First and foremost, who is a phone banker? A phone banker is an individual who works for a bank or financial institution and addresses banking customer concerns and needs via telephone.
Below are the top 20 phone banker interview questions and answers. With them are sample answers that act as samples of how you should answer the questions.
1. Why Are You Interested In This Role?
First, if your interviewer asks you this question, they expect you to tell them why you want to work for them. Consider talking about putting your skills into place and learning from them as well.
Sample Answer
“Having learned that you were recruiting, I was motivated to apply for this role to put my knowledge and skills into place. I want to use the skills I gained from my university and the experience I have had in my previous roles to better your bank’s performance. As I was researching your company, I loved the good performance I saw. I want to be part of a team that helps customers get their desired expectations. Lastly, I am a person who likes learning from others. I am not shy to say that I would like to sharpen my skills further by learning from your company. ”
2. What Are The Roles Of A Phone Banker?
The interviewer expects you to mention the essential duties and responsibilities you should perform as a phone banker in this question. Only mention the critical roles.
Sample Answer
“There are several duties that I, as a phone banker, should perform. Among them are;
- Handling and resolving customer complaints/ queries over the phone
- Providing customers with relevant product and service information
- Cross-selling various banking products to customers over the phone
- Advise clients on financial matters and resolve them
- Ensure to demonstrate all sound judgments for decision making and complying with set guidelines and methods.
- Ensure phone banking activities inclusive of but not restricted to direct mail, telemarketing, cross-selling of bank services and products.
I believe that those are the top Phone banker roles that I will be delighted to perform in your company.”
3. What Are The Qualities That A Phone Banker Needs To Be Successful?
As a phone banker, you should have certain qualities to be successful in the role. Mention the qualities that you think can help you be successful in this role.
Sample Answer
“As a phone banker, there are qualities that I need to have so that I can be successful in this role. First, I need to have good communication skills to make it easy to communicate efficiently to the customers and other customer support teams. In addition, I should have problem-solving skills to solve problems whenever they arise. As a phone banker, I am also expected to have industry knowledge, managing skills, and have active listening skills. Lastly, I am expected to be able to answer any financial question that has been raised by the customers.”
4. What Major Challenges Did You Face During Your Last Role? How Did You Manage?
The interviewer knows that at some point, you faced challenges. That’s what they expect you to talk about. Tell them about the challenges and how you managed them.
Sample Answer
“Due to high customer expectations, sometimes the customers could find no value for their money in our services. This is a challenge that my previous employer and I went through at our early stages. However, I realized that it is good to engage with your customers and tell them what to expect and what not to expect in our banking services. Most of them hardly read about the terms and conditions that should be followed. I must say that this was my biggest challenge, but I managed to solve it through the customer engagement program.”
5. Describe Your Daily Routine As A Phone Banker
When the interviewer asks this question, they expect you to tell them what you would do as your daily activities. Give them a very organized routine of your daily activities as a phone banker.
Sample Answer
“After arriving at the office, I would start by reviewing tasks for the day and create a schedule. I would then meet with my team to brief and respond to emails and prior support tickets. I would then attend to onboarding customers’ calls. I would then follow up on customers’ requests and queries and solve them as soon as I can before breaking for lunch. After lunch, I will handle customer support communications across multiple channels. Lastly, I would then hold inter-departmental meetings and check-ups. That would be a perfect day for me at work.”
6. Describe Briefly About Your Experience
Here, the interviewer wants you to talk about your previous work experiences. Talk about where you have worked and for how long.
Sample Answer
“After completing my university degree, I was employed in a supermarket as an intern. Here I interacted with a lot of seniors who trained me. After completing the first year, I was permanently employed for a contract of three years. Meaning, I have four years of experience in this field as a Phone banker. I believe that I will use these relevant skills and experience to work for your company for better customer satisfaction.”
7. What Kind Of Strategies And Mindset Are Required For This Role?
The interviewer wants to know your primary focus as a phone banker. Talk about your attitude towards this role.
Sample Answer
“As a phone banker, it should always be at the back of my mind that I am working towards customer success and resolutions. And so, customer service is a priority. All the activities that I need to perform should always be focused on customer satisfaction first. One should ensure close relationships, communication efficiency, customer advocacy, and support. Whenever a customer raises an issue, it should be handled and solved immediately without any delays. The response should be 100% with zero delays. I believe having that kind of mindset would make a good phone banker.”
8. What Is The Biggest Challenge That You Foresee In This Role
Since you have experience or knowledge in this role, the interviewer might ask you these questions to see whether you can research and predict future challenges. Talk about a big challenge that you think might affect this field negatively.
Sample Answer
“As a phone banker, I see a challenge in the response sector in this field. System failure has been here with us as a challenge and if not looked into, it may bring a negative impact in the future. These delays are always nagging and they affect the way we are working. With the daily advancing technology, phone bankers should focus on investing much on technology to avoid these problems in future.”
9. How Do You Stay Motivated In Your Work?
The interviewer is trying to understand your daily morale keeper. Consider talking about achievements and meeting your expectations as your motivation.
Sample Answer
“As a phone banker, nothing motivates me more than meeting my client’s expectations through problem solving and service inquiry. Whenever there is an issue that arises from our customer, I always try my level best to solve it. Solving the problem is my motivation. That makes me see that my strategies and skills are being useful in this role. That is the biggest motivation in my career. Solving customer’s issues and meeting my customer’s expectations is all that motivates me.”
10. Describe A Time When You Failed In This Role And The Lessons You Learned.
The interviewer knows that you might have made a mistake at some point and led to poor performance. They are asking you this to see how you can learn from making mistakes. Talk about a time when you made a mistake and you could solve the error and the lesson you learned.
Sample Answer
“As we all know, mistakes are there to be made. And we learn from our mistakes. As a phone banker from my previous role, I used to get a lot of pressure from customers enquiring about services that our bank offers. There would be thousands of emails flowing in and lots of website support service tickets. This was overwhelming us. Sometimes, customers would complain about late responses from the support team. However, we were able to solve this. We had to update all the information about the products we offered. Many customers could access any information they needed without emailing or booking a ticket with customer support. Lately, we have been getting a few emails just for follow-ups.”
11. Why Do You Feel You Are Most Suitable For This Role?
The interviewer is asking why you feel that they should choose you over the other candidates. Talk about the unique qualities, experience, and achievements that you have that no other candidate has.
Sample Answer
“Despite having all the academic qualifications, it is my understanding that this role needs someone who has enough experience in this field. This is a very critical role that doesn’t require an entry-level candidate. Having worked at a bustling institution with a lot of customer engagement, I think I am the candidate you are looking for. In addition, the strategies that I have learned from my previous role will help in bettering this field in your bank.”
12. Share With Us Your Greatest Achievement
The interviewer is asking you the most meaningful goals you have achieved while working in this role. Talk about your achieved goals and any promotions and awards that you have ever received in your career.
Sample Answer
“In my previous work, a customer would rate your service after attending to them. That would add or deduct your performance points which were being reviewed at the end of the year. There could be an award for the top positively rated employees. That could be the employee of the year. I have won this title three times for the four years I have worked in that company. That means that it’s only one year that I did not get this award. Yes. Of course, that was my entry-level position year. Along with this, there could be a trophy for the staff of the year title.
13. How Would You Advise Your Customers To Ensure Security In Their Mobile Banking?
The interviewer wants to know whether you know the safety measures that your customers should be advised on, to make sure that their funds are safe while using mobile banking.
Sample Answer
“These are the safety measures I’d advise our customers to take to protect themselves from frauds.
- Always Lock your phone – Add a passcode, pattern, or fingerprint authentication to your phone to protect your data.
- Don’t fall for phishing texts: While you can sign up for text banking and alerts, keep in mind that banks will never ask for your login credentials, account number, or other sensitive information.
- Protect your phone from theft – Practice good habits such as keeping your phone in your pocket or bag and not leaving it lying on public surfaces such as restaurant tables.
- Avoid public Wi-Fi – Avoid logging into your mobile and online banking accounts when connected to a public Wi-Fi network.”
14. Tell Us The Top Five Digital Banking Tools For Time Saving Convenience.
The interviewer wants to know whether you know the essential digital banking tools that would help you work conveniently.
Sample Answer
“These are;
· E-Statements – Online “electronic” statements are delivered directly to you via a secure online portal, such as the bank’s online/mobile banking, so there’s no mail to be lost or stolen.
· Digital Wallets – In addition to letting you pay for purchases on the fly via mobile device, digital wallets such as Samsung Pay, Google Pay, or Apple Pay offer safety and security. These electronic payment tools are safer than using a physical credit or debit card because each transaction has a unique, one-time encryption code.
· Online Bill Pay – This secure online banking feature streamlines paying bills.
· Direct Deposit – Commonly used for paychecks, income tax refunds, and social security checks, direct deposit ensures electronic funds are promptly deposited into your account.”
15. What Are The Benefits Of Using The Customer Access Tools
In other words, the interviewer wants to see whether you know the importance of using the mentioned tools and software.
Sample Answer
“There are many benefits of using these software and customer success tools. Among them are;
i) Keep track of customer’s data and requests
ii) Respond to every customer request with an automated response
iii) Get the customer request to the right person
iv) Ensures quick response
v) Keep all customer support information in one place.
These are just five among other benefits of using software and tools in the customer success field.”
16. Tell Us The Different Types Of Phone Banking Essentials That You Are Aware Of.
The interviewer wants to see whether you know the phone banking essentials that one must have to succeed in this field.
Sample Answer
“There are several phone banking essentials that are important in this role. These are.
a) Open API
b) Cloud Services
c) Chatbots.”
17. What Are The Advantages Of Phone Banking?
The interviewer wants to know whether you are aware of the importance of mobile banking.
Sample Answer
“Mobile banking is very essential. The advantages of using phone banking are;
· Convenient
· Time-saving
· Easy to monitor
· Good for budgeting
· Bank on the go
· Easy access to loans.”
18. What Is Your Biggest Strength
The interviewer wants to know what it is that you think that you are best in. Talk about any quality that you think it’s relevant to this role.
Sample Answer
“As far as my biggest strength is concerned, I would prefer saying that working as a team is my biggest strength. I love working with hardworking people and have one major goal to attain at the end of it all. In my previous role, I had a team that used to pull together towards a certain goal. The morale was so high, and no one could get bored. I believe that I will meet a hardworking team to work with like the one I had before. ”
19. What Should We Expect From You In The First Month?
The interviewer wants to know your short-term goals in your career.
Sample Answer
“I am very assured that in my first year you are going to get the best strategies that I have been using earlier. I will start by testing how they work towards meeting the goals of the bank and if all is well, I put them all into place.
20. What Would Be Your Best Part Of Working In This Role?
The interviewer wants to know where your main interest is in this field. Tell them what part of the field you like working on as a Phone banker.
Sample Answer
“I must say that I am good in this role in general, but my best is responding to customer’s queries about our products on emails, support tickets, direct messages, and other platforms.”
Conclusion
This is a significant role in every company and a fascinating one indeed. You should be able to show politeness while answering questions. All the best
