Customer Service Representatives

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE: ROLE PLAYING SCRIPT FOR EMPLOYER,
Ms. Burke, Spring 2009

It is Spring, 2009. You are opening a new call center in Bangor, Maine for LL Bean. You have been the Director of Customer Service for the company for many years and have won many company and national awards for your work and innovations. For this reason, you have been chosen to open the new call center, even in this weak economy. You are excited, but know your career rests on your success. Hiring the right team is critical to that success.

The team you are creating must be serious about the work, understand LL Bean’s culture and respect the passion they put into giving superlative customer service. You have interviewed and hired several people, but are particularly interested in Ms. Roberts. She has worked part time for you for several years, and you know she is a hard worker and dedicated to fabulous customer service. Actually, you have mentored her in a way as she worked through Eastern Maine Community College (EMCC). You have been impressed with her experience, her poise and her work ethic. She obviously is a hard worker as she has maintained excellent grades while working and being active as a volunteer with her school and community.

You invited her into your office last week and offered her the job. You know that she would be of great value to the organization for many, many years, and you may be inclined to soften on driving a hard financial bargain because of her exceptional potential. But as a consummate professional, you know you must not show favoritism.

Ms. Roberts has exactly the qualities you seek for this position, and the experience which will make it easy for her to begin with only minimal “on the job training”. At the end of the interview yesterday you offered her the job as the Customer Service Representative for the new LL Bean call center in the Bangor area, and asked her to return today to set her salary, benefits and start date.

As the consummate professional, you know the salary range for a Customer Service Representative in Bangor is $25,000 to $33,000; with a median salary of $29,000. The benefits for this position add another $14,000 to the compensation package.

Because LL Bean is such a desirable employer and so many people want to work here, you typically pay new hires at the low end of the salary range. This is even more necessary in today’s prolonged recession.

Last year, the starting salary for this position was $25,000. Three people have already accepted offers at that salary, so you see no reason to start with a higher offer. The benefits package you are offering for this position is $11,000.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE EMPLOYER (2)

Ms. Robert’s job offer is the last piece of your work for the day. You have to leave in 15 minutes for a meeting in Freeport.

When you and Ms. Roberts sit down to talk, your opening lines to her are:

“We’re so pleased that you want to work for LL Bean’s new call center. You’ll be a wonderful addition to our team.

We have just a couple details to settle, then you can sign our contract, and we’ll see you after graduation.

I am authorized to offer you a starting salary of $25,000. You will be entitled to the standard benefits package all new employees get of $11,000, and we’d like you to start here on June 1st.

If that’s okay with you, please read over this contract, sign it and you’ll be a new Customer Service Representative for LL Bean in Bangor.

See how she reacts. Listen to her. Write down what language she might use would make you hold the line and not raise her starting salary and why. Write down what objections you would have if she wants more money. Discuss thoughtfully with her, because you want her to accept your job offer.

In this discussion, see what is the lowest starting salary and benefits package that you can get her to accept and get her to accept a specific salary in the 15 minutes before you have to leave.

Remember, you made her a job offer because you are very impressed with her. Now it’s time to get her to work for you at LL Bean. Good Luck!

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENATIVE: ROLE-PLAYING SCRIPT FOR JOB APPLICANT,
Ms. Roberts, Eastern Maine Community College-Spring 2009

It is Spring, 2009, and you will graduate from Eastern Maine Community College (EMCC) with an Associates Degree in Business Management –Office Technology and a 3.5 GPA. You grew up in rural Maine and are the first in your family to go to college, so everyone is very proud of you.

You did well in high school and were Co- captain for the High School girl’s basket ball team where you learned teamwork and the importance of knowing about the game and your competition in order to win. You were also a member of Jobs for Maine Graduates where you identified your occupational interests and learned about responsibility, courtesy and customer service and again teamwork.

At EMCC, you studied business to learn more about skills needed to apply for jobs with industries in Maine. You took classes in Proofreading and Editing, Keyboarding, Math and Composition, Office Procedures and Oral Communication. You also did work study jobs with the Information Desk and with The Enrollment Center where you greeted applicants, did copying, collating and other organization jobs required while also holding jobs in the community.

You are a hard worker! During high school and college you worked for 3 summers at the Service Department desk at the car dealership where your father works as a mechanic. You were employed by Borders Books as customer service rep on weekends and after school in both high school and all through college and worked at LL Bean in their Customer Service Department, first as a picker, then on the phones initially at Christmas then moving into permanent part time.

Even though you worked and studied and did very well you volunteered at the local food bank and with Meals on Wheels, when time allowed.

Ms. Burke, Director of Customer Service at L L Bean has been a mentor to you and asked you to come speak to her last week. She has a full time position in Customer Phone Service at LL Beam’s new call center opening in May in Bangor. She asked if you would like one of the Customer Service Representative jobs upon graduation. She is in the process of opening the new office and needs to develop a professional Customer Service Team and thinks you would be a perfect member of the team. As this is a new and expensive venture for LL Bean, she must show positive results quickly, especially in this weak economy.

This is the perfect job for you and you immediately said yes. It gives you the opportunity to use the skills and education you have, and let’s you remain in the Bangor area where your family lives. She asked you to come back today just to settle a couple details like salary, benefits and a starting date and then sign a contract.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE JOB APPLICANT (2)

You’ve done your homework and know that a Customer Service Representative in the Bangor area has a salary range of $25,000 to $33,000 with a median salary of $29,000. The benefits for this position should add another $14,000 to the compensation package.

You’ve determined that your target salary is $29,000. You firmly believe your work and volunteer activities, your excellent education and diverse skills establish this as your value doing this job. The fact that you have experience at LL Bean and have trained with Ms. Burke will make it easy for you immediately be a productive team member..

You know that living in the Bangor will be more expensive than living at home. You have hefty student loans to pay off. You will need a car, and after working so hard, you would like to have a social life! You’ve done your budget and know the minimum salary you can possibly accept is $27,000 and that would mean living VERY modestly.

You have the last appointment of the day. Ms. Burke must leave in 15 minutes for a staff meeting in Freeport. Can you and Ms. Burke come to an agreement about a starting salary which you can accept? Can you get her to agree to your target salary figure? Will she offer an acceptable benefits package?

Make notes on what you consider your persuasive points. Decide the sequence in which you will present these points. Make notes about the language you will use. Make notes about likely objections and what you will say.

Use every minute of that time to get her to your target salary. It’s your last chance to start out with the best salary you can get. Remember, $29,000 is what you believe you’re worth in that job.

Go for it!