Eight Critical Customer Service Skills

Here I go again … sharing more worthwhile advice/opinion on the importance of employees in how a company delivers great customer experiences. This time I’m sharing the criteria Enterprise Rent-A-Car uses when deciding whom to hire.

For those unaware, Enterprise Rent-A-Car is the largest rental car company in the United States. It’s a privately owned business which recorded $9.0 billion dollars in sales for 2006. They are renowned for delivering great customer experiences in the highly-commodified rental car business.

Part of the reason Enterprise is viewed as strong customer service-focused business is they hire well. According to the recently published book, EXCEEDING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS, when it comes to hiring employees, Enterprise “… doesn’t want people who merely seek to be behind the rental counter. It wants every candidate to aspire to greatness.”

For the most part, new hires at Enterprise are eager, career-driven college graduates who are given the opportunity to quickly advance through the organization based off of their ability to deliver great customer service. As a result of their desire to hire candidates that aspire to greatness, Enterprise is able to retain 70% of its full-time employee base every year and have a ready pipeline of qualified candidates to promote as the company grows.

To help identify high potential candidates, Enterprise uses an eight-point Critical Customer Service Skills checklist to determine which candidates are mostly likely to be Enterprise employee material. It’s a worthwhile list for any customer service-focused business to plug ‘n play into their hiring practices.

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ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR
Critical Customer Service Skills

1. A passion for taking care of customers.
2. A willingness to be flexible.
3. A work ethic based on dedication to the company and its mission.
4. An eagerness to learn a new business and work their way up.
5. Self-motivation and goal-orientation.
6. Persuasive sales skills.
7. Excellent communication skills.
8. Leadership ability.

Source | EXCEEDING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS (Kirk Kazanjian)

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Comments

[Ed Brenegar]

I'm an Enterprise client. And I certainly agree that these eight skills are prominent in their customer service. Virtually every time I rent from them, they are doing something special for me. Once I rented a 15 passenger van to drive people and supplies to the gulf coast on a hurricane relief project. I think they discounted my rate by at least 50%. I didn't ask that they do it. They just recognized the importance of the trip and wanted to help out. And the woman who handled it, didn't have to go check with her manager, she just did it. That kind of freedom makes them more likely to serve the customer's best interest, which ultimately results in the company's.

[Susan Martin]

Thanks John, I agree, you'll never get great employees, customer service or otherwise, if you don't first pinpoint the qualities and characteristics they will need to have in order to be right for the job.

[Eric Youngstrom]

Enterprise is a great example of hiring right. They are also one of the best examples of measuring customer service and converting that measurement to real financial success.

Harvard Business Review focused on Enterprise in an article title "The One Number You Need to Grow" in the December 2003 issue. Accessing the article requires a premium subsription to HBR.org.

The gist of it is that Enterprise asks just two customer satisfaction questions about the quality of the experience and the likelihood the customer would rent from the company again.

Its easy to see that their hiring practices coupled with how they measure the success of each employee, branch, and region are two critical factors of their success. Enterprise effectively couples these metrics with hiring practices that reinforce success.

[Gino]

Absolutely. I have always had a positive experience renting from Enterprise, they go the extra step.