What does a Customer Service Representative do?
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. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.
Customer service representative responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real customer service representative resumes:
- Manage and plan escalations; assure HIPPA guidelines are followed for confidentially and privacy.
- Maintain cleanliness and safety and assist patients as necessary.
- Operate POS system and maintain exceptional and consistent customer service.
- Exercise proofreading and basic math skills to maintain quality control over documents process
- Work in customer service department entering information into customer relationship management (CRM).
- Develop highly empathetic client relationships and earn reputation for exceeding good customer service rep goals.
- Provide professional and courteous customer service to incoming military officers by explaining the proper check-in and check-out procedures.
- Polish, professional customer service rep offering customer support in busy inbound/outbound call center environment for medicare and AARP.
- Be it oxygen, walkers, wheel chairs etc.
- Design flyers, brochures and business cards.
- Monitor and review appointments and junior TSR's for errors daily.
- Clean customers computers off virus, update computer software, update windows.
- Facilitate and deliver effective product and system training to incoming TSR's.
- Mentor other CCR peers to help lower and maintain their stats at predetermine company specifications.
- Book appointments for workers to come to the customers' homes to place fencing, windows, and roofing
Customer service representative skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Customer Service Representatives are proficient in Cleanliness, POS, and Data Entry. 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 Representatives that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Cleanliness, 10%
Greeted & Monitored customers Handled any customer inquiries Maintained cleanliness of work area
- POS, 7%
Handled POS register operations, maintained transaction accuracy and transaction document processing.
- Data Entry, 6%
Performed an outstanding amount of commitment to ensure accurate data entry for positive and sufficient representation of the company.
- Sales Floor, 6%
Replenished and relocated store products on the sales floor and ensured stockroom kept organized following proper procedures including inventory.
- Customer Service, 5%
Provided excellent customer service to current and potential customers by providing guidance and educating customers on specific electronics.
- Home Health, 5%
Accepted opportunity to transfer to competitive Philadelphia market as a Sales Representative establishing new business at hospitals and home health care agencies
"cleanliness," "pos," and "data entry" are among the most common skills that customer service representatives use at work. You can find even more customer service representative responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a customer service representative 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 representative resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "facilitated inter-departmental communication to effectively provide customer support. "
Customer-service skills. customer service representatives are also known for customer-service skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to customer service representative responsibilities, because "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." A customer service representative resume example shows how customer-service skills is used in the workplace: "developed innovative powerpoint presentation and documents used to motivate staff to better perform customer support to assist members. "
Interpersonal skills. customer service representative responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "representatives should be able to create positive interactions with customers." This resume example shows what customer service representatives do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "communicated with irate customers using excellent interpersonal-communication skills. "
Listening skills. Another common skill required for customer service representative responsibilities is "listening skills." This skill comes up in the duties of customer service representatives all the time, as "representatives must listen carefully to ensure that they understand customers in order to assist them." An excerpt from a real customer service representative resume shows how this skill is central to what a customer service representative does: "demonstrated active listening skills to provide optimal customer support. "
Patience. Another skill commonly found on customer service representative job descriptions is "patience." It can come up quite often in customer service representative 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 representative responsibilities: "exhibit excellent interpersonal skills using tact, patience and courtesy"
The three companies that hire the most customer service representatives are:
- Family Dollar6,904 customer service representatives jobs
- Domino's Pizza6,839 customer service representatives jobs
- Circle K3,033 customer service representatives jobs
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Compare different customer service representatives
Customer service representative 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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between customer service representatives and customer agent. For instance, customer service representative responsibilities require skills such as "cleanliness," "pos," "sales floor," and "home health." Whereas a customer agent is skilled in "troubleshoot," "us customs," "customer relations," and "customer retention." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Customer agents earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $32,547. On the other hand, customer service representatives are paid more in the insurance industry with an average salary of $34,074.The education levels that customer agents earn slightly differ from customer service representatives. In particular, customer agents are 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a customer service representative. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer service representative vs. Client representative
Client Representatives are professionals who work on behalf of their clients. They coordinate with external parties with which their clients are involved. They represent their clients during meetings and appointments when their clients are not available. Client Representatives should have a background related to the business that their clients are involved in. This would help them catch up with conversations. They are expected to act as if they are the client themselves. They must act within the client's best interest at all times. As such, they should be familiar with their clients' interests and needs.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, customer service representative responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "cleanliness," "pos," "sales floor," and "home health." Meanwhile, a client representative has duties that require skills in areas such as "phone calls," "client accounts," "external clients," and "client inquiries." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, client representatives earn a higher salary than customer service representatives. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, client representatives earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $48,306. Whereas customer service representatives have higher pay in the insurance industry, with an average salary of $34,074.In general, client representatives achieve similar levels of education than customer service representatives. They're 4.5% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer service representative vs. Customer service advisor
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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, customer service representatives are more likely to have skills like "data entry," "home health," "math," and "patients." But a customer service advisor is more likely to have skills like "standard operating procedure," "oil changes," "manufacturer recommendations," and "automotive services."
Customer service advisors earn the best pay in the insurance industry, where they command an average salary of $33,001. Customer service representatives earn the highest pay from the insurance industry, with an average salary of $34,074.When it comes to education, customer service advisors tend to earn similar degree levels compared to customer service representatives. In fact, they're 0.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Customer service representative vs. Call center representative
Call center representatives are employees who take customer calls in the company's contact center. They answer incoming calls related to their account. Call center representatives are trained on the company's products, policies, and guidelines. They are expected to know the ins and outs of every company product under their account before they are assigned to the operations floor. Once they are deemed efficient enough to handle calls, they begin to take customer inquiries and try to resolve them during the call. Call center representatives are expected to follow company policies and procedures and to meet the goals set by the company.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between customer service representatives and call center representatives, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a customer service representative might have more use for skills like "cleanliness," "pos," "sales floor," and "home health." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of call center representatives require skills like "troubleshoot," "schedule appointments," "quality standards," and "customer product complaints. "
In general, call center representatives earn the most working in the finance industry, with an average salary of $32,660. The highest-paying industry for a customer service representative is the insurance industry.In general, call center representatives hold similar degree levels compared to customer service representatives. Call center representatives are 0.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of customer service representative
Updated January 8, 2025
