While each customer-facing professional is unique, there are certain core traits that are possessed by those who provide excellent customer service. These seven customer service qualifications are useful in hiring, training, and promoting customer-facing professionals.

1. Qualifications
…Everyone Must Have

2. Brought to you by…
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Back in 2012, we wrote a blog post about the
ideal traits that a customer-facing
professional (CFP) should have.
Because positive personality traits and
qualifications are so important to customer
service, we wanted to create a fun, visual
tool for you to share with your teams.

3. Who is the ideal
candidate for a
customer service
position?

4. What
qualifications
must this person
have to succeed?

5. Most customer-facing
professionals need the
following 7 attributes to
deliver excellent customer
service…

6. Empathy

7. In customer service,
the ability to
understand what
someone is going
through is
fundamental.

8. CFPs must be able
to relate to their
customers in order
to provide the best
service.

9. Thick
Skin

10. CFPs who take situations
personally do not last
long in customer service.

11. CFPs must be able
to detach from
situations and to
remember that it is
usually not
personal.

12. Communication
Skills

13. Successful
customer service
depends on clear
and productive
communication.

14. CFPs must know
how to actively
listen and pivot
unhelpful
conversations to
more productive
ground.

15. Self
Control

16. The ability to
govern one’s
emotions and
reactions is a key
part of customer
service.

17. CFPs must be able
to maintain a level
head and exhibit
calm during
stressful situations.

18. People
Person

19. Customer service is an
inherently human-
driven activity. It is
about one person
trying to help another
person.

20. Those who are not
fond of people will
never be able to
sustain the people-
centric focus that is
at the core of great
service.

21. Flexibility

22. If customer service
is anything, it is
dynamic. One day
is never like the
next.

23. CFPs must be able to
adapt and make
decisions in the “grey.”

24. Team
Player

25. Great service should
always be the result of a
collaborative effort to
put the customer’s
needs first.

26. CFPs must set aside
their own interests to
help the team deliver
what the customer
needs.

27. So, next time you’re hiring someone
for your customer-facing team,
remember to look for…
Empathy
Self ControlTeam Player
Flexibility
People PersonThick Skin
Communication Skills

28. Want more on Customer Service and the Customer
Experience? Download your copy of our FREE eBook,
7 Secret Customer Service Techniques Every Expert
Knows.
Click the book below!
FREE!

29. Photo Credits
Woman with Gift (credit)
Flexible Man (credit)
Team (credit)
Blonde Woman (credit)
Blank Book Cover (credit)
Cover image – Man (credit)
Cover image – Nametag (credit)
Empathetic Man (credit)
Super Hero (credit)
Man and Megaphone (credit)
Angry Man (credit)