Hot jobs in customer service: as life gets more complicated, businesses need ways to keep customers happy - hot jobs

Career World, Sept, 2003 by Hanna Bandes Geshelin

Have you ever bought something that didn't work? Needed help installing a computer program? Ordered something from an 800 number? The person you turned to for help was a customer service representative.

Customer service reps are a company's connection to the world. Reps spend their days helping customers. They take orders and answer questions about products and services. Some open accounts or handle billing problems for gas and electric companies or telecommunications firms such as the phone company or cable television. And an important part of a rep's job is resolving complaints.

Service with a Smile

"When I train employees, I tell them that the most important thing they can do is smile," says Betti Boggis of Big Y-Supermarkets in Springfield, Massachusetts. TaMara Gold, who manages customer service at the Sundance Catalog Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, concurs. "Good customer service will keep a company running well even in bad economic times," she explains. When people don't have much money to spend, they stick with businesses they feel good about. And helping people feel good about a business is the customer service rep's job.

Some people are just meant for this field. "They have a passion to serve," says Pat Gamans, customer support manager for ScanSoft, Inc., a Massachusetts software company. Kara Gilbert, who works for Plantronics of Santa Cruz, California, a leading manufacturer of telephone headsets agrees, "You have to care what happens to people."

Reps also need a sense of perspective. "The hardest part of the job is that some callers are very upset," says Gilbert. The ability to listen to angry customers and not let them affect your day is critical. "You can't take their anger personally," she says. Callers who purchased defective products or who have billing problems have reason to be frustrated. Customer service reps can't get angry. They need to be able to make the caller feel that someone cares about their problem. Of course, they need the skills to solve the problem too.

Prepare to Succeed?

Some customer service jobs require just a high school diploma or a GED. Good spoken and written English is important. So are basic computer skills.

A two-year or four-year degree is helpful, because "customer service people need to be able to multitask," says Catherine Sewell of the Alzheimer's Association. "College helps hone these skills." If an applicant has never worked in customer service, Sewell prefers that they have a four-year college degree. Juggling class schedules and the demands of many professors is good practice for this field.

Most companies require applicants for customer service positions to have a year of work experience. You can get that experience while you're in high school. Look for part-time work at a supermarket or discount store. Even if you start as a bagger, you'll get customer service training. You'll learn about the importance of making eye contact and other aspects of working with customers. After you get experience and learn about the store, you can apply to work at the customer service desk. Telemarketing--selling products or services over the phone--is also good preparation. If you follow one of these routes, you'll have a good part of the experience you need by the time you graduate.

On-the-job training is essential. New workers start at the lowest level. In a mail-order company, Gold explains, new workers take orders and fulfill catalog requests. When they're ready, they move into level two. There they handle very simple customer service duties such as answering questions about existing orders. More complicated questions and problems are handled by level threes. At Sundance, training never ends. Each rep is recertified each year. This keeps everyone up-to-date.

Many customer service reps attend college while they're working. They may be able to take advantage of employee education benefits and flexible hours if their company offers them. A degree--combined with their work experience--will help them move ahead.

Service and Development

Technical support workers are also customer service specialists. ScanSoft, Inc., looks for new college grads with computer science or other technical backgrounds. "It's a foot-in-the-door type of position for someone with a technical degree," says Gamans. "They start as level ones answering calls that are easy."

When they can't answer a caller's question, they get help from someone with more experience. Difficult calls get passed up the line. By the time people are level threes, they have expert knowledge of the company's products. They're also experts in responding to customers' needs.

At ScanSoft, Inc., level threes are part of the product development team. They work with a product from the day the designers first think it up. The reps' purpose is to prevent the problems that cause people to call in. They might even suggest new features because they know what customers want.

What's the Job Like?

Many customer service reps spend their days on the telephone. They wear telephone headsets and may work on a multi-line telephone. Often they use computers to find product information, to track customer problems and complaints, to input product orders, or to receive and send E-mail. They may use fax machines to communicate with customers.