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Customer Service Representative Job Description
Salary, Skills, Certifications, Duties and more…
A position that is dealing with improving customer satisfaction may be considered one of the top priorities of a company. The reason is clear: a satisfied customer will most probably be a loyal customer, and loyalty will lead to a preference for your business instead of competitors. As the name suggests, the “Customer” Service Representative, handles the customer-related duties as his/her main job responsibility.
Now let’s dig into this position deeper…
Yes, as an Accountant, you will be working with numbers, a lot!
Who is a Customer Service Representative?
According to Cambridge Dictionary, a Customer (Service) Representative is a person whose job is to deal with a business’s customers.
Like a pawn in a chess game, a customer service representative works as the front-line officer for customers by answering their questions before or during using the product or service of the company.
To be referred to as a good customer service representative, you need to be polite and positive even dealing with stressful situations with a customer. Also, knowing the products or services very well is critical. Helping to use the products effectively, providing a solution to the complaints, leading to other departments when necessary and following up until the customer’s satisfaction is a typical example of a customer service representative’s daily life.
If you are eager to play a key role in the company’s success by directly helping customers via phone, face-to-face, email, or live chat through social media, this role just be for you.
Let’s look at further details about Customer Service Representatives and their duties, salary, and skills required.
What are the duties and responsibilities of a customer service representative?
First of all, it is important to know that Customer Service Representatives work in a variety of different industries and work in a variety of teams and projects, so this is not a “call-center agent” role. Depending on their different duties, the name of the position may vary such as:
- Customer Service Representative
- Customer Support Associate or Specialist
- Customer Support Officer
- Customer Trainer
- Call Center Representative
- Help Desk Representative
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the main industries where Customer Service Representatives work are:
| Retail Trade | 14% |
|---|---|
| Insurance | 13% |
| Business Support Services | 10% |
| Wholesale Trade | 7% |
| Professional, Scientific and Technical Services | 6% |
Due to the variety of industries a Customer Service Representative might be working in, clearly examining the job duties and responsibilities written on the job description when applying for Customer Service Representative job positions is pretty important. In general, the duties are as listed below:
- Listening and understanding customer request
- Addressing the customer needs
- Giving the customer information about products and services
- Solving the complaint efficiently asap
- Directing the problem to another department if necessary
- Following up on the case till the customer’s problem is solved
- Creating customer satisfaction and fulfillment with the company’s product or service
- Taking orders
- Processing returns
What skills and qualifications are needed for a Customer Service Representative?
Positive attitude and customer orientation are the basic skills that are expected for a customer service representative to have. The others are:
- Good communication skills
- Friendly attitude
- Empathy
- Patience
- Professional attitude
- Creativity and resourcefulness
- Good stress management
- Persuasive speaking skills
- Effective listening skills
- Attention to detail
PS. Please keep in mind to mainly go over specific skills mentioned in the job description to see if you would be a good match!
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Training and Education for Customer Service Representatives
Even though a high school diploma is required only for the Customer Service Representative jobs, depending on the industry, some people may need a university education (depending on the company) in business management as there is a continuous need for a more skilled workforce and more qualified representatives. According to the Microsoft survey report presented in
2020 and named ‘Global State of Customer Service (The transformation of customer service from 2015 to present-day)’, 55% of customers expect better customer service year over year and this is 70% among those customers aged btw 18-34. Therefore, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is critical fulfilling these expectations to assure customer loyalty for the business income and success.
To guarantee customer satisfaction, the customer service specialists should be trained well internally (on the job) to fully know the product portfolio of the company and to understand customer behavior and preferences. So well-trained customer representatives with a positive attitude create a positive customer experience, which in turn will lead to high revenue and success among competitors. As declared in a Microsoft report, “Globally, 90% of consumers believe customer service is very important in the choice of brand.”
As a side note, CS Representatives working in the finance sector may need to update their training or need licenses related to insurance or financial services.
Customer Service Representative Salary
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary of a Customer Representative in the US in 2022 is about 37K per year (base salary):
In the US, the number of open positions is around 3 million as of 2022, though there is an expected negative growth until 2030. This can be well explained that the most significant number of employers in the Retail trade industry is expected to need less demand for customer service representative positions as their duties will be automated by mobile applications, social media, and self-service systems. What’s more, as technology continues to improve, more tasks will be managed without a need for a person.
It is expected that some Customer Service Rep. jobs will be shifted to Business Support services from the Retail Trade sector. For providing combined sales and customer service, some companies will switch customer service operations to phone call centers and automated systems.
As a note, another opportunity for Customer Service Representatives is switching to become Computer Support Specialists, a role within Customer Service. This new role is expected to have more open positions in the future, also with a higher salary (Customer support specialists across all industries made a median salary of $35,830 in 2020 in the US, while computer support specialists made $57,910.)
Overall employment of computer support specialists is projected to grow 9 percent from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Also, the projected numeric change in employment from 2020 to 2030 is +72200, which is a promising number to be able to find open spots for people considering becoming Computer Support Specialists.
Tips and Tricks for Your Customer Support Representative Job Interview
During your interviews, the first thing that the recruiter would mostly like to measure is your understanding of what high-quality customer service is. Try to figure out if the organization’s culture matches your attitude. Also, your communication skills and empathy are closely observed during the interview, because in this job you will directly communicate with the customer. Moreover, your problem-solving capability is another important assessment criterion, as mentioned in the required skills section above
If you are a problem solver, enjoy supporting people using the company’s product or services effectively, and feel self-satisfaction with customer happiness, then the ‘Customer Service Specialist’ role may suit you very well. Also, it may bring many more alternative job opportunities such as computer specialists or other business specialists, which may upgrade and improve your career path.
Do not forget to start with a smile in your interview and try to keep your smile until the end…
Good luck!
