Customer Service Assessment Tests

Customer Service Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a duty supervisor at a large consumer business. A weekly walk round the area you cover has to be recorded every week. On two of the last eight weeks it was not done, both times during unusually busy periods, and the sheet simply has gaps. A reviewer is going through the records with you this afternoon and has asked whether the walk has been completed every week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say that the walk is done every week as a matter of routine, and offer to send the reviewer the sheet afterwards so that she can look through the detail in her own time.
   2. Tell the reviewer the walk was missed twice in eight weeks, show her the sheet, and say what was happening in the area on both of those weeks.
   3. Tell her the sheet has gaps and that you will look into what happened on those two weeks, without saying that you already know both were busy periods.
   4. Assure the reviewer that the walk was completed in every one of the eight weeks, since it nearly always is and the two gaps were the result of unusually busy periods.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell the reviewer the walk was missed twice in eight weeks, show her the sheet, and say what was happening in the area on both of those weeks.

   Least effective: D. Assure the reviewer that the walk was completed in every one of the eight weeks, since it nearly always is and the two gaps were the result of unusually busy periods.

   A: Answers with the routine rather than the record: the gaps are still there and the reviewer finds them later, having been told something different to her face.

   C: Holds back the half you already know: the gaps are disclosed, and the explanation that would let her judge them properly is kept in reserve.

   D: Gives an assurance you know to be untrue: the reviewer's whole purpose is to find out what happened, and she is told the opposite by the one person who knows.

   The most effective response is to tell the reviewer the walk was missed twice in eight weeks, show her the sheet and say what was happening on those weeks: the record and your account of it agree, the context that makes the gaps understandable is offered rather than withheld, and she can do the job she is here to do. It beats answering with what happens as a matter of routine, because she will find the gaps afterwards having heard otherwise from you. It beats disclosing the gaps while keeping back what you know about them, because the explanation is the part that lets her judge them. The least effective response is assuring her that the walk was completed in every one of the eight weeks: the person with the facts tells the person checking them something untrue, which is a different kind of wrong from deflecting or from being incomplete. The principle: when somebody is checking a record, the record and what you say about it must be the same thing.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a scheduling coordinator at a large consumer business. A team member has asked for a weekend off in three weeks’ time and needs to know soon because she wants to book something. The manager who approves these is away until Thursday and has not seen the request. Requests like hers are usually agreed, but two other people have already been given that weekend. She has asked you today whether she can go ahead and book. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her the request is as good as approved and that the weekend will be fine, since requests like hers are nearly always agreed once the manager sees them.
   2. Tell her the request is with the manager, that two others already have that weekend, and that you will have an answer for her by Thursday evening.
   3. Tell her you cannot say anything until the manager is back, and leave it there so that nothing you say can be taken as an answer either way.
   4. Tell her to book something refundable and say you will try to sort the rota out afterwards if the manager turns the request down.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell her the request is with the manager, that two others already have that weekend, and that you will have an answer for her by Thursday evening.

   Least effective: A. Tell her the request is as good as approved and that the weekend will be fine, since requests like hers are nearly always agreed once the manager sees them.

   A: Gives a certainty you have not got: two people already have that weekend, so the one thing that might make this request different is the thing she is told not to worry about.

   C: Withholds what you do know to stay safe: she is planning something, and the fact that two people already have that weekend is exactly what would help her plan.

   D: Commits somebody else's decision on her behalf: the booking is safer, and a manager who has not been asked is expected to make the rota fit.

   The most effective response is to tell her the request is with the manager, that two others already have that weekend, and that she will have an answer by Thursday evening: she gets the true state of it, the one complication that might change the answer, and a date, which together are what let her decide about booking. It beats saying you cannot comment until the manager is back, because the two existing bookings are useful to her now. It beats telling her to book something refundable, because it still expects a manager who has not been asked to make the rota fit afterwards. The least effective response is telling her it is as good as approved and the weekend will be fine: the complication that makes her case different is waved away, which is a different kind of wrong from telling her nothing or from over-promising a fix. The principle: tell somebody what is actually known, complications included, and give them a date rather than a comfort.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a brand assistant at a large consumer business. In a review of a campaign you had worked on for two months, a senior colleague went through your work in front of eight people and said most of it would have to be redone. Some of what she said was fair. You are in the group that has to deliver the reworked campaign in three weeks, and the next working session is tomorrow morning. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Withdraw from the campaign group after that review and ask your manager to put you on something else, since your work on it is evidently not what they want.
   2. Go to tomorrow's session and say nothing about the review, since raising it would look like you cannot take criticism and the work is what matters now.
   3. Ask your manager to raise with her how the review was conducted, since going through somebody's work like that in front of eight people is not how feedback should be given.
   4. Go to tomorrow's session with a plan for the parts you accept and ask her to go through the parts you do not, so that the rework starts from an agreed brief.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Go to tomorrow's session with a plan for the parts you accept and ask her to go through the parts you do not, so that the rework starts from an agreed brief.

   Least effective: A. Withdraw from the campaign group after that review and ask your manager to put you on something else, since your work on it is evidently not what they want.

   A: Withdraws from a commitment after a hard hour: the group loses the person who knows the work best, three weeks before it is due, because of how the review felt.

   B: Buries the part you disagree with: the fair criticism and the unfair criticism are accepted together, and you rebuild to a brief you do not believe in.

   C: Turns the work into a complaint about conduct: it may well be justified, and three weeks before delivery it is the campaign that needs the attention.

   The most effective response is to go to tomorrow’s session with a plan for the parts you accept and ask her to go through the parts you do not: the three weeks start immediately, the criticism is separated into the half that improves the work and the half that needs testing, and the conversation happens with the person who made it. It beats saying nothing about the review, because you would rebuild against a brief you do not believe. It beats asking your manager to raise how the review was conducted, because that is a separate conversation and the campaign is due in three weeks. The least effective response is withdrawing from the group: a hard hour costs the campaign the person who knows it best, three weeks from delivery, which is a different kind of wrong from over-agreeing or from making it about conduct. The principle: take the part of hard feedback that is right, test the part that is not, and stay in the work.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a shift supervisor at a large consumer business. A delivery the team has been waiting for since eight o’clock has not arrived, and the transport desk cannot say when it will. Six people are standing available and their shift ends at two. The team leader is asking you for a time, and the work that depends on the delivery has to be finished today or it moves to the weekend. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the team exactly what transport has said and that you do not have a time yet, since guessing helps nobody, and come back to them by eleven with a time or another plan.
   2. Say nothing to the team until transport gives you a time, so that you are not passing on information that might turn out to be wrong an hour later.
   3. Put the team on other work for the morning and mention the delivery only if somebody asks about it, since there is nothing anybody standing here can do about a vehicle that has not arrived.
   4. Tell the team leader the delivery is on its way and will be with them before the shift ends, which is what a team standing about needs to hear this morning.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell the team exactly what transport has said and that you do not have a time yet, since guessing helps nobody, and come back to them by eleven with a time or another plan.

   Least effective: D. Tell the team leader the delivery is on its way and will be with them before the shift ends, which is what a team standing about needs to hear this morning.

   B: Treats uncertainty as a reason for silence: six people spend the morning planning around a delivery nobody can promise, and the person who knows that is the one saying nothing.

   C: Manages the shift without informing it: the morning is used sensibly and the team leader still cannot plan the afternoon or the weekend around what you know.

   D: Gives an assurance nothing supports: transport has no time to give, so the comfort lasts until two o'clock and then the weekend plan is made on a promise that was never true.

   The most effective response is to tell the team exactly what transport has said, that there is no time yet, and that you will come back by eleven: it gives six people the real picture, it puts a decision point in the morning rather than at two o’clock, and it commits you to the follow-up rather than to a fact you do not have. It beats saying nothing until transport gives a time, because the morning is spent planning around something nobody can promise. It beats moving the team to other work and mentioning it only if asked, because the team leader is deciding about the afternoon and the weekend without what you know. The least effective response is telling the team leader the delivery is on its way and will arrive before the shift ends: no such assurance exists, and inventing one is a different kind of wrong from withholding or from managing quietly, because the plans made on it are wrong until two o’clock. The principle: when you do not know, say what you do know and when you will know more.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at a large consumer business. A figure you produced for a weekly pack rests on an assumption about supplier lead times that changed on Friday. With the new lead times the figure would be materially different. The pack goes to a manager this afternoon and the meeting that uses it is tomorrow. Reworking the figure properly takes half a day, which you do not have. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Rework the figure quickly this afternoon with an estimate of the new lead times, and put the estimated version in the pack instead of the one you can support.
   2. Put the figure in the pack as it stands, without flagging that the lead times behind it changed on Friday, since the rework cannot be done before this afternoon in any case.
   3. Put the figure in with a clear note that the lead times changed on Friday and what that does to it, and tell the manager before the pack goes out so nothing surprises him.
   4. Leave the figure out of the pack altogether and explain in its place that the number is being reworked after a change to supplier lead times.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Put the figure in with a clear note that the lead times changed on Friday and what that does to it, and tell the manager before the pack goes out so nothing surprises him.

   Least effective: B. Put the figure in the pack as it stands, without flagging that the lead times behind it changed on Friday, since the rework cannot be done before this afternoon in any case.

   A: Substitutes a guess for a stale fact: neither number has been checked, and the estimate carries none of the working the original at least had.

   B: Withholds the fact that decides what the number is worth: tomorrow's meeting uses a figure whose basis is known to be out of date by the only person who knows it.

   D: Removes the evidence rather than qualifying it: tomorrow's meeting loses a usable number and gains nothing it can decide with.

   The most effective response is to put the figure in with a clear note on the lead time change and what it is likely to do, and tell the manager before the pack goes out: the meeting keeps a number it can use, everybody knows what it rests on, and the manager can decide whether tomorrow needs the rework. It beats reworking it quickly on an estimate, because an unchecked guess replaces a number whose working at least exists. It beats leaving the figure out, because the meeting is then deciding with nothing. The least effective response is putting the figure in without flagging the lead time change: the only person who knows the basis has changed says nothing, and the meeting treats a stale figure as current, which is a different kind of wrong from guessing or from withdrawing the number. The principle: when you cannot fix a number in time, publish what is wrong with it to the person who is about to rely on it.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a brand assistant at a large consumer business. Three things are due before Friday: a customer announcement, a set of images for the team who publish them, and a summary for your manager. The announcement has to go on a shared channel whose owner runs a queue and has given you a slot on Thursday. Your announcement matters most this week, and you can post to the channel yourself. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do the images and the summary first because they are quick, and take the announcement to the channel owner on Thursday exactly as the queue arranges it.
   2. Ask your manager to tell the channel owner to move your announcement up the queue, since it matters more this week than the items sitting in front of it.
   3. Ask the channel owner today whether the announcement can move up, explain what is riding on it, and do the images and the summary while you wait for his answer.
   4. Post the announcement on the shared channel yourself ahead of the queue, since your item is the most time-critical this week and the slot system is only there to keep things orderly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Ask the channel owner today whether the announcement can move up, explain what is riding on it, and do the images and the summary while you wait for his answer.

   Least effective: D. Post the announcement on the shared channel yourself ahead of the queue, since your item is the most time-critical this week and the slot system is only there to keep things orderly.

   A: Sequences by what is easy: the two small jobs are cleared, and the item with the most riding on it gets whatever attention Thursday leaves.

   B: Escalates before asking: the person who runs the queue has not been spoken to, and the first thing he hears is a manager rearranging his week.

   D: Breaches somebody else's control of a shared channel: the queue exists because everybody's item feels urgent, and jumping it decides that question on your own behalf.

   The most effective response is to ask the channel owner whether the announcement can move up, explain what is riding on it, and do the images and the summary while you wait: the request goes to the person who owns the queue, the case for it is made rather than assumed, and the other two jobs progress meanwhile. It beats doing the quick jobs first and taking Thursday as it comes, because the most important item is then given the least thought. It beats asking your manager to have it moved, because nobody has yet asked the person who runs the queue. The least effective response is posting ahead of the queue yourself: a shared arrangement is set aside by somebody who decided their own item outranked the others, which is a different kind of wrong from sequencing badly or from going over somebody’s head. The principle: where a shared queue decides the order, the way to move up it is to ask its owner, not to step round it.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a supply chain graduate at a large consumer business. A business customer’s order was due yesterday and has not arrived. The tracking shows it left and then nothing. The customer has emailed once, politely, asking where it is. Deliveries occasionally turn up a day or two late without anybody intervening. Chasing it properly means ringing the carrier and waiting on hold. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply to the customer that the order has left and that tracking will update when it moves, which is all the information the system currently gives you about it.
   2. Ring the carrier now and say nothing to the customer until you have an answer, since a reply with no news in it will only invite another email.
   3. Wait for the order to arrive in its own time, since deliveries often turn up a day or two late and the customer has only written once so far.
   4. Reply today to say you are chasing the carrier and when you will come back to him, ring the carrier, and update him either way so that he knows a person has it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Reply today to say you are chasing the carrier and when you will come back to him, ring the carrier, and update him either way so that he knows a person has it.

   Least effective: C. Wait for the order to arrive in its own time, since deliveries often turn up a day or two late and the customer has only written once so far.

   A: Passes on the screen rather than the situation: he can read tracking himself, and nothing about his order has actually been chased.

   B: Leaves a waiting customer with silence: the chase is right and he does not know it is happening, so his next email arrives anyway.

   C: Waits out a customer who has asked a direct question: nothing is checked, nothing is answered, and the outcome depends entirely on the order turning up.

   The most effective response is to reply today saying you are chasing the carrier and when you will come back, ring them, and update him either way: he knows a person has his problem, the chase actually happens, and the commitment is one you control. It beats telling him tracking will update when it moves, because he can see that himself. It beats saying nothing to the customer until the carrier answers, because his second email arrives while you are on hold. The least effective response is waiting for the order to turn up in its own time: a direct question goes unanswered and nothing is checked, so a good outcome depends entirely on luck, which is a different kind of wrong from being unhelpfully literal or from being quiet while you work. The principle: a customer who has asked where something is gets an action and a time, not a probability.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a trading assistant at a large consumer business. You and a colleague have built a set of figures for a business customer, she on the volumes and you on the pricing. Checking them this morning you found two of her assumptions were out of date and corrected them, which changes her volumes slightly. The figures go to the customer at noon and she is at a site until the afternoon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Message her now with the two assumptions you changed and why, send the figures at noon, and go through it with her afterwards so that she is not asked about volumes blind.
   2. Hold the figures until she is back and can look at the changes herself, and tell the customer they will arrive later this afternoon instead of at noon.
   3. Send the figures at noon with her original assumptions left in, and tell the customer the volumes may be revised once she is back.
   4. Send the corrected figures at noon without telling her that two of her assumptions were changed, since the correction is right and she will see the final version anyway.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Message her now with the two assumptions you changed and why, send the figures at noon, and go through it with her afterwards so that she is not asked about volumes blind.

   Least effective: D. Send the corrected figures at noon without telling her that two of her assumptions were changed, since the correction is right and she will see the final version anyway.

   B: Moves an external commitment for an internal check: the customer's deadline slips for two assumptions she can review just as well afterwards.

   C: Sends numbers you know are wrong with a caveat attached: the customer gets a figure the sender does not believe, and a promise of a possible revision.

   D: Withholds a change to a colleague's own work: she may be asked about volumes she did not produce, and the first she knows of it is when somebody queries them.

   The most effective response is to message her now with the two assumptions you changed and why, send at noon, and go through it when she is back: the customer gets accurate figures on time, and the person whose work was changed knows before anybody asks her about it. It beats holding the figures until the afternoon, because an external commitment is moved for a check that can happen afterwards. It beats sending her original assumptions untouched, because the customer then gets numbers you know to be out of date. The least effective response is sending the corrected figures without telling her: she may be questioned about volumes she did not produce and finds out from the query, which is a different kind of wrong from being over-cautious or from being too deferential. The principle: correct the work when it is wrong, and tell the person whose name is on it before anybody else does.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a resourcing assistant at a large consumer business. Two vacancies have to be filled before a busy fortnight starts on Monday, and you have spent two days working through agencies, three of which have already come back with nobody. You also have a routine reporting task due Friday that takes an afternoon. It is Wednesday. Your team leader has asked how the vacancies are going. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell your team leader the vacancies are in hand, finish the reporting task today while it is quiet, and go back to the agencies with the whole of Thursday and Friday.
   2. Give the two vacancies to a colleague on the team without going through which agencies have already been tried, so that you can get the reporting task cleared before Friday.
   3. Tell your team leader today that three agencies have come back with nobody and ask whether the reporting task can move, so that Thursday can go into the vacancies instead.
   4. Split Thursday between the agencies and the reporting task so that both are moving, and decide on Friday morning which of the two needs the remaining time.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your team leader today that three agencies have come back with nobody and ask whether the reporting task can move, so that Thursday can go into the vacancies instead.

   Least effective: B. Give the two vacancies to a colleague on the team without going through which agencies have already been tried, so that you can get the reporting task cleared before Friday.

   A: Reports comfort rather than position: two days of work have produced nobody, and the person who could widen the search hears that everything is fine.

   B: Hands the harder job on without its history: the colleague repeats two days of calls from the beginning, with a Monday deadline that is now three days closer.

   D: Defers the choice by dividing the day: Friday morning is too late to start either job properly, and Monday does not move.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader that three agencies have come back with nobody, ask whether the reporting task can move, and put Thursday into the vacancies: the deadline that matters is Monday, the person who can change the other deadline is the one being asked, and the real position is on the table. It beats saying the vacancies are in hand, because two days have produced nobody and that is the fact she needs. It beats splitting Thursday between both, because neither job is finished and Friday morning is too late to start. The least effective response is giving the vacancies to a colleague without the history: two days of calls are repeated from scratch with three days left before Monday, which is a different kind of wrong from reassuring your manager or from dividing your time badly. The principle: when the work will not fit, put the real position in front of the person who owns the deadlines rather than rearranging it yourself.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a customer care assistant at a large consumer business. A customer has been waiting three weeks for a replacement and has now rung for the fourth time. You can see a manager’s authorisation code in a shared document, left there for a different type of case, which would let you settle the whole thing today. Your team leader is in a meeting until three, and the customer is on the line now. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Settle the case now with the manager's authorisation code from the shared document, since the customer has waited three weeks and the outcome would be the same either way.
    2. Tell the customer that nothing can be done until your team leader is out of her meeting this afternoon, and ask him to ring the team back himself after three o'clock.
    3. Apologise, take the case number, and put a written request to your team leader so that she can look at it when her meeting finishes this afternoon.
    4. Tell the customer what you can do now and what needs approval, put an urgent note to your team leader with the case number, and commit to ringing him back before five.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Tell the customer what you can do now and what needs approval, put an urgent note to your team leader with the case number, and commit to ringing him back before five.

    Least effective: A. Settle the case now with the manager's authorisation code from the shared document, since the customer has waited three weeks and the outcome would be the same either way.

    A: Breaches an authority that was never given to you: the code was left for another purpose, and a good outcome reached that way is still an approval nobody made.

    B: Ignores the customer's actual need: a fourth call is answered with a fifth call, and the work that could be done meanwhile is not started.

    C: Leaves the customer holding the uncertainty: the request is sound, and the person who has rung four times is told nothing about what will happen or when.

    The most effective response is to tell the customer what you can do now and what needs approval, put an urgent note to your team leader, and commit to ringing back before five: it gives a customer on his fourth call the two things he does not have, which are a picture and a time, and it moves the approval without pretending you hold it. It beats asking him to ring back after three, because the fifth call is his to make and nothing progresses meanwhile. It beats a written request with nothing said to him, because he is left holding the uncertainty for another afternoon. The least effective response is settling it now with a manager’s code found in a shared document: the outcome may be right and the approval is one nobody gave, which is a different kind of wrong from being unhelpful or slow. The principle: an authority you can reach is not an authority you have, and the customer’s wait is not the thing that grants it.