Customer Service Representative Job Description

A customer service representative acts as an interface between the customers and the company by attending to their queries and handling consumer complaints. Large companies, especially those operating in the field of finance, banking and insurance, felt the need to set up call centers in various parts of the world to expedite the process of handling queries and resolving complaints at an inexpensive price.

Customer Service Representative Job Description, Duties and Responsibilities

The job description of a customer service assistant can be summed up in the following words: A customer service representative is expected to provide superior customer service. Job description varies depending upon the place of work. For instance, a customer service representative, who is working at a call center that caters to the banking segment, may be responsible for handling queries regarding bank products and opening, closing and maintaining checking, savings, time deposit and individual retirement accounts, thus rendering the necessary customer service. Job description would also include receiving and processing new client accounts, customer retention, implementing requested changes to existing accounts and performing other account maintenance and clerical duties as requested. In fact, most companies opt for an automated answering service that divert calls to a call center in case the customer calls after normal business hours or a busy signal is detected. The caller is generally given the option of speaking with an operator who is well-equipped to resolve the query. For more on answering services, one may refer to the article, 'Answering Services for Small Businesses'.

A customer service representative need not necessarily work at a call center. For instance, a customer service assistant, who is working under a property manager, is expected to address the concerns of current and future residents, both in person and over the phone; review new applications and respond to the residents' requests in a timely manner. These representatives are generally known as administrative assistants since they provide a wide range of administrative and support services to the office staff and the property manager. People, who are interested in applying for the position of an administrative assistant may refer to the article, 'Cover Letters for Administrative Assistants'.

Job Description of a Customer Service Manager

Experienced customer service representatives typically move on to occupy supervisory or managerial positions within the company as they gain more knowledge regarding products and services. Customer service supervisor job description includes formulating guidelines for facilitating effective training sessions and coming up with motivation and retention plans for employees. Again, the job would depend upon the workplace. A call center manager will be responsible for forecasting the volume of calls and the expected workload and creating presentations that justify staffing needs. Regardless of their line of work, customer services supervisors have to ensure that their team members deal with their customers in an appropriate manner and present a positive and helpful image.

Hopefully, the above article would have provided valuable insight on the importance of customer service, job description of customer service representatives and the duties and responsibilities of customer service representatives and managers. The demand for customer service representatives and customer services supervisors is expected to decline on account of outsourcing these jobs to countries where labor is cheap and there is no dearth of a well educated English speaking workforce.