Question: Describe a time when you fully understood a difficult customer’s needs.

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Give me an example of how you’ve demonstrated an understanding of customer needs?

Follow-up questions:

Did you take longer than usual to understand this customer’s needs?
Were there any important bits you thought have helped you in general to understand the needs well?
How often do you face such customers in this industry?
What would the consequences be if this customer’s need wasn’t understood well?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Active Listening,Basic – Critical Thinking,Social – Service Orientation (Customer Service/Focus),Social – Social Perceptiveness,Systems Analysis

Abilities:

Cognitive – Flexibility of Closure (Pattern Detection)

Other Factors:

Direct Job Experience,Personality-Job Fit,Personality-Organization Fit,Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

Information Input – Estimating Characteristics of Objects, Events, or Information,Information Input – Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events,Interacting with Others – Assisting and Caring for Others,Interacting with Others – Communicating with Persons Outside Organization,Interacting with Others – Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships,Mental Processes – Analyzing Data or Information,Mental Processes – Processing Information

Work Context (Person-Job/Team/Org Fit):

Interpersonal Relationships – Deal With External Customers,Interpersonal Relationships – Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Analytical Thinking,Approachability,Attention to Detail,Handling Ambiguity,Initiative,Patience

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

You are looking for the candidate’s effectiveness and proactive behavior.
If the candidate finds this as an opportunity rather than escaping from it.
If the candidate’s narration has the solution that they offered as well.

Red Flags to Watch For:

If the candidate tries to escape by saying they have never come across such situation.
If the candidate sounds as if they are blaming the customer for being difficult and displays negative feeling towards the customer.

Sample Answer:

N/A

Question Source: https://www.totaljobs.com/advice/most-common-competency-based-interview-questions