The job of serving customers should be everyone’s responsibility in an organization. According to a recent survey, close to 90% of consumers in the United States indicate that customer service is the primary factor informing their decision on whether to do business with an organization. So, regardless of your business niche, having a clear customer support strategy is crucial for the sustainability of your franchise.
A customer service rep is a professional tasked with making sure that customers get value for their time and money. They support clients by offering useful info, responding to inquiries, and addressing concerns and complaints. In other words, customer service reps are professionals tasked with interacting with customers on an organization’s behalf. Here are some roles played by customer service specialists.
What Customer Service Representatives Do?
Although all the employees in an organization should always place the customer at the top of their priority list, one team is often tasked with handling the immediate client needs. These are professionals tasked with the sole responsibility of ensuring customer satisfaction. Their work entails ensuring that clients are pleased with the level of service delivered. Customer support can be managed in-house, or the company can outsource the service to a dedicated customer service agency.
The work of customer service agents is to ensure that the customer is always placed first in everything the organization does. When working in this role, you will be a customer-facing employee, receiving inquiries and concerns from clients and dealing with complaints daily. You will also provide accurate information to clients through social media platforms, email, chat, and in-person.
In most organizations, the customer service representative is an entry-level gig. However, bigger organizations allow these professions to advance their careers into more senior roles. The bottom line is that customer service agents are employed to solve problems and respond to questions from customers and prospects.
When working as a customer support rep, you will be allowed access to some of the most frequently asked questions and their answers. You must also master the fundamental guidelines for handling most complaints and requests. If a customer asks a question and the representative cannot give a specific response, a supervisor or manager can step in to offer assistance.
Sometimes, customer service agents work in call centers, answering calls through telephones. In this role, you will need to specialize in a given mode of communication. However, you may still be asked to use different channels to relay information to clients. Whatever the case, your main goal must be customer satisfaction.
Here are some tasks performed by customer service reps:
- Listen and respond to questions and concerns from customers
- Offer info relating to services and products
- Seek responses to common questions as required
- Help clients with placing orders and determining costs
- Revise and amend customer accounts as necessary
- Direct customers to specialists or supervisors who can offer additional aid
To deliver on these roles effectively, customer support reps require impeccable communication skills. You need to be able to listen to issues raised by clients and respond in informed and controlled ways. When working as a customer service representative, you will intermingle with people from diverse backgrounds and temperaments. You have to exercise patience and politeness, particularly when interacting with clients who seem agitated. You must keep calm and answer questions logically without accelerating issues.
Where Do Customer Representatives Work?
In a typical situation, customer support reps work in offices for different organizations or call centers. They answer to a manager and are often assigned a particular account. However, the professionals can also work as team members, helping all customers and resolving issues as they emerge. While companies employ some representatives to work with clients, others remote working, outsourcing their services to different firms. This option gives them the freedom to travel and balance work and life.
Customer service representatives can work in retail car insurance or finance. In companies offering retail services, the agents help clients with placing orders and handling questions relating to products. In finance, they use their knowledge of financial issues and sales acumen to assist customers in selecting the right accounts and keeping track of their finances. In healthcare and insurance, the agents communicate with clients regarding services delivered.
Customer support reps are gifted professionals tasked with interacting with clients and offering guidance. Those who wish to work in this role should work on improving their communication and workplace skills. The role also needs fundamental computer and research skills.
