Do You Have What it Takes to Succeed in Customer Service?

Customer service is a vital function and vastly needed in many industries. You will find most customer service jobs are in retail, call centers, food service, travel, hospitality, and the health care industry.  Companies rely heavily upon their customer service representatives to effectively meet the needs of its customers in a timely manner. But let’s face it, not every one is suited to work in customer service regardless of the industry. You will need to have the right personality in order to be successful in this role…whether it’s dealing with customers in person, by phone, and even by e-mail.

 Customer service is very demanding and often very stressful. Undoubtedly, when managers receive complaints about the same workers repeatedly, it’s mainly because these individuals are not suited for customer service work. In some instances, management has had to terminate employees who failed to meet job expectations and/or deliver quality service. That doesn’t mean they are unemployable, they are just not suited for this type work.  Managers can teach their employees how to use various equipment needed to execute work but they cannot teach personality. Most customer service venues usually experience a high turn over rate: either because the employee was terminated or because they chose to leave after learning the job was unbearable. Do you like working with people? Do you think you are suited for customer service work?  Read on to determine whether or not you have what it takes to work in customer service.

Job Requirements

• Personality assessment- nowadays, some companies require that interested candidates take a personality test or aptitude testing to measure one’s personal characteristics and to determine if they are suitable for the job. Keep in mind that you will be dealing with multiple personalities in this field as you interact with the customers. Be prepared to deal with the nicest to the most irate customers while at work.
• People skills- in order to thrive in this job you must enjoy working with people. If you dislike having to listen to complaints, solve problems, smile when you don’t’ feel like it, and interact with customers regularly, this may not be the job for you.
• Communications skills- you must have excellent listening skills and be able to communicate with individuals from various backgrounds. You cannot be timid when interacting with the customers but must display an outgoing and friendly demeanor while on the job.
• Patience – you cannot get angry or impatient with the customer when they are indecisive, rude, or difficult to deal with.  But you must maintain a professional and pleasant demeanor at all times. You must be able to work well under pressure even during the most stressful situations. 
• Problem solving skills- you will need to be able to assist and resolve the customer with any questions and problems they might encounter, in a timely manner.
• Multi-tasking skills- you must be able to competently do various task simultaneously. This might involve assisting a customer face-to-face while responding to a customer’s phone call or whatever the case may be.


Job responsibilities
Your duties will vary depending upon the company you opt to work for. Each company has a customized job description for this position. For example, if you work in a call center, you will spend most of your time on the phone assisting customers, maintaining customers’ records, and responding to emails. This job may also require that you sit for long periods of time.   If you work in retail, you will assist customers with purchases and will probably be on your feet most of the time.  In a fast food joint---you might wait tables, work the cash register, take phone inquires and so on…

Educational requirements and training
This is a computer age and you should have good computer skills to qualify for a customer service job. This is one job that rarely requires a college degree, other than management positions.  Most companies will train the right individuals and only require that you have 0-2 years of experience in customer service.

A positive outlook of this role is that you can actually turn a customer service job into a career if you desire, provided that you express your interest to your manager and demonstrate that you are serious about making this a career.