What does a customer service advisor do?

A customer service advisor is responsible for providing the best customer service by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services offered by the organization. Customer service advisors assist customers with their needs by recommending product selection, offering new products and services, and informing the customers of promotional offers to generate revenues and increase profitability. They also resolve customers' issues, escalating high-level complaints to a customer service lead or supervisor for immediate resolution.
Customer service advisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real customer service advisor resumes:
- Manage the largest client pool in all of Finland, and update the CRM accordingly.
- Manage bi-weekly payroll duties and employment documentation.
- Provide excellent customer service and maintain cleanliness of work area
- Used all CRM systems to provide exceptional service to customers for the entire order process cycle
- Process all pick tickets and assign carriers, handle all shipping issues and RA's support other CSR's when need.
- Maintain stores organization, appearance, and cleanliness through corporate guidelines for visual merchandising inventory updates and standards.
- Respond to telephone inquiries, providing quality service to customers and associates inquiring about the availability of rooms and booking reservations.
- Assist with installation and implementation of new ADP dealership management software.
- Educate customers on available product options and upselling items to increase sales.
- Key responsibilities include upselling package wash or single services to customers base on vehicle needs
- Navigate dealerships ADP software, and provide data entry explanations to both customer and manufacturer.
- Develop customer relationships through education on pet nutrition and offering care solutions.
- Type work orders with all necessary information for each vehicle using an in-house POS system.
- Work at promotional events, such as annual pet expo and monthly veterinary educational seminars.
- Skil in navigation of POS software and data entry of customer information and an expert in services and products.
Customer service advisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Customer Service Advisors are proficient in Taking Care, Strong Customer Service, and Standard Operating Procedure. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Computer skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Customer Service Advisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Taking Care, 17%
Provided exceptional customer service while taking care of a wide variety of animals.
- Strong Customer Service, 13%
Generate sales through strong customer service and good product knowledge.
- Standard Operating Procedure, 10%
Monitored compliance with standard operating procedures for loss prevention, physical security, or risk management.
- Customer Service, 7%
Communicated accurately with customer service manager and technicians to establish time commitments that met Sears Automotive standards & exceeded customer requirements.
- Customer Care, 7%
Prepared initial customer care service invoices for incoming vehicles and also determines the necessary up sell services each vehicle.
- Sales Floor, 7%
Greeted customers, processed payments, balanced cash register, assisted customers, arranged merchandise on sales floor, restocked shelves.
Most customer service advisors use their skills in "taking care," "strong customer service," and "standard operating procedure" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential customer service advisor responsibilities here:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a customer service advisor to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "customer service representatives must be able to provide clear information in writing, by phone, or in person." Additionally, a customer service advisor resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "handled various communications concerning account security and customer support. "
Customer-service skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of customer service advisors is customer-service skills. This skill is critical to many everyday customer service advisor duties, as "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "conducted customer support, assessments, and preliminary situation analyses in an effort to align situation solutions with business initiatives. "
Interpersonal skills. A big part of what customer service advisors do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to customer service advisor responsibilities because "representatives should be able to create positive interactions with customers." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical customer service advisor tasks: "detail oriented attitude and excellent interpersonal as well as consultative selling skills. "
Listening skills. Another crucial skill for a customer service advisor to carry out their responsibilities is "listening skills." A big part of what customer service advisors relies on this skill, since "representatives must listen carefully to ensure that they understand customers in order to assist them." How this skill relates to customer service advisor duties can be seen in an example from a customer service advisor resume snippet: "key holder cash handling communicated effectively with customers on future problems and repairs that might need to be addressed. "
Patience. Lastly, "patience" is an important element of what a customer service advisor does. Customer service advisor responsibilities require this skill because "representatives should be patient and polite, especially when interacting with dissatisfied customers." This resume example highlights how customer service advisor duties rely on this skill: "provide prompt, efficient, and friendly customer service by exhibiting care, concern, and patience in all customer interactions. "
The three companies that hire the most customer service advisors are:
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Customer service advisor vs. Service agent
A service agent is an individual whose primary function is to provide a friendly service to internal and external customers about the organization's products and services. An agent should be people-oriented, highly motivated with a positive and friendly attitude. Although an agent usually works in a call center, an agent can communicate in various ways, such as the telephone or often face to face. The minimum educational requirement of being a service agent is a high school diploma; however, the customer service experience is a plus.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between customer service advisors and service agent. For instance, customer service advisor responsibilities require skills such as "taking care," "strong customer service," "standard operating procedure," and "customer care." Whereas a service agent is skilled in "regular maintenance," "quality standards," "pet," and "car washes." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Service agents earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $30,711. On the other hand, customer service advisors are paid more in the insurance industry with an average salary of $33,001.The education levels that service agents earn slightly differ from customer service advisors. In particular, service agents are 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a customer service advisor. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer service advisor vs. Customer care representative
A customer care representative is responsible for providing resolution with the customer's concerns, following the business' procedures and strategic processes. Customer care representatives must have exceptional customer service skills to address their clients' concerns efficiently and accurately, as well as having extensive knowledge of the products and services their company offer. Duties of a customer care representative also include managing client's complaints, offering alternative products and refunds as needed, calculating fees for special requests, updating customer's account information, documenting actions taken, and escalating special case concerns to the supervisor.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that customer service advisor responsibilities requires skills like "taking care," "strong customer service," "standard operating procedure," and "sales floor." But a customer care representative might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "data entry," "inbound phone calls," "insurance benefits," and "ccr."
On average, customer care representatives earn a higher salary than customer service advisors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, customer care representatives earn the most pay in the automotive industry with an average salary of $35,440. Whereas customer service advisors have higher pay in the insurance industry, with an average salary of $33,001.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Customer care representatives tend to reach similar levels of education than customer service advisors. In fact, they're 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer service advisor vs. Customer agent
A customer agent provides friendly service to external and internal customers. Customer agents talk to customers on behalf of businesses and companies. They help customers with their queries and complaints. It is their job to give customers a better understanding of the products. They answer questions with regards to their reservations. Sometimes, they also have sales roles. Oftentimes, they answer questions, process sales, provide information, and resolve problems.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, customer service advisors are more likely to have skills like "taking care," "strong customer service," "standard operating procedure," and "customer care." But a customer agent is more likely to have skills like "data entry," "inbound phone calls," "us customs," and "golf courses."
Customer agents earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $32,547. Customer service advisors earn the highest pay from the insurance industry, with an average salary of $33,001.When it comes to education, customer agents tend to earn similar degree levels compared to customer service advisors. In fact, they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Customer service advisor vs. Service associate
A service associate's role is to assist customers either through phone or in person. One of the service associate's primary responsibilities is to attain customer satisfaction by answering queries, performing troubleshooting methods, assisting in navigating through difficult tasks, handling complaints, resolving issues, and even processing payments. Furthermore, a service associate needs to be equipped with good communication skills to build rapport with clients as there are instances where they have to sell products and services.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between customer service advisors and service associates, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a customer service advisor might have more use for skills like "taking care," "standard operating procedure," "customer care," and "strong work ethic." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of service associates require skills like "patients," "basic math," "loan payments," and "patient rooms. "
In general, service associates hold similar degree levels compared to customer service advisors. Service associates are 2.7% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of customer service advisor
Updated January 8, 2025











