Guide To A Customer Service Representative Career Path
Why build a career path as a customer service representative? All successful companies have great relationships with their customers. The more satisfied your customers are with your products and service, the better your overall image and reputation are to the public.
Customer service representatives have the important task of nurturing a positive relationship with customers. They are at the frontline of the business, serving as the faces and voices of the company. They attend to customers’ needs, whether it is resolving issues or simply answering a query.
JobStreet has put together the following guide on what is in store if you wish to start a career as a customer service representative.
What does a customer service representative do?
Customer service representatives communicate directly with customers. They may do this over the phone, via email, or through social media. They regularly interact with customers in order to fulfil the following tasks:
- Solving product-related problems – a customer service representative is expected to be capable of troubleshooting any issues or concerns a customer may be having with the product
- Responding to customer questions or complaints – this job requires the ability to give satisfactory answers to customer queries or complaints
- Handling or processing orders – some customer service representatives aid in sales by taking customers’ orders and processing payments. They are also expected to provide the status of customers’ orders when needed or facilitate product returns or exchanges
- Recording or documenting customer interactions – with the steady influx of calls and correspondences coming from customers, a customer service representative must be able to document every interaction and monitor them properly to make sure every concern is eventually resolved
Salary range
Customer service representatives generally earn an average of RM 32,832 annually. This typically increases the more experience you have. Those with over 5 years experience in the customer service representative career path can earn an average annual salary of RM 42,000, while those with more than 10 years in customer service can earn an average of RM 46,000 a year.
What is the career path of a customer service representative?
A career path in customer service usually begins at the frontline, with a job as a customer service representative or product support specialist. As you gain more experience and master your company’s customer service policies and practices, you get a chance to move up to supervisorial roles.
As team leader or quality assurance manager, you will be responsible for training customer service staff and making sure they abide by company standards. Years of above-average managerial performance in this field can lead to VP or director roles in the future.
Junior level (1-3 years experience)
Mid-level (4-8 years experience)
Senior level (8 years or more)
- VP for Sales
What requirements do you need to become a customer service representative?
Customer service representative is a job where soft skills are as important as technical skills. Fresh graduates and jobseekers coming from different industries can apply for a customer service job equipped with transferrable skills.
Much of the technical skills required from customer service representatives can be learned on the job or through company training:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
CRM is a process in which a company interacts with customers in a holistic way, factoring in purchase history and integrating it with the company’s sales funnel. Most companies use CRM software and train their respective customer service representatives on how to use it.
Communication skills
Customer service representatives are good at speaking and writing correspondences.
Selling skills
This is especially true for customer service representatives that are part of the sales process. It helps to be able to sell or upsell additional products or services to existing customers.
Technical expertise
People with specialised technical skills can be valuable as product support specialists for consumer products in their field of expertise. A background in IT, for instance, can be highly valuable in customer service jobs in the tech industry.
The most important skills for customer service representatives are soft skills. Many of these are innate qualities a person may have or even developed from previous unrelated work:
Patience
Dealing with a variety of customer concerns on a daily basis can be challenging. Being patient is a necessity for customer service representatives as it will help them analyse issues and solve problems in an objective manner, even in instances when they are dealing with irate customers.
Empathy
In dealing with customers, you need to make them feel valued at all times. Whatever their concerns, complaints, or issues are, your job as a customer service representative is to listen and understand what the customer is feeling.
Professionalism
If you are representing the company, you are inevitably a caretaker of the company’s good image. Being professional in the way you talk or respond to customers is a basic trait that all customer service hirers are looking for.
Although there are companies that hire high school graduates, having a 4-year college degree, preferably in sales or marketing, can increase your chances of being hired. Technical courses are also ideal, especially in highly technical customer service jobs.
Most opportunities for further education and training are already available within the companies that will hire you. It is in their best interest to keep their customer service staff informed and updated on all product features. Online courses are also available for anyone who wishes to deepen their proficiency with CRM systems.
How to write a customer service representative resume
For fresh graduates and other jobseekers who have no prior customer service experience, it is important to highlight your transferable skills in your resume. Make sure to lead your resume with your transferable skills and mention them again under “skills”.
Here is a sample customer representative resume.
John Lim Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Career SummaryA highly motivated individual with great people skills, communication skills, and high level of professionalism. Seeking a career as a customer service representative to further improve my customer service skills. ExperienceIT SpecialistABC Corporation, 2019-2021
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Download this Customer Service Representative resumeBELOW.
Related careers
Customer service representative is a basic function in any organisation that goes by many names, depending on the industry. Some similar or related positions are:
Anyone can build a career path as a customer service representative as long as you have the requisite skills and passion for customer service. If you consider yourself a people person, a good listener, and a good problem-solver, then you have the potential to excel in this role.
Before you set out on your career path as a customer service representative, be sure to update your JobStreet profile, so the right employers can find you as you seek passion and purpose in a new career. You can also search for the #JobsThatMatter to you on our website or app.
For more expert insights and helpful tips on growing your career, visit the Career Resources Hub.
