As per a recent survey, the number of people who are willing to do customer service jobs from home has increased greatly. This is because this kind of work gives a stable income to those people who prefer to work from the comfort of their homes and to those who are physically challenged. There are several companies who prefer to employ people who are ready to work from home as it will save a lot of their infrastructure costs.
The customer service job is suitable for a person who has an excellent customer service skill and has a flair for helping people and conversing over the telephone. These jobs are excellent for people who have customer service skills and a pleasant telephone voice along with a 'willing to do attitude'. The customer service agent should be able to handle jobs where they need to do collections, telemarketing of the products, or telephonic surveys. In most cases, the work of a customer service agent is either to make outbound calls or receive calls. The customer service professional might also need to take the responsibility of handling internet orders, dispatching, scheduling, complaints, customer queries and other emergencies. He will also have to handle inbound calls.
Academic: In order to take up a job as a customer service agent, one needs to have a minimum high school diploma along with basic of computer skills. A graduate degree will be an added advantage. The job aspirant should have a computer with the latest operating system installed and speedy accessibility to the internet. They should also have a landline telephone service.
Skill sets: Along with the basic educational qualification, commitment and experience are considered to be the added requirements of a suitable candidate. The job aspirant should have excellent communication skills. Moreover, sales and marketing experience will surely help. As there will be inbound calls for sure, the employers often prefer people with sensitivity and a professional approach. Inbound calls, in particular, require an individual who is very energetic and has great problem-solving abilities. In order to work as a home based customer service agent for franchisee restaurants, people should be jovial and smart.
Training: The customer service representatives are often given ample training by the recruiting company for handling the customers. They provide the training in the form of online courses and customer service courses. Most of these courses are completed in a short time period. Once the training is over, the agent is given a user identification and password to the official website of the customer service company.
Prior experience: In order to be a quality outbound customer service agent, most of the employers prefer candidates with prior experience and exceptional previous record. If the applicants have prior experience of interaction with customers, it really helps in handling the customers more efficiently.
Career prospects (globally): According to market experts the employment prospects for home-based customer service agents is expected to increase at a faster pace than most of the other average vocations in the market through 2014. The growth in the filed is primarily coming in from the expansion of all those industries that are in more need of customer service agents. After all a proper customer service is integral to the success of any business organization.
As most companies have problems in maintaining a flawless database regarding the clients and their queries; the market demand for customer service agents has risen significantly. Moreover, employing home-based customer service agents helps the employers save a lot of money in office rent and equipments.
Salary: The median salary drawn by a Customer Service Agent is $27,020 per year. As per the expert reviews, the customer service agents earn more than what the call center employees in conventional call centers earn. The traditional call centers offer attractive salary packages like $13 to $15 per hour for the customer service agents.
There are many experts who agree that home based customer service agents are becoming a viable career option for all those people who have the skill and desire to perform a service for the public. These jobs enable a person to attain new abilities and also to utilize the skills. The jobs also provide the typical convenience of working from home to physically challenged individuals and stay-at-home moms. The greatest advantage is that people can plan their work according to their convenience; the flexible time management option is the plus point.
