What steps do you take to maintain a positive and professional demeanor, even in challenging situations?

Your Answer

How To Answer This Question?

This question is designed to evaluate your emotional intelligence, stress management skills, and professionalism. In a customer service role, especially in utilities, you will often encounter frustrated or upset customers. The interviewer wants to know that you can remain calm, positive, and professional even when faced with difficult situations.

How to answer: 1. Acknowledge the importance: Start by acknowledging the importance of maintaining a positive and professional demeanor in customer service. 2. Describe your strategies: Share specific strategies you use to manage stress and stay positive. This could include deep breathing, taking short breaks, or using positive self-talk. 3. Provide examples: Give examples from past experiences where you successfully maintained your composure in challenging situations. Explain what the situation was, what steps you took, and what the outcome was. 4. Emphasize customer satisfaction: Highlight how maintaining a positive and professional demeanor helps in resolving issues more effectively and leads to higher customer satisfaction.

Example Answer: "I understand that maintaining a positive and professional demeanor is crucial in customer service, especially when dealing with utility services where customers might be facing urgent issues. To manage stress, I practice deep breathing exercises and take short breaks when possible to clear my mind. For instance, there was a time when a customer was extremely upset about a billing error. I listened to their concerns without interrupting, remained calm, and assured them that I would resolve the issue. By staying positive and professional, I was able to de-escalate the situation and find a solution that satisfied the customer."