Top 15 Customer Service Representative Skills to be best on the Job

Top 15 Customer Service Representative Skills to be best on the Job

If you are a customer service representative, CSR, desiring to be the best in your unit, you will need to have certain skills to help you deal effectively with the different people you come across with daily.

The customer service representative job is by no means an easy one as you are expected to attend to several people with different issues satisfactorily each day.

However, with the right skills, you can become a good CSR that all customers want to see.

This post shows you the qualities you need to develop or acquire if you are a customer service rep desirous of success in your career.

But first, let’s quickly look at what customer service representatives do:

Customer Service Representative Duties and Responsibilities

Also known as customer service agents, customer service representatives interact with customers on behalf of their  company.

They answer questions and resolve issues.

When a customer calls and has a problem, the representative opens the customer’s file in the company’s computer system.

The various duties performed by customer service representatives include: providing information about products and services, responding to customer complaints, taking orders, and processing returns.

Many CSR work in banks, stores, customer contact centers, and insurance agencies, helping customers to achieve their aim.

15 Skills and Qualities to be a Great Customer Service Representative

1. Provision for Customer Feedback. No matter how much you have struggled to meet your customers’ needs and attend to their complaints, you need to provide a way they can contact you in case they have questions to ask, complaints to lay, or suggestion or comment to make. This could be in the form of “Contact Us” page, email, or phone survey.

2. Attentiveness. It is always good to pay attention to customers and listen to them when they have something to say, question to ask, and suggestion to make. It is also a good idea to be attentive to the feedback that you receive on a daily basis.

3. Marketing Skills. You need to have in mind that marketing ability can help improve your customer service skills a lot. This becomes clear in every email, phone call, and face-to-face interaction with customers. Remember that all what you do, like petting customers and paying attention to them when they have problems is to get those customers to patronize your products and go home satisfied.

4. Patience. Customer service is not an easy job to do; sometimes, your customers would be angry with you, and other times you may find it difficult understanding what your customers are saying, but with patience, you can survive this kinds of situation and deliver better services.

5. Empathy. This is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others and not display a nonchalant attitude when a customer’s face is not looking bright. How do consumers think? Which benefits of your product matter most to the customer? And how do they consume information such as email, demo audio/video, and sales letter? Finding answers to these questions will help you to understand your customers and to know how well to attend to them.

6. Good Body Language. This involves smiling and laughing when talking with a customer. Frequent expression of happiness helps to improve the customer experience. Even if you are having a phone conversation, this will help the customer relax and feel welcoming, which can increase your conversion rate.

7. Complex Problem Solving. With the ability to solve problems, CSRs can help customers whenever they encounter a difficult problem. This will make your customers to believe more in your service and that can lead to repeat purchase, which will increase your company’s revenue.

8. Listening Skills. The ability to listen to customers comments, complaints, feedback, etc. can help the customer service representative to understand what they are saying and what they want. This can help you to improve on your service delivery process. It is no doubt a good idea to listen closely to your customers; and after you have understood them make a gesture that indicates you have understood.

9. Respect. The respect to have for your customers should include addressing them by their title if that’s what they prefer, and also not interrupting them when they are speaking. You have to wait for them to finish what they have to say before responding. Customers love to be respected, so give it to them and watch them come back for more of your products.

10. Time Management Skills. A good service rep should not waste customers’ time by keeping them waiting for too long. Having the ability to manage time effectively will help the representative to manage his/her time in a way that both they and the customer will be happy. Your customers will not appreciate you if you waste their time.

11. Communication Skills. This skill is essential as it helps the customer service agent to be able to identify what the customer wants, and to easily articulate what to do for him/her. You should state your words clearly when you are communicating with your customers and speak loudly enough, especially in phone conversation. Proper grammar and spelling are required  if you write or send customers email.

12. Memory Retention. Customer service employees should be able to remember transactions with customers and their minds need to be filled up with lots of information. They should be able to memorize names of customers, details of product, and company policies.

13. Responsibility. Customer service representatives should be able to come up with a great solution that works best both for the company and customers. They should feel responsible for the success of customers, and change plans when things are not working right.

14. Friendliness. Being friendly to customers includes helping them find what they are looking for. The first approach is to ask the customer if you could help him/her after you have waited for him/her to check out things themselves for a few minutes. Some customers are hostile in nature and may be difficult to handle. However, you should try as much as you can to display some friendly act to them.

15. Asking Right Questions. Customer service representatives should know how to ask the right questions and the most appropriate time to do so. When the service rep understands the right questions to ask customers, it helps to make him/her proficient on the job.

Customer Service Representative Skills for Resume

If you are writing a customer service representative resume, you can make a great core competence section by using the skills and qualities presented above.

The core competence or skills section of your resume shows the recruiter the skills and qualities you are bringing to succeeding on the customer service representative position.

Conclusion:

If you are a customer service representative who wants to be best on your job, you should endeavor to have the above qualities and skills to be able to work with most customers that come your way daily and keep them satisfied.

The above qualities are also useful to employers who need good customer service representatives to hire.

They can be used as a reference in assessing applicants for the customer service rep job.

Did you find the above customer service rep skills and qualities useful? And do you have additional skills you think will make a great CSR? Please leave a comment in the box below.