What is a customer service supervisor and how to become one

Q: How long does it take to become a Customer Service Supervisor?

It takes 3 years of professional experience to become a customer service supervisor. That is the time it takes to learn specific customer service supervisor skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 6 to 8 years years to become a customer service supervisor.

Q: How much does a customer service supervisor earn?

A customer service supervisor earns an average of about $62,000 a year. However, in the U.S., customer service supervisors can earn anywhere from about $26,000 to about $100,000 a year. Customer service supervisors in the U.S. earn the most in San Francisco, where the average salary is about $73,000 a year, or 16% more than the national average.

Q: What qualifications do you need to be a customer service manager?

The qualifications you need to be a customer service manager is a business administration or management degree. A person should also possess at least five years of experience working in customer service, though many jobs look for ten years of experience.

Q: What skills does a customer service supervisor need?

The skills that a customer service supervisor needs are a combination of leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills to succeed in their roles. The skills are essential for the functioning of the role and ensuring that the entire department is running effectively.

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Andrew Gilliam

A customer service supervisor oversees a team of customer service representatives to ensure they provide excellent customer support. They often work in call centers, retail stores, or other industries with customer service needs. Their responsibilities include training employees, monitoring performance, handling customer complaints, and maintaining service quality. Customer service supervisors have excellent communication skills and manage multiple tasks simultaneously. They also need to be knowledgeable about products or services and provide accurate information to customers.

What general advice would you give to a customer service supervisor?

Andrew Gilliam

Customer Experience innovator and change agent,, Informa Tech

Searching for jobs is always intimidating, and this year provides many new reasons to be discouraged. However, based on research HDI conducted in July, 57% of support organizations are creating new positions or continuing to fill vacancies. Furthermore, 82% of organizations say it is likely they will continue working from home long-term. Many companies are opening their minds to hiring candidates who don't live near their offices. That's great news for anyone entering the job market!
When looking for work, the best thing an applicant can do is to think like a hiring manager. They're filling a position to meet their needs, not yours, so consider the context in which they're hiring. Right now, businesses are searching for applicants who can contribute to remote teams and support customers remotely. Experience with unified communications, mobile, cloud, and remote support technologies are in high demand. Additionally, organizations are changing how they work at a rapid pace. Understanding the fundamentals of knowledge management, enterprise service management, incident and problem management, and organizational communications will help candidates speak directly to prospective employers' challenges. Having a dedicated space and internet connectivity to enable working from home and a proven ability to work independently or remotely helps dissuade managers' fears of hiring remote candidates.
There are plenty of ways to build these skills and competencies, even without direct work experience. HDI offers numerous resources, many of them free, to expand your knowledge, including articles, webinars, toolkits, research, and virtual classroom training. Dedicating yourself to independent learning, experimenting in a home-lab, and networking at virtual industry events are fantastic ways to demonstrate your job-readiness.

ScoreCustomer Service SupervisorUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,792

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 5.27%

Black or African American 9.98%

Hispanic or Latino 19.02%

Unknown 4.73%

White 60.37%

Gender

female 65.14%

male 34.86%

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 supervisor?

Pros

Possibility of career advancement within the company
Competitive salary and benefits
Opportunity to create and implement new policies and procedures
Exposure to different areas of the business
Chance to build strong relationships with customers and team members

Cons

Pressure to meet performance metrics, such as call volume or resolution time
Limited control over some aspects of the job, such as dealing with difficult customers or handling technical issues
May need to work irregular hours, including weekends or evenings
Potential for burnout due to high stress levels and demanding workload
Can be emotionally taxing when dealing with challenging customers or situations

Key steps to become a customer service supervisor

Explore customer service supervisor education requirements

Most common customer service supervisor degrees

Bachelor's

44.0 %

Associate

22.9 %

High School Diploma

20.6 %

Start to develop specific customer service supervisor skills

Skills	Percentages
Strong Customer Service	15.73%
Customer Care	14.63%
Customer Support	9.55%
Payroll	3.77%
Customer Complaints	3.71%

Complete relevant customer service supervisor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New customer service supervisors 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 supervisor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real customer service supervisor resumes.

Research customer service supervisor duties and responsibilities

Manage customer relationships and acting Salesforce administrator.
Develop and manage sales/customer service agents by monitoring productivity, quality and adherence using KPI's.
Manage services and supports for intellectually and developmentally disable individuals, within compliance with all Medicaid and I/DD waiver regulations.
Perform employee monthly/annual reviews/evaluations, payroll, and disciplinary actions.

Prepare your customer service supervisor resume

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