This morning I was reading the March issue of Inc magazine (one of my favorite magazines) and was intrigued by the section they had profiling three companies, with regard to their customer service. (read the article here)
The third company, Drybar, has an interesting business: I would call them a hair salon that does nothing but shampoo and blow-drys (aka, blow-outs). And they make bank doing it.
One of the customer service experts in the article suggested they look at a potential hire’s customer service ability BEFORE they look at their technical ability:
Inghilleri suggested Drybar start evaluating stylists’ customer service skills before their blow-drying skills. Hiring managers are sometimes so impressed after seeing someone with excellent technique that they are ready to dismiss deficiencies, such as a poor personality, he explained. (here’s Leonardo Inghilleri’s LinkedIn Profile)
What does this mean to you?
I’ve heard recruiters talk about the entitled job seeker, who thinks just because they match the job description requirements they are entitled to get the job. They are livid when they don’t get the job, because they know they are the best for it (even though they don’t know who else interviewed for it).
Beyond the job description, there are other considerations.
Like the hiring manager evaluating customer service fit before anything else.
Or a panel interview evaluating cultural fit, communication skills, judgement in what the job seeker chooses to talk about.
There are two major parts of your job search interview:
- What you know you are being evaluated on, based on the job description, and
- What you don’t know you are being evaluated on, which sometimes might seem like discrimination.
You can only control so much (like, you can’t control what you look like (to a degree), or how tall you are, etc. But you can work on things such as your communication skills, body language, etc.
If nothing else, pick up a book on customer service and start to think about how that applies to YOU.
After all, aren’t we ALL in customer service?
