What does a customer support associate do?
A customer support associate's responsibilities revolve around assisting walk-in customers by answering inquiries, offering recommendations, issuing refunds, addressing complaints, and resolving it promptly and professionally. They may also provide support to clients through calls and correspondence, offering them products or services when necessary. There are also instances when they must perform follow-up calls, troubleshoot problems, and arrange appointments. Furthermore, as a customer support associate, it is essential to interact with clients in a friendly and efficient manner, ensuring customer satisfaction and quality service.
Customer support associate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real customer support associate resumes:
- Manage the use of DHL or FEDEX.
- Achieve quarterly A/R objectives on a regular basis.
- Negotiate freight rates and manage relationships with freight forwarders and shipping companies.
- Organize company events and manage payroll.
- Manage high volume weekly consultant payroll using PeopleSoft.
- Create and track opportunities monitor using Microsoft CRM.
- Implement monthly CSA meeting topics and office employee team building activities.
- Drive adherence to procedures in compliance with the SLA and process.
- Document customer interactions, promises and resolution details in the CRM system.
- Develop and work with CSA to collect on accounts and overcome objections given to them.
- Implement a computer POS system for the stores that integrate the store with the custom framing department.
- Develop policies, procedures and standards used to implement and support database technologies according to SLAs and ISO standards.
- Maintain patient confidentiality following HIPPA procedures and codes.
- Create internal/external PowerPoint presentations for data analysis on hardware/software issues.
- Review, analyze and submit bi-weekly payroll and commissions statements.
Customer support associate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Customer Support Associates are proficient in Data Entry, Strong Customer Service, and Customer Satisfaction. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Computer skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Customer Support Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Data Entry, 10%
Network and telecommunication data entry.
- Strong Customer Service, 6%
Developed strong customer service and communication skills.
- Customer Satisfaction, 5%
Time management and organizational skills were very important to deliver excellent customer satisfaction.
- CSA, 5%
Developed and work with CSA to collect on accounts and overcome objections given to them.
- Inbound Calls, 4%
Answer inbound calls from existing, Fidelity customer regarding their comprehensive benefits.
- Health Insurance, 4%
Managed contractor HR which includes but limited to payroll and benefits, employment agreements/ contracts, health insurance and 401K.
"data entry," "strong customer service," and "customer satisfaction" are among the most common skills that customer support associates use at work. You can find even more customer support associate responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a customer support associate 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 support associate resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "provided customer support for telecommunication equipment in a call center environment. "
Customer-service skills. customer support associates are also known for customer-service skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to customer support associate responsibilities, because "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." A customer support associate resume example shows how customer-service skills is used in the workplace: "build and maintain solid customer relationships by providing superior customer support via email and telephone. "
Interpersonal skills. For certain customer support associate responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a customer support associate rely on this skill, as "representatives should be able to create positive interactions with customers." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what customer support associates do: "trained in and maintained excellent interpersonal and communication skills that complement proven creative problem solving capabilities. "
Listening skills. A commonly-found skill in customer support associate job descriptions, "listening skills" is essential to what customer support associates do. Customer support associate responsibilities rely on this skill because "representatives must listen carefully to ensure that they understand customers in order to assist them." You can also see how customer support associate duties rely on listening skills in this resume example: "provided help for customers around the store handled pos cash register duties listened to and found solutions to customer issues"
Patience. While "patience" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to customer support associate responsibilities. Much of what a customer support associate does relies on this skill, seeing as "representatives should be patient and polite, especially when interacting with dissatisfied customers." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of customer support associates: "provide technical support with patience and clear instruction to make caller feel at ease. "
The three companies that hire the most customer support associates are:
Choose from 10+ customizable customer support associate resume templates
Build a professional customer support associate resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your customer support associate resume.
Compare different customer support associates
Customer support associate 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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between customer support associates and sales associate and customer service. For instance, customer support associate responsibilities require skills such as "data entry," "strong customer service," "csa," and "health insurance." Whereas a sales associate and customer service is skilled in "customer service," "plumbing," "sales associates," and "booking." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Sales associate and customer services earn the highest salaries when working in the manufacturing industry, with an average yearly salary of $30,394. On the other hand, customer support associates are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $44,049.sales associate and customer services tend to reach similar levels of education than customer support associates. In fact, sales associate and customer services are 2.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Customer support associate vs. Associate customer service representative
An associate customer service representative is responsible for providing high customer service by assisting customers on their inquiries and concerns, as well as resolving and escalating high-level complaints to the supervisor or tenured customer service representative. Associate customer service representatives also process orders and payments from the customers, replacing defective items, and issuing refunds as needed. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on handling data processing procedures to the database for reference to customer concerns.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, customer support associate responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "data entry," "strong customer service," "csa," and "health insurance." Meanwhile, an associate customer service representative has duties that require skills in areas such as "patients," "customer service," "telephone calls," and "product knowledge." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Associate customer service representatives may earn a higher salary than customer support associates, but associate customer service representatives earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $37,473. On the other hand, customer support associates receive higher pay in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $44,049.In general, associate customer service representatives achieve similar levels of education than customer support associates. They're 2.0% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer support associate 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.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a customer support associate is likely to be skilled in "strong customer service," "csa," "inbound calls," and "health insurance," while a typical customer agent is skilled in "customer service," "inbound phone calls," "telephone calls," and "us customs."
Customer agents earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $32,547. Customer support associates earn the highest pay from the technology industry, with an average salary of $44,049.Most customer agents achieve a similar degree level compared to customer support associates. For example, they're 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer support associate vs. Customer liaison
Customer liaisons are professionals who act as the focal point to deal with customer problems, questions, or concerns by coordinating with the proper company personnel to provide accurate answers for them. They are required to handle inbound calls to resolve immediate issues while providing excellent customer service to members. They must manage concerns related to customer service so that they can maintain customer loyalty and encourage future business. Customer liaisons must also train all new staff members to handle a high volume of calls while maintaining positive service to clients.
Types of customer support associate
Updated January 8, 2025
