The Role of a Customer Service Representative
The job of customer service representative is one of the most important functions in a business because it deals directly with the customer who may be seeking information, making a complaint, seeking to speak to a specific company official, ordering products or even calling to compliment the company on a good product or company experience. A phone rep may even get calls from lonely people looking for someone to talk to. No matter the type of call, the customer service rep is the voice of the company and her service reflects directly on the company's image.
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Types of Customer Service
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Your customer service duties may involve helping business to business (B2B) customers or retail customers and can entail answering technical questions about how to operate a product or solve purchase, delivery or quality problems. You may deal with customers face-to-face or over the phone. With the popularity of the Internet, customer service reps may also deal with customers via email.
Functional Responsibilities
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As the face or voice of your company, your main responsibility is to listen carefully to what the customer is saying, maintain a polite and helpful attitude no matter how offensive the customer might be, determine how best to help the customer, provide the information or assistance necessary, add any relevant advice and report any obvious product problems or unusual customer contact instances to your supervisor. You should be efficient and professional and know your department procedures in detail.
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Authority Levels
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Unless you have been specifically given the authority to alter records, order out replacement products, transact sales, refund money or refer the customer to another person or division of the company, you should consult with your supervisor before proceeding with any of these actions. Many customer service reps are only allowed to work off a specific script and answer only simple questions without any authority to provide further service minus the approval of the supervisor.
Considerations
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A good customer service rep is a person who enjoys contact with other people and will take the time to learn about his employer, and the company's products and procedures, in order to provide the customer with a fully satisfactory experience in dealing with the company. You are both an ambassador and a fact-finder and your experience with customer calls can point out problems with new products or fulfillment contractors. It is part of your job to report these discoveries to your supervisor. It is also important to speak clearly and use good grammar and a professional but friendly attitude in all communications.
Career Potential
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Customer service is often a training or entry-level job that leads to the sales career path or supervisor function. An excellent customer service rep will exhibit responsibility, reliability, a friendly and helpful attitude and a willingness to learn.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit girl with headphone image by Vasiliy Koval from Fotolia.com
