Are You Suited to be a Customer Service Representative?

A customer service representative’s role can be demanding yet very rewarding. People with certain personality types and skills do exceptionally well in customer service representative jobs. 

In this article, we’ll look at what a customer service representative’s role entails. We’ll also cover which personality types are best suited to a customer service representative job and the skills required.

What is a Customer Service Representative?

A (CSR) serves as a link between a company and its client base. A CSR is there to provide customer support. This can be done face-to-face, by email, online chat, social media, or telephonically. Medium to large companies often set up call centers where customer service representatives answer incoming calls and online inquiries on demand.

The CSR plays an important part in creating a good brand reputation. The service representative is also largely responsible for customer satisfaction, retention, and enhancing sales.

What Does a Customer Service Representatives Do?

The responsibilities of a CSR can vary according to industry and business type. One common duty, regardless of where you work, is to assist clients.

Customer service representatives responsibilities and tasks may include:

• Listening to and resolving customer complaints
• Correcting, updating, and verifying account information
• Setting up appointments and creating customer accounts
• Canceling customer accounts
• Upgrading customer accounts
• Providing information regarding products, policies, service inclusions, warranties, billing, terms, and conditions
• Assisting clients with orders, refunds, exchanges, collections, and deliveries
• Assisting customers with product set-up issues and technical questions
• Selling products, services, and upgrades
• Identifying high priority cases to resolve

What Qualifications Do You Need to be a CSR?

The education required to apply for a customer service representative role will depend on the industry and company. For general customer service representative roles, companies often value experience over higher education qualifications. Good communication and computer skills are essential. Most companies will offer industry-specific training and a probation period for candidates to learn the specific policies, programs, and procedures.

There are companies that require customer service representatives to have highly-specialized industry-related knowledge to be able to support customers in technical fields.

Whether or not you require specialist industry expertise, employers generally favor candidates with knowledge and experience around the following CSR tools:

• Customer relationship management (CRM) software used to access and log information
• Call center software used to keep a record of customer calls.
• Ticketing platforms used to assign and prioritize email and chat requests
• Social media monitoring and customer engagement
• Web browsers and Microsoft Office
• Data entry

Read More – Positive Impact of Technology in Modern Day Business

What Traits Should a Customer Service Representative Have?

Successful customer service representatives generally have distinct outgoing and confident personalities. If you have the following 5 character traits you are likely to be successful and very happy in a customer service representative role:

1. You like answering questions and being proactive in finding solutions to other peoples problems
2. You are sociable, energetic, and optimistic. This would mean that you communicate well with others in a persuasive, yet cooperative way.
3. You are patient and do not lose your temper easily. Dealing with customer complaints all day can be overwhelming. You need to be able to remain calm, be patient, and helpful despite having to deal with rude and impatient customers.
4. You are a multi-tasker. You may have to deal with numerous customer complaints at once with everyone expecting immediate results. You should be able to handle several things at the same time without getting flustered. This would also require you to be a well-organized individual with attention to detail.
5. You have a good tendency to remember things. Policies, product information, and service procedures may change often requiring you to stay up to date with the most recent information.

Career Prospects

Successful customer service representatives can move on to senior positions such as team leaders, supervisors, and customer service managers. These positions are responsible for quality service evaluations, shift reports, and training new staff members. Team leaders and supervisors also serve as the link between customer service teams and department managers.

Questions to Ask Before Applying for a Customer Service Representative Job

Before heading into a customer service representative role, ask yourself the following questions. Evaluate how willing you are to compromise if any of the answers are negative.

• Are you willing to work shifts that may include late nights, weekends, and public holidays?
• Do you enjoy talking to people all day?
• Do you enjoy talking on the phone?
• Do you enjoy problem-solving and finding solutions proactively?
• Do you prefer a consistent, static work environment as opposed to a position that requires travel and is variable from day to day?

Quick Summary

A customer service representative is required to engage with clients in an efficient, effective, and friendly manner to resolve complaints and queries.

Beneficial experience and skills to have as a customer service representative include:

1. CRM software experience
2. Experience using ticketing platforms
3. Social media community management
4. Communication skills
5. Web browser and Microsoft Office
6. Data entry

Beneficial personality traits to be successful as a customer service representatives include being:

1. Sociable and extroverted
2. Persuasive, cooperative, and optimistic
3. Patient
4. A good multi-tasker and attentive to details
5. Flexible

Almost every sector in public and private industries has some need for customer service representatives. If you are interested in a wide range of subjects and enjoy working with diverse people, a customer service representative role can open many doors for you.