Customer Service Job Description

Gaurav Shimpi Nov 3, 2018
The profession of customer service representatives is very challenging. It requires a lot of patience, perseverance, and hard work.
Customer service representatives are a link between the customers and the company. They are required to attend the queries and handle consumer complaints. 
Many companies, operating in the field of finance, retail, banking and insurance, have set up call centers in different parts of the world, to speed up the process of handling queries and resolving complaints of their customers. This job requires some specific set of skills, professional etiquette, and behavioral characteristics.
It is by no means an easy job, as it requires patience, politeness, good presence of mind, and problem solving abilities. These professionals from various organizations, work on a common goal of satisfying their customers' needs by providing superior service. The following paragraphs will guide you on their job responsibilities in some specific fields.

Retail Services

These representatives ensure smooth functioning of an organization by handling customer inquiries and complaints. Depending on the organization, you will be provided with a service desk or booth.
While in some organizations, you are required to go around throughout the store for the help of customers, in others, you may be needed to help with returns and exchanges of items. The primary task is to help the customers by locating the items they want and by giving useful insights on the products. 
One must have good communication skills, which helps in encouraging the sales of new products, thereby benefiting the company. One must possess integrity and should be loyal towards the organization and should aim at developing good customer rapport.
In some cases, if there is any issue or untoward incident, you would have to locate a sales associate or manager to resolve it. A person who understands growing demands of the global retail market and can increase the sales and strengthen the reputation of the company, can come out as a winner in this field.

Call Center Services

This job involves taking calls from current as well as prospective customers for answering their questions and resolving grievances in a friendly manner. One needs to give information about new products and services.
Apart from having good communication and persuasion skills, you must also have good listening skills and good presence of mind in suggesting solutions to the customer problems. Sometimes, it's not all about fishing for new customers but about customer retention, so you should also have an enthusiastic manner of handling the proceedings.
You need to forward customer grievances to other appropriate departments for quicker solutions. You are also required to discuss fee waiver, late charges, and sometimes customer orders. You are also required to solve technology related problems over the phone. So, having adequate technical knowledge and computer skills is an important aspect.

Insurance Services

The information written in the documents related to insurance coverage, claims, and premium is not understood by many people; and in such cases, expertise of an insurance representative are sought after. They need to directly work with the clients by answering their queries, solving problems, and providing useful information on their account or policies.
They should be apt with communication and persuasion skills. In some cases, unresolved customer grievances need to be referred to other designated departments for further investigation. Sometimes, they need to sell new policies and convey exciting offers. They also need to be polite and sustain the customer faith by giving maximum and accurate information.
Most of the companies provide their employees with extensive training sessions, which can help to improve the required skills and also acquaint with the job responsibilities and work environment of the profession.
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