How to hire a customer retention specialist

How to hire a customer retention specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step customer retention specialist 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 retention specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new customer retention specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your customer retention specialist job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a customer retention specialist for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a customer retention specialist to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a customer retention specialist that fits the bill.

   This list presents customer retention specialist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Customer Retention Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Customer Retention Specialist	Customer service representatives interact with customers to handle complaints, process orders, and provide information about an organization’s products and services.	$12-20
   Customer Service Agent	Customer service agents are employees assigned to answer incoming calls to their company's service hotline. They are equipped with proper training on company products and policies so that they can assist customers... Show more	$11-17
   Customer Service Representative	Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services... Show more	$12-19

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Inbound Calls
   • Outbound Calls
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Customer Complaints
   • Customer Accounts
   • Customer Inquiries
   • Customer Loyalty
   • Customer Retention
   • Billing Issues
   • Upsell
   • Customer Support
   • Customer Feedback
   • Credit Card

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Prepare proposals and analysis for county Medicaid facilitators to educate regarding available manage care programs.
   • Demonstrate superb organizational and multitasking abilities
   • Demonstrate superb organizational and multitasking abilities

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your customer retention specialist job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A customer retention specialist salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, customer retention specialists' average salary in mississippi is 35% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level customer retention specialists earn 38% less than senior-level customer retention specialists.
   • Certifications. A customer retention specialist with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a customer retention specialist's salary.

   Average customer retention specialist salary

   $16.07hourly

   $33,422 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level customer retention specialist salary

   $26,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 29, 2026

4. Writing a customer retention specialist job description

   A good customer retention specialist job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a customer retention specialist job description:

   Customer retention specialist job description example

   Broadly is changing the way local service businesses grow. We help thousands of local service businesses attract, retain, and "wow" their customers with powerful customer experiences. Our mission is to bridge local businesses to their modern consumers by helping them: capture leads, streamline their communications by email and text, collect mobile payments, and gather feedback and reviews. We are passionate about helping these local business owners succeed, and keep them at the center of everything we do.
   About the role:
   
   Customer Retention Specialists (CRSs) provide a 5 star experience for our customers to help increase retention and the customer life-time value. As a Broadly product expert, business consultant, and relationship manager, CRSs help support CSMs in identifying and controlling at-risk customer situations, investigate data from customer experience to build out strategies for customer retention, and relay information to other departments for resolutions, product and process improvements.
   
   As a CRS, you will:
   
   Retain accounts - Utilize product knowledge, implement strategies and best use cases to retain customers
   
   Establish yourself as a trusted consultant - Coach businesses on how Broadly can help achieve their business goals
   
   Manage escalated and at-risk customers - Create dialogue with at-risk customers and develop strategies for further product adoption, best use cases and greater customer success
   
   Identify opportunities for expansion in revenue - Educate customers on additional Broadly "add-on" solutions that deliver value to solve business needs
   
   Be your customers' greatest advocate - Voice customer concerns and collect feedback for product and process improvements
   
   Be a team player - Work cross-functionally with Broadly's departments and teams to improve company initiatives and processes
   
   Is this you?:
   
   2+ years in Sales and/or Customer Success, Account Management or transferable experience (preferably for a B2B, SaaS organization)
   
   Strong analytical skills with a demonstrated ability to turn data into decisions
   
   Able to approach difficult customer conversations with grace and professionalism
   
   Mastery of communication via email and phone
   
   Operates with a high level of empathy and integrity
   
   Self-starter, resourceful and solutions-oriented
   
   Capacity to adapt and remain flexible with ever-changing processes
   
   Empathetic, resilient, able to handle rejection, capable to troubleshoot on the fly, problem solver. Ability to comb thru data and notes provided to produce appropriate resolution(s). Highly organized.
   
   THE GOOD STUFF (we're not afraid of emojis)
   
   Our company was founded in Oakland, but now we are a remote first and distributed team!
   
   Company covers 100% of employee only medical, dental, and vision insurance + lots of extra options. We got you.
   
   Flexible time off: take the time-off you need, when you need it!
   
   Ask us about Our Time Off (OTO) two-three day weekends per month!
   
   Regular wellness and engagement activities. Vita-mixes, Hatch Lights, Purple pillows-prizes galore!
   
   WFH stipend (because you know, you work from home)
   
   Co-working stipend (for those of us who want to escape our usual home office life and go into a shared workspace - sometimes working somewhere different helps!)
   
   Wellness stipend that covers mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing (because taking care of your mental health creates mental wealth!)
   
   Professional development stipend. Get your learning on.
   
   An inclusive, tight knit, exciting start-up culture that offers accelerated career & personal growth
   
   One more thing ...
   
   Can you tell us what the weather is like where you are?
   
   Broadly is an Equal Opportunity Employer . We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to age, ancestry, color, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), denial of family and medical care leave, disability (mental and physical), marital status/registered domestic partner status, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, national origin (including language use restrictions), race, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), sex stereotype, gender, gender identity and gender expression /transgender, sexual orientation, or any other protected status in accordance with all applicable federal, state and local laws.
   
   Broadly also prohibits discrimination, harassment, disrespectful or unprofessional conduct based on the perception that anyone has any of those characteristics, or is associated with a person who has or is perceived as having any of those characteristics.

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5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right customer retention specialist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit customer retention specialists, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 retention specialist

   Once you have selected a candidate for the customer retention specialist 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.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new customer retention specialist 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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