they learned, and how they used that knowledge to move productively forward.
What to listen for:
- Look for high emotional intelligence in describing what went wrong.
- Answers should indicate they learn from failures and view them as an opportunity to optimize future relationships.
- Resistance to admit mistakes may be a red flag.
Why this matters:
This question is designed to gauge collaboration skills. Customer success specialists need to be team players, both internally and externally. Since team members won’t always agree, tough decisions will have to be made. Top customer success specialists can put the needs of the customer first, while still making everyone feel heard.
What to listen for:
- Answers should show initiative to get everyone back on track.
- Specific strategies—such as systematic compromise or making executive decisions—exhibit strong leadership.
- Look for signs that they weighed several variables before acting.
Why this matters:
This open-ended question will elicit a wide variety of answers. Some companies fight overturn with changes to products, increased customer attention, or internal reorganization. Whatever the case may be, you want a candidate with a strategic mind who’s able to think long term, pivot on a dime—and has a passion for retention.
What to listen for:
- Top answers will indicate that the candidate is always seeking new ways to retain customers.
- Listen for references to experiences that taught them new tactics.
- Great answers will elaborate on how this has improved their work.
Why this matters:
Adaptability is key to successful customer relationships. Whether they're dealing with budget cuts, employee turnover, or pulling a product from the market, your candidate should be able to roll with the changes and pivot to drive the project to success. Customer success specialists must be willing to adjust their strategy as needed.
What to listen for:
- Listen for indications they were able to shift gears and carry on.
- A solutions-oriented mindset is critical.
- A great answer may also cover how they kept the customer’s morale high during even a calamitous change.
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