Discover 104,936 Call Centre & Customer Service Jobs

WORKING IN CALL CENTRES & CUSTOMER SERVICE

Working as a Customer Service Representative

Customer service representatives interact with customers to handle complaints, provide information about an organization's products and services as well as answering questions and queries from the general public. They interact many times a day with existing customers and effectively are on hand to care for any need.

These services are typically offered over the phone and often within a call centre, but customer service representatives can also interact directly with customers via email, ...

Show More Overview

WORKING IN CALL CENTRES & CUSTOMER SERVICE

Working as a Customer Service Representative

Customer service representatives interact with customers to handle complaints, provide information about an organization's products and services as well as answering questions and queries from the general public. They interact many times a day with existing customers and effectively are on hand to care for any need.

These services are typically offered over the phone and often within a call centre, but customer service representatives can also interact directly with customers via email, live chat, social media and other forms of communication.

The specific tasks of a customer service representative will vary by industry. For example, a representative working for a bank will answer questions about the status of a client's account as well as other financial questions. Customer service representatives working for a retailer often handle returns or help customers with product related questions or queries around their warranties.  Representatives from utilities and communications companies can help customers with service issues such as service outages.

Customer service representatives will also make changes to the customer account, such as updating an address or cancelling an order. Although sales are not their primary business, agents can help generate revenue by providing helpful information about products and services.

Customer service representatives typically use telephones, computers and other office equipment. For example, a call center employee answers phone calls and uses a computer to check and select standard responses from a list of options. However, with any human interaction, customer service representatives will need to be able to think on their feet as they can be asked a myriad of questions from customers and it would be impossible to have a prepared answer for each one!

How to work in Customer Service

Customer service representatives usually require a high school leaving certificate before applying for the position, but you may also be considered for the role if you can demonstrate previous experience in various professions such as sales, marketing and customer care.

General customer service training will focus on helping the new staff answer product related questions, providing information about the company's services, and how to use the computer and telephone systems. This type of training will usually take the customer service representatives two to three weeks to complete.  Customer service representatives working in finance and insurance may need several months of training to learn more complicated financial rules.

Furthermore, when working in finance or insurance, customer service staff need to be kept informed of changing rules, so their training will continue throughout their employment period. They may also need to acquire an official license and whilst licensing requirements will vary from state to state, they usually require passing a written exam, but some employers and organizations will offer training tests to help them prepare.

Customer service representatives must be able to provide information in a way that customers can understand therefore it is imperative that they have good communication skills and have experience with retrieving information quickly and effectively from computers. By providing helpful and professional answers to customers' questions and complaints, representatives will help companies retain customers and improve their bottom line.

Although it is not always easy, representatives should be able to create positive interactions with customers and, to do this, they must often have to be patient and polite when interacting with dissatisfied customers. They need to understand and listen to the customer's situation and understand their frustrations in order to help them. Representatives must define solutions to their customers problems and listen openly, with understanding and compassion.  By effectively solving these problems, the representatives contribute to customer loyalty and retention as well as to the success of the company.

Show Less Overview