Customer service representative jobs are popular roles for people at all stages of their career. They’re often a starting point for college and even university leavers as they work to build up experience to move into new areas. Equally, people make whole careers out of working in customer service positions. Essentially, these roles provide employees with vital skills that are transferable to a wealth of professions.
If you’re interested in advertising a role in customer service, let us help you with an example job description, complete with typical duties and responsibilities, and skills and requirements.
Job overview
Customer service representatives are the first port of call for clients that are looking to access a business. Whether they’re looking to buy a product, understand more about a product or service, or have a compliant, it’s likely they’ll speak to a customer service representative, and this person needs to be a great ambassador for the company. To make sure you get the right person for the job, consider the following job description as an example:
Job overview
We are looking for an experienced, personable and professional customer service representative to greet customers, clients and potential customers by telephone or chat functions, with the goal of answering any queries, explaining products and services, resolving any issues, and signposting to other necessary services, such as technical support or the sales team.
The ideal candidate is a positive person with a passion for supporting others and a genuine desire to help. If you are empathic and can put yourself in the position of the customer, even if they are unhappy, with a natural ability to solve problems, paired with excellent communication skills, we would love to hear from you.
As a customer service representative for our team, you will be expected to keep up to date with the company’s products and services, and will represent the company by taking on our voice and ethos when supporting customers. We offer fantastic on-the-job training on technical programs and CRM systems, as well as a competitive salary and bonuses.
Duties and responsibilities
Customer service representatives will have varying duties and responsibilities depending on their job level and any specific company requirements. Some may have management responsibility as a team leader, while others may have sales aspects included in their role. In general, you can expect a customer service representative to apply with the following responsibilities:
Duties and responsibilities
- Provide assistance to company customers and clients via phone, chat or email functions
- Resolve queries and complaints, educate customers on products and services, and support customers with any problems
- Maintain a positive attitude, even when faced with difficult customers and under pressure
- Deal effectively with customer complaints by maintaining composure and staying calm under pressure while supporting to a solution within reasonable limits
- Build rapport with customers and clients so that they feel supported and heard, and so that a level of trust can be built, in order to offer the best level of customer service
- Keep to a tight schedule of calls, supporting customers to the highest standards within a given time deadline, and meeting call and sales targets
- Deal with sensitive information and personal data, adhering to data protection laws and practices
- Keep records of customer interaction, process customer accounts, update customer data, and submit reports
- Escalate support tickets that need additional assistance from management-level staff or from a different team, such as sales or technical support
- Maintain an understanding of company products and services, along with any deals and promotions running in order to best support the customer
Requirements
Requirements for a customer service representative will vary depending on the specific requirements of your company. Some customer service roles are entry level, while others require education at degree level and may have additional responsibilities. As a general rule, the standard requirements for a customer service role will include the following, which should be established through both the application and the interview stage:
Requirements
- Previous customer service or retail experience supporting customers, or working in a customer-facing role, either face-to-face or via the phone
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to talk to people of all levels, from customers to senior members of staff
- Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to build rapport and trust with customers to make them feel at ease and supported
- Computer literate with the ability to update customer records and record call outcomes quickly and efficiently
- The ability to work under pressure, meeting targets and deadlines
Final thoughts
Finding great customer service agents is a balance between recruiting someone with excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and finding someone who can multitask and work under pressure to targets and deadlines. Experience is often required, but it isn’t essential if on-the-job training is offered. Either way, this example job description will help you prepare your own version and hire the right person in no time!
Got a question about writing a customer service representative job description? Let us know in the comments section below.