How to hire a customer representative

How to hire a customer representative, step by step

Here's a step-by-step customer representative hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a customer representative job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new customer representative
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a customer representative do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the customer representative you need to hire. Certain customer representative roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A customer representative's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, customer representatives from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of customer representative salaries for various roles:

   Type of Customer Representative	Description	Hourly rate
   Customer Representative	Customer service representatives interact with customers to handle complaints, process orders, and provide information about an organization’s products and services.	$12-26
   Customer Service Trainer	A customer service trainer is responsible for training new and experienced customer service staff, providing them with the best strategies and techniques to handle customers' inquiries and concerns. They also resolve customer complaints and ensure customer satisfaction, building good customer relationships, maintaining the company's reputation, and increasing revenues... Show more	$12-19
   Customer Service Expert	A customer service expert is responsible for providing excellent customer by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services the company offers. Customer service experts also handle and escalate high-level complaints, processing order replacements, and issuing refunds as needed... Show more	$27-83

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Phone Calls
   • Windows
   • Technical Support
   • Product Knowledge
   • Data Entry
   • Bank Secrecy Act
   • Patients
   • Customer Interaction
   • Branch Management
   • Customer Service
   • Credit Card
   • CRM
   • Customer Inquiries
   • Strong Customer Service

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and plan escalations; assure HIPPA guidelines are followed for confidentially and privacy.
   • Present PowerPoint presentations to brokers regarding customer service issues.
   • Demonstrate superb organizational and multitasking abilities
   • Prepare quarterly reports on the business and present to fellow employees using PowerPoint.
   • Develop and maintain relationships with company's advisory board, VIP customers, and associates.
   • Generate sales opportunities with legacy customers by upselling new and establish service offerings.

   More customer representative duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your customer representative job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A customer representative can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, customer representatives' average salary in mississippi is 37% less than in hawaii.
   • Seniority. Entry-level customer representatives 55% less than senior-level customer representatives.
   • Certifications. A customer representative with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a customer representative's salary.

   Average customer representative salary

   $37,351yearly

   $17.96 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level customer representative salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 22, 2025

   Average customer representative salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Hawaii	$57,427	$28
   2	Washington	$56,099	$27
   3	California	$50,309	$24
   4	Oregon	$49,622	$24
   5	District of Columbia	$48,844	$23
   6	Rhode Island	$47,446	$23
   7	Minnesota	$47,318	$23
   8	Massachusetts	$46,470	$22
   9	Montana	$44,654	$21
   10	New Hampshire	$44,546	$21
   11	Colorado	$44,462	$21
   12	Maryland	$44,256	$21
   13	Connecticut	$43,957	$21
   14	Iowa	$43,918	$21
   15	Illinois	$43,826	$21
   16	New York	$43,754	$21
   17	Arizona	$43,541	$21
   18	Wisconsin	$42,955	$21
   19	Nevada	$42,382	$20
   20	Wyoming	$42,344	$20

   Average customer representative salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	IBM	$74,607	$35.87	6
   2	Google	$61,088	$29.37	25
   3	RAND	$56,087	$26.96	1
   4	Pearson	$53,682	$25.81	4
   5	Merck	$52,804	$25.39	205
   6	Verint	$51,560	$24.79
   7	Higher Education Services	$49,288	$23.70
   8	Community First Credit Union	$45,758	$22.00	5
   9	NOV	$44,735	$21.51	4
   10	First National Bank of Hutchinson	$44,533	$21.41	2
   11	Vista Outdoor	$44,518	$21.40
   12	Robinhood	$44,117	$21.21	17
   13	Xactly	$42,909	$20.63
   14	Protect My Car	$42,821	$20.59
   15	Applied Industrial Technologies	$42,813	$20.58	65
   16	Uline	$42,601	$20.48	20
   17	STG International	$42,495	$20.43
   18	Ball	$42,332	$20.35
   19	Boundless	$42,071	$20.23	1
   20	UPS	$41,606	$20.00	17

4. Writing a customer representative job description

   A customer representative job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a customer representative job description:

   Customer representative job description example

   Job DescriptionJob Description: CUSTOMER SUCCESS REPRESENTATIVE* (Treasurer’s Office - Bluffton and/or Beaufort **): Do you thrive in a team environment which fosters a culture of professionalism, innovation, efficiency, pleasantness, excitement, and ownership? Are you able to deliver exceptional customer service in stressful situations? Can you resolve problems efficiently to meet the requirements of state law and the needs of taxpayers? If so, you may make an excellent Customer Success Representative! Our team serves as the first point of contact to the public representing the Treasurer's office to facilitate the collection of payments and communication of information to the public in person as well as via phone, email, and written correspondence.
   
   Tasks: payment processing, utilizing technology to perform assigned tasks, quality customer service, and research to resolve problems relating to payments in a fast paced environment. Performs various other duties as assigned.
   Minimum Requirements:
   • High school diploma or equivalent
   • At least four years cash and check handling experience related to banking teller, customer service, office administration and cashiering
   • Knowledgeable in the use of computer operations, including but not limited to Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Excel
   • Able to use reason to perform mathematical calculations
   • Strong communication and works well in a team environment
   • Must possess and maintain a valid driver’s license
   
   All applicants will be subject to a credit check and an assessment of technical knowledge.
   
   *This position serves at the pleasure of an elected official.
   
   All applicants will be required to submit to urinalysis to screen for the illegal use of drugs and to a background check prior to appointment. Employment is contingent upon clearing both the drug screening and background investigation. Beaufort County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.Billing, Complaints, Customer Service, Incoming Payments, Accounts Receivable (AR), Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Cash Collections, Cash Deposits, Cash Disbursements, Cash Movements, Cash Payments, Daily Cash Receipts, Daily Cash Management, Petty Cash

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right customer representative for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with customer representatives they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit customer representatives who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your customer representative job on Zippia to find and recruit customer representative candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with customer representative candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new customer representative

   Once you have selected a candidate for the customer representative position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new customer representative first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a customer representative?