We Want It All! A Concise Customer Service Job Description
To say that customer service is important is a gross understatement. A 2016 Microsoft Global Customer Service Report found that an incredible 97% of consumers said customer service was more important than brand loyalty. 60% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company due to poor customer service, and almost half of people believe brands don’t take action on feedback from customers.
In Ireland, an Accenture report showed that 67% of Irish consumers switched brands because of bad customer service, the most in any European market the brand researched. Therefore, it is clear that those seeking a career in customer service must be capable of providing a high standard of service, and showcase this in an interview. Keep reading to learn more about the customer service job description.
What is a Customer Service Representative?
In simple terms, your job is to ensure that every customer you speak with leaves the conversation happier than they were when they started. It is essential for you to be a ‘people person’ because you will be dealing with individuals from all walks of life, and not everyone you talk to will be polite and even-tempered!
You will speak with customers in a variety of ways: Face-to-face, email, and telephone for example. Your day-to-day duties depend on where you work and can involve anything from handling customer payments to dealing with complaints.
Although there are ample customer service roles that involve traditional weekday hours, it is more likely that you’ll be asked to work evenings and weekends, and even nights depending on the sector. As you are the face and voice of the company, you will need to dress professionally; an unkempt customer service representative is a terrible look for any brand!
Customer Service Responsibilities
As we already mentioned, your duties will vary. If you are creating a customer service CV and cover letter, you need to know what to expect or else you’ll look like you didn’t research the job. Customer Service duties may include:
- Dealing with customer complaints or get a manager involved if you are unable to solve a problem.
- Identifying and assessing a customer’s needs to ensure they are satisfied.
- Speaking with customers via email, live chat, on the phone, or face-to-face in-store.
- Keeping detailed records of customer interactions and being in charge of customer account details.
- Generating sales leads.
- Following your company’s communication procedures and policies.
- Utilising technology to handle a high volume of calls.
- Managing a team of inexperienced customer service representatives if in a senior role.
Banking Customer Service Job Description
You must assist customers in deciding if they need to speak with a banker or if you can handle their needs. Banking Customer Service duties include:
- Helping customers to use in-bank ATMs and to complete blank forms before going to a bank teller.
- Assisting with address changes.
- Aiding a customer in reviewing bank charges and explaining the reasoning behind them.
- Helping customers who have been the victim of theft, identity theft, or fraud.
Sales Customer Service Job Description
Sales Customer Service duties might include:
- Advising and serving customers.
- Promoting a company’s new products and services.
- Handling customer returns.
- Ensuring that sales targets are met.
- Taking card and cash payments, and ensuring that the till is balanced.
Insurance Customer Service Job Description
Typical Insurance Customer Service responsibilities might include:
- Reviewing insurance policy terms to decide if a customer’s loss is covered by their insurance.
- Reviewing claims adjustments with dealers, analysing parts believed to be defective, and either approving or rejecting the claims of a dealer.
- Ordering tests that could discover the reason behind a product malfunction.
- Speaking with customers to offer information about your company’s products and services, taking orders, and also to cancel accounts.
- Contacting customers to respond to queries or to give them the results of a claim investigation.
Telecommunications Customer Service Job Description
Telecommunications Customer Service duties might include:
- Contacting customers to discuss your company’s new services.
- Speaking to customers about new charges.
- Handling customer complaints.
- Maintaining customer records by updating their account information.
- Recommending potential products and services to suit a customer’s needs.
Call Centre Customer Service Job Description
If you are looking for a call centre customer service job, you can expect your responsibilities to include:
- Making sales or providing recommendations for products.
- Ensuring you adhere to all of your company’s policies and procedures.
- Building lasting relationships with customers and ensuring they feel supported and valued.
- Engaging in active listening with callers and making sure you calm angry customers down.
- Responding accurately and efficiently to callers, explaining situations, and providing them with answers.
What Are the Skills a Customer Service Representative Needs?
To succeed as a customer service representative, you need the following skills:
- The ability to prioritise and multitask, with excellent time management skills.
- Strong interpersonal skills including active listening.
- The capacity to remain calm under intense pressure, especially when dealing with angry customers.
- Being patient and attentive.
- Excellent organisational skills.
- Good team working skills.
- Familiarity with CRM systems and practices.
- Well-presented, tactful, and polite.
What About Customer Service Education & Qualifications?
The role of customer service representative is an entry-level one which means you don’t need a college degree. It is helpful if you have achieved a reasonable result in your Leaving Cert, however, especially in subjects such as English, Mathematics, and Business Studies.
If you believe you are a little short in terms of qualifications, there is a huge number of short training courses to help you brush up on your skills. Professional Development has a one-day training course which teaches you how to have confidence in dealing with customers, along with problem-solving skills.
You can also get a QQI Level 6 Customer Service qualification from The Open College; the course costs €229.
What is the Salary of a Customer Service Representative in Ireland?
The rate of pay for a customer service representative depends on the type of role. Some companies offer as little as €18,000 per annum to begin with. The Bank of Ireland offers over €22,000 while PayPal pays up to €31,000. A lot of customer service representative and customer care representative roles have hourly rates.
For example, Dunnes Stores pays between €9 and €11 per hour. If you work hard and reach the point where you could become a customer service executive, your salary could exceed €50,000 per annum. IBM is offering over €91,000 a year for example!