Customer Service Duties and Responsibilities

As I mentioned in the introduction, customer service representatives span a wide range of industries, so it’s critical you go over your specific job description in order to find out what is called on for that particular customer service job.

Having said that, I do want to give you a list of the common duties and responsibilities you will find on a lot of customer service representative job descriptions. This way you can see if this career/job is right for you:

• Interact with customers via phone, email, online chat, in person, social media
  Resolve customer problems and complaints
  Answer any questions a customer has
  Take payments
  Setup and resolve problems with customer accounts
  Provide price information
  Handle inquiries about deliveries
  Verify customers
  Keep records of customer interactions and transactions
  Engage with customers
  Direct unresolved issues to a different department if needed
  Communicate and coordinate effectively with internal departments
  Provide customers with information on any open orders and invoices
  Maintain customer database
  Follow company process accurately and efficiently
  

Good Customer Service Skills To Have

There are certainly specific skills and qualities that great customer service representatives usually have. You’ll see these on most job descriptions and they can really give you a sense of whether this job is a good fit for you:

• Interpersonal skills
  High level of professionalism (you are one of the faces of the company!)
  Positive attitude (can be tough to maintain for some people in the face of an irate customer ;-0)
  Calm under pressure
  Ability to handle stress
  Friendliness
  Excellent verbal and communication skills
  Organized
  Efficient
  Good problem solving skills
  Good computer skills
  Multi tasking
  Ability to learn other software systems relatively easily
  Analytical skills
  Good writing skills (email etiquette)
  Team player
  Empathy
  Ability to explain the technical or complex simply to customers
  Confidentiality
  Data entry proficiency
  

JEFF'S TIP: Since there are so many varied customer service jobs. It's smart to do some digging into the company you're applying for. Head over to Glassdoor and type in the company you are interested in or already have an interview for and see if you can find "company reviews" from people who have already worked at the position you're applying for. You can gain valuable insight into the company work environment and culture. You can also sometimes save yourself from a possible nightmare position. Be careful though, because companies often have offices/departments all over the country/world. So try and find info on your specific office/department or the closest analogue.

Customer Service Representative Salary

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean hourly wage for customer service jobs is $17.53 and the mean yearly salary is $36,470.

Depending on what state you get hired in there are definitely some wage fluctuations. This map gives you a good idea on the differences:

Source: BLS.gov

Education and Training

One of the great things about becoming a customer service representative is that you usually only need a high school diploma to qualify.

In terms of training, you will usually be trained on the job. You will have to learn about the various products and services that are offered by the company you will be working for.

After all, you have to be able to answer any questions customers have for you related to those products and services.

Job Outlook

Similar to my previous cashier job description, while we will see increased demand for customer service representatives in the short term because of Covid-19, in the long run the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics actually forecasts a small decline in job growth of -2 percent.

Why?

Mainly because of further advancements in technology that will allow for automated customer service systems:

SOURCE: BLS.GOVInternet self-service or interactive voice-response systems, social media, and mobile applications are increasingly popular because they enable customers to perform simple tasks without speaking to a representative. Improvements in technology will gradually allow these automated systems to perform even more advanced tasks.

How To Use Your Job Description For Your Interview

Before you head into your customer service interview, here’s something important to remember:

The job description will list the skills and qualities that the company doing the hiring is looking for in their perfect candidate. It’s your job to make sure that you are demonstrating that you have those skills in the job interview!

As I have outlined in this article, the skills and qualities that companies are often looking for in a customer service representative are most likely going to include (but are not limited to) customer service (duh), organization, interpersonal skills, a positive attitude and the ability to stay calm under pressure. So you need to go into your interview having prepared answers that clearly show you demonstrating these qualities (If you have them).

How do you do that?

By weaving the skills and qualities that you find in your specific customer service job description (that you possess) into your interview answers!

Putting It All Together

I hope this customer service career breakdown has helped you decide whether this could be a good career choice for you. For a temporary position or for the long term.

I think the fact that customer service work can be done remotely and with little experience makes it a good option during this pandemic. Just remember that a lot of other people might have the same idea, so be sure to go through the rest of our site to make sure you stand out in your interview.

Good luck!