ServiceFirst Employment Test Now Provides Key Interview Questions and Coaching Tips

Windsor, CT, March 21, 2005 — LIMRA International has completely revamped ServiceFirst™ candidate reports, providing clients with key interview questions and coaching tips to help them select and develop customer service representatives.

ServiceFirst asks job candidates to share their attitudes on a wide variety of service issues and assesses whether they will provide outstanding service, fulfill client needs quickly and efficiently, identify sales opportunities and create sales leads, and resolve client complaints promptly and courteously.

Each candidate report has always provided an overall customer service rating as well as ratings on four key service dimensions.

• Active — seeking out and acting on service and sales opportunities
• Polite — are courteous and establish rapport
• Helpful — going the extra mile to meet and exceed customer needs
• Personalized — recognizing each customer's unique qualities

The new candidate reports now include special interview questions for each of the four service dimension, a guide for evaluating responses, and, perhaps more important, tips on how to coach and develop the candidate.

For example, hiring managers reviewing the report of a candidate who receives a Helpful Service Rating of "Moderate" will receive interview questions such as

"Tell me about a time when a customer or co-worker requested help that you couldn't provide. What was the request? Why were you unable to fulfill the request? How did you handle the situation? How did the other person react?"

The interview rating guide gives precise examples of weak and strong responses to the interview questions. Weak responses to the Helpful Service questions show that the candidate rarely goes out of her way to help others and does not seem to enjoy helping others. Strong responses, on the other hand, reflect candidates' willingness to do whatever it takes to help customers.

The manager will also receive specific coaching tips, such as: "To maximize this candidate's potential, conduct role playing exercises with this person to demonstrate helpful responses to different types of inquiries. Monitor customer interactions and reinforce helpful responses."

With help from ServiceFirst, hiring managers will be able to ask key interview questions, evaluate responses more effectively, and coach new reps to greater success.

ServiceFirst is available through ExSel, LIMRA International's online employment testing service. For more information, please contact Sean O'Donnell at 860-298-3913 or sodonnell@limra.com.