How To Become A Customer Service Leader: What It Is and Career Path

What is a customer service leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Customer service leaders are responsible for managing a team of customer service representatives and ensuring that customers receive the best possible experience. They implement strategies to improve customer satisfaction, handle customer complaints, monitor performance metrics, and collaborate with other departments to improve processes and procedures. They are skilled communicators, problem-solvers, and have a solid understanding of customer behavior and expectations.

ScoreCustomer Service LeaderUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,791

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.0

Growth Rate -4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.64%

Asian 5.25%

Black or African American 10.59%

Hispanic or Latino 18.87%

Unknown 4.73%

White 59.92%

Gender

female 67.07%

male 32.93%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress Level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.2

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Customer Service Leader?

Pros

Opportunity to lead and develop a team of customer service representatives.
Chance to make a positive impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Opportunity to work with a diverse group of people.
Ability to contribute to the development and implementation of customer service strategies.
Chance to foster a positive work culture within the team.

Cons

High-stress environment with demanding customers and tight deadlines.
Responsibility for managing and resolving complex customer issues that may require difficult conversations.
Need to balance the needs of both customers and company goals, which may sometimes conflict.
Responsibility for managing and addressing employee performance issues, including disciplinary actions if necessary.
Potential for dealing with rude or disrespectful customers, which can be emotionally draining.

Key steps to become a customer service leader

Explore customer service leader education requirements

Most common customer service leader degrees

Bachelor's

39.5 %

High School Diploma

24.5 %

Associate

23.6 %

Start to develop specific customer service leader skills

Skills	Percentages
POS	11.09%
Sales Floor	9.90%
Store Management	9.46%
Product Knowledge	8.84%
Strong Customer Service	7.20%

Complete relevant customer service leader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New customer service leaders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a customer service leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real customer service leader resumes.

Research customer service leader duties and responsibilities

Interact extensively with customers to achieve timely issue resolution while maintaining high standards for dock organization and cleanliness.
Use of multiple computer programs like word, excel, PowerPoint, PowerBooks, spreadsheets, etc.
Assist owner with the testing and implementation of retail POS system; establish inventory, pricing, and hot key entry.
Maintain current knowledge of Kansas Medicaid guidelines and claims processing regulations.

Get customer service leader experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a customer service leader. The most common roles before becoming a customer service leader include customer service representative, cashier team lead and sales associate.

Prepare your customer service leader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your customer service leader resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a customer service leader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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