There are many things that you should know about a career in customer service before you begin. First of all, there are lots of customer service jobs that are available for you. However, being a customer service representative is something that a lot of people do, so there is going to be quite a bit of competition for this type of job market. Therefore, when you are focusing on what you would like to accomplish through your career, think about what you are best at doing and make sure that a customer service job is perfect for you.
With customer service jobs, a customer service representative is in charge of making sure that the customers are happy with the services that the company offers. They might be the ones who take the orders, or who follow through with the deliveries of these orders. They also might be the ones who answer the phones and speak to customers. They will take compliments, and they will also deal with complaints. Also, customer service representatives will work with the customers when the customer has questions about the product or service – either before they buy it, or after they buy it.
A customer service representative will work either on the phone or in person and might do both. If they work on the phone, they might be taking orders and answering questions. They will have to work with filing out complaint cards when a customer is not happy, and they will also have to work with fixing problems that come up. They'll have to be able to solve problems for the customer, and might need to be there to trouble shoot, if they are working for a company that has something that they can actually help the customer with. All in all, phone customer service representatives are simply there when the customer needs them, and they are the ones that the customer will turn to when there are problems.
A customer service representative might also work one of the customer service jobs where they aren't on the phone, or aren't on the phone all the time. Then, they will be in store as customer service representatives. This type of job means that the employee will be actually in the store, speaking to customers. In a small store or business, they might be selling or pushing a product. In a larger one, they will simply be there to handle questions and complaints and to work with problems and other things that the customers might have. Sometimes a customer service representative will work on the phone or in the store – and sometimes they will work at either one.
A customer service representative must also be able to be a bit thick skinned. Unfortunately, most of the time a customer or client does not call to thank the business or to tell them that they have done a good job. People can get angry and upset when they don't understand something, or when something isn't working like it should be working. The customer service representative is often needed to smooth things over, and will often be the person that the customers take it all out on. Therefore, to work customer service jobs, you have to be ready to be yelled at for something that isn't your fault. You need to stay calm and collected, and not get your feelings hurt, so that you can deal with the customers like you need to, and so that you can help them get to the bottom of their questions and concerns, so that they will stay your customers.
The biggest part of being a customer service representative is that you will need to be ready and willing to help the company retain their customers. Often times, this is solely up to the customer service representative, because they are going to be the only ones that have contact with the customers. You will need to be kind and thoughtful, and be able to relate to the customers in such a way so that they will keep their business with the company. The best people at customer service jobs are the people who are nice and friendly, and who will make the customer feel like there is no other place for them to be doing their business.
