CSRs Need Phone Etiquette and Writing Skills?

If your customer service reps (CSRs) must respond to customers' e-mails, screen them not just for their phone manners, but also for their writing ability, notes Liz Kislik, president of Liz Kislik Associates, a Rockville Centre, N.Y.-based management consultancy.

During the interview process, give CSR candidates an actual customer e-mail (deleting the customer's name and contact information, of course), and ask candidates to respond to it as best they can. Look for candidates who can write grammatically correct and professional-sounding sentences, says Kislik. "Bear in mind, you may actually have to hire e-mail-only CSRs, especially if your current phone CSRs can't write well," says Kislik.