What does a customer service desk do?
The responsibilities of working in a customer service desk primarily revolves around ensuring customer satisfaction by responding to their inquiries and concerns. There are instances when it is required to provide directions, locate products, make reservations, and resolve various issues. There may also be administrative tasks such as handling and making calls, assisting customers in filling out forms, preparing paperwork and reports, arranging records, and coordinating with various staff members to ensure that a customer receives quality service.
Customer service desk responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real customer service desk resumes:
- Manage cash balances and inventory stock accurately; ensure cleanliness of all work stations and guarantee excellent customer service.
- Operate a POS system to itemize and complete customer front-end register transactions.
- Ask to follow closing procedures of facility and close out POS system.
- Organize activities such as science and math club, sports, art, and cooking.
- Create a RMA for faulty parts and dispatch technician to the site to replace the part or troubleshoot the issue.
- Process customer transactions and troubleshoot register issues.
- Maintain accuracy and efficiency in all activities, including cash handling and processing and ensure cleanliness and sanitation throughout the facility.
- Determine Medicaid requirements and eligibility.
Customer service desk skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Customer Service Desks are proficient in Service Desk, Customer Service, and Strong Customer Service. 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 Desks that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Service Desk, 20%
Cashier Customer Service Desk Supervisor Responsible for retail inventory and stocking 7 Generated POS reports daily via proprietary software
- Customer Service, 17%
Provided exceptional customer service, maintained excellent communication skills, and effectively handled difficult customers while maintaining a positive attitude.
- Strong Customer Service, 15%
Provided strong customer service while Building/Maintaining relationships with Contractors and the public.
- Front Desk, 7%
Front Desk Reception and Customer Service, Special Events Coordination, Membership Sales and equipment inventory management
- Windows, 4%
Experience in Windows 7/ Windows XP environment assuring software compatibility with end-users.
- Sales Floor, 4%
Do Markdowns at times, help customer with their transactions, clean the sales floor for next operating business day
"service desk," "customer service," and "strong customer service" are among the most common skills that customer service desks use at work. You can find even more customer service desk responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a customer service desk to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "customer service representatives must be able to provide clear information in writing, by phone, or in person." Customer service desks often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "demonstrated effective communication and strong customer service skills. "
Customer-service skills. customer service desks are also known for customer-service skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to customer service desk responsibilities, because "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." A customer service desk resume example shows how customer-service skills is used in the workplace: "operated multi-line phone system and made executive decisions resolving customer related issues. "
Interpersonal skills. A big part of what customer service desks do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to customer service desk 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 desk tasks: "operated customer service desk by demonstrating strong interpersonal skills on the phone and in person . "
Listening skills. Another crucial skill for a customer service desk to carry out their responsibilities is "listening skills." A big part of what customer service desks 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 desk duties can be seen in an example from a customer service desk resume snippet: "listen to customer complaints and resolve issues according to store policy in a calm and friendly manner. "
Patience. Another skill commonly found on customer service desk job descriptions is "patience." It can come up quite often in customer service desk duties, since "representatives should be patient and polite, especially when interacting with dissatisfied customers." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day customer service desk responsibilities: "provided excellent customer service through patience and understanding of customer's needs, complaints or indifferences. "
The three companies that hire the most customer service desks are:
- Kwik Trip141 customer service desks jobs
- Von Maur44 customer service desks jobs
- Cabela's7 customer service desks jobs
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Compare different customer service desks
Customer service desk vs. Customer associate
A customer associate is responsible for providing the best customer service by assisting the customers with their inquiries and concerns, as well as resolving their complaints, processing replacements, and issuing refunds as needed. Customer associates also sell products and services to the customers, demonstrating product features, and identifying business opportunities to drive more revenues and profits for the business. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills to process orders and payments timely and accurately.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a customer service desk are more likely to require skills like "service desk," "strong customer service," "front desk," and "windows." On the other hand, a job as a customer associate requires skills like "phone calls," "outbound calls," "stock merchandise," and "powerpoint." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Customer associates really shine in the telecommunication industry with an average salary of $33,698. Comparatively, customer service desks tend to make the most money in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $36,683.The education levels that customer associates earn slightly differ from customer service desks. In particular, customer associates are 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a customer service desk. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer service desk 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.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, customer service desk responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "service desk," "strong customer service," "windows," and "sales floor." Meanwhile, a service agent has duties that require skills in areas such as "regular maintenance," "credit card," "quality standards," and "pet." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, service agents earn a lower salary than customer service desks. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, service agents earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $30,711. Whereas customer service desks have higher pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $36,683.In general, service agents achieve similar levels of education than customer service desks. They're 0.3% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer service desk vs. Service desk associate
A service desk associate will answer and respond to the inquiries and requests from both employees and customers, either through telephone calls, emails, or in person. Your duties as a service desk associate will vary depending on the sector you work in. These duties may include capturing and validating queries and issues for processing, communicating with users via different channels, and advising users on the appropriate action to address their concerns. You will also be responsible for escalating unresolved issues to a much higher support level and providing security support and advice.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from customer service desk resumes include skills like "strong customer service," "quality customer service," "inbound calls," and "vpn," whereas a service desk associate is more likely to list skills in "customer care," "wire transfers," "tax exemptions," and "front door. "
Service desk associates typically earn similar educational levels compared to customer service desks. Specifically, they're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer service desk vs. Sales associate and customer service
Sales and customer service associates are employees who are responsible for closing out sales deals and attending to customer needs. They are in charge of selling company goods and services to potential clients, often citing the common needs of prospective clients to ensure sales. They also handle customer inquiries and complaints and try their best to mitigate any problems that would arise. They are expected to be experts on company products to ensure that they can provide the best service to customers. Sales and customer service associates should have strong interpersonal skills, customer service skills, and communication skills.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between customer service desks and sales associate and customer services, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a customer service desk might have more use for skills like "service desk," "strong customer service," "front desk," and "windows." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of sales associate and customer services require skills like "plumbing," "sales associates," "phone calls," and "booking. "
The manufacturing industry tends to pay the highest salaries for sales associate and customer services, with average annual pay of $30,394. Comparatively, the highest customer service desk annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.In general, sales associate and customer services hold similar degree levels compared to customer service desks. Sales associate and customer services are 0.3% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of customer service desk
Updated January 8, 2025
