Key Skills to Look, Before Hire Freelance Customer Service Freelancers. 

• Personable and attentive.
• Strong Interpersonal Skills.
• Strong Verbal Communicator
• Familiar with the software used to connect with customers and gather their information 
• Knowledge applicable to products and markets. 
• Ability to work under pressure and think quickly on your feet. 
• Must be able to maintain a positive and professional attitude towards customers at all times. 
• Ability to prioritize tasks and manage time efficiently. 

Roles and Responsibilities of Customer Service Freelancers?

• Respond to customer inquiries and requests via telephone, email and chat in a timely manner.
• Document all inquiries, requests, resolutions, and follow-up tasks. 
• Escalate questions and request to appropriate departments or persons following the guidelines provided. 
• Know the products inside out to answer customer questions. 
• Process orders, forms, applications and requests. 
• Ensure customer satisfaction and provide professional customer support. 

What are the Interview questions for Customer Service Freelancers?

1. How would you define good customer service?
2. What’s the best customer service you’ve ever received? Why? 
3. Can you tell me about a time when you received poor customer service?
4. Is there a difference between customer service and customer support?
5. What appeals you about this role?
6. Have you ever dealt with an unreasonable customer? How did you handle it, ang how would you handle it today? 
7. Have you ever bent the rules in assisting a customer? Tell me about the situation and the outcome. 
8. In your past work, Have you ever received negative feedback from a customer? What did you do with that feedback?
9. Can you tell me about a customer who you found difficult to understand and how you approached the interaction? 
10. What’s the best way to help a customer who has worked with multiple agents and hasn’t received the help they need?

How to Hire the Best Freelance Customer Service Freelancers?

1. Identify your needs - you should determine what your services or assistance you need from the Customer Service Freelancers. By gathering and knowing this information it will now help you to establish a list of potential candidates.
2. Research and Find Potential Candidates - once you understand your goals, target audience and desired service, you can now start researching potential Customer Service Freelancers who will fit for the role.
3. Create a job posting that outlines the Scope of Work and Compensation - this is an additional step to finding skilled Customer Service Freelancers. You should write an appealing job posting to get noticed. 
4. Review Applications and Portfolios to Identify the Best Candidates - To ensure the best results, you should be able to take a thorough approach when reviewing their applications, testimonials and portfolios. 
5. Schedule Interview - when you’ve gathered all the information you need from the candidates, you are now ready to schedule an interview with your top choices and it will allow you to get to know them better. 
6. Make a final decision and extend an offer - You can now make an offer to the chosen Customer Service Freelancers after careful consideration and thorough review. Making sure that the chosen Customer Service Freelancers best fits the role and will be able to help and contribute to the growth or your organisation. 

What Challenges will you face when hiring Customer Service Freelancers?

• High Turnover - it can take several weeks or months to get your new employee up to a speed depending on the complexity of their work. 
• Finding the right applicants - hiring is costly and time consuming-and even more so if it turns out the employee is not the right fit for your business, starting the entire process over again. 
• Lack of data - many businesses do not take data into consideration when looking for a Customer Service Freelancer and as a result have next to no metrics to refer to when it comes to hire. 

How do you negotiate rates and terms with your freelance Customer Service Freelancers?

1. Do your Research - You should understand the market rates of Customer Service Freelancers, their level of expertise and the type of service they provide. Every different expertise demands different pay rates. This will always give you a good starting point for negotiations. 
2. Set a Budget - You should have a clear budget in mind based on the existing skills, experience and knowledge of a Customer Service Freelancer. This will help them stay within your financial limits while still providing fair compensation. 
3. Focus on Value, not Price - you should always consider the value a Customer Service Freelancer brings to their service instead of focusing on the cost. High quality may cost much, but it can always deliver better results, saving time and money in the long run, 
4. Be clear about your requirements - you should clearly outline the scope of work, deadlines, services and any added expectations. This will help Customer Service Freelancers to understand your expectations and allow them to provide more accurate services. 
5. Establish Long-Term Relationships - you should be able to offer more work or even bring them on full-time. This can provide Customer Service Freelancers more stable income. 
6. Make payment terms clear - when discussing agreement on rates, client’s should also discuss other things such as payments platforms, upfront payments, milestone payments and payment upon completion. Customer Service Freelancers may be more willing to negotiate rates if the payment terms are clear and well discussed.