What does a customer support representative do?
A customer support representative is responsible for answering calls and correspondence, providing customer assistance in various technical issues, concerns, or difficulties. There are also instances when they must make calls to follow-up on the issues, or even sell products and services. Most of the time, a customer support representative has a certain quota to reach and works under a manager's supervision. Furthermore, it is essential to keep accurate records and report to managers or supervisors should there be any problems.
Customer support representative responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real customer support representative resumes:
- Manage customer relationships using company CRM system, deliver post sales training on system, and offer additional assistance as needed.
- Manage software maintenance renewal partner and assist with upselling additional and higher functionality licenses to increase revenue.
- Coordinate and escalate efforts with adjacent operations and engineering groups to offer end-to-end solutions for customers with complex technical issues.
- Track and measure all activity demonstrating the impact of CRR involvement.
- Act as technical liaison and sell product into Telco and LAN markets.
- Support internal users regarding installation of hardware, software and other windows application issues.
- Provide customer service via telephone and to walk in customers for commercial, residential and agricultural usage of propane.
- Provide exemplary customer service from order to cash for a portfolio of large mass merchants, OEM and regional accounts.
- Act as a mentor for other CRR's by answering daily questions and providing product and process training when need.
- Escalate problems to operations support personnel.
- Optimize SQL queries and perform database analysis using monitoring tools.
- Provide instruction to customers in navigating through windows base software applications.
- Support a busy sales department by provisioning new customer information into internal CRM.
- Assist Medicaid recipients by selecting a primary care physician, educating on benefits, ordering identification cards.
- Maintain institutional standards per HIPAA guidelines of patient confidentiality as well as institutional goals to maintain great customer service.
Customer support representative skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Customer Support Representatives are proficient in Technical Support, Windows, and Customer Inquiries. 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 Representatives that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Technical Support, 10%
Provided expert technical support and up selling of all products and organized daily follow-ups to ensure timely resolutions.
- Windows, 8%
Communicated with customers to troubleshoot technical problems with both Windows and Mac operating systems.
- Customer Inquiries, 6%
Coordinated customer inquiries on scheduling, application change requests, quoting and product availability for new or existing product applications.
- Data Entry, 6%
Monitored that all appropriate documentation and data entry was complete and performed reporting functions as required.
- Customer Support, 4%
Provided customer support for online corporate banking platform; trained domestic and international customers on executing Web page transactions.
- Work Ethic, 4%
Commended for great work ethic and excellent communication skills.
"technical support," "windows," and "customer inquiries" are among the most common skills that customer support representatives use at work. You can find even more customer support representative responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a customer support representative 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 support representatives often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provide customer support via email and telecommunications. "
Customer-service skills. customer support representatives are also known for customer-service skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to customer support representative responsibilities, because "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." A customer support representative resume example shows how customer-service skills is used in the workplace: "provided customer support by assisting customers with online orders, provided follow up quality assistance and maintained customer records daily. "
Interpersonal skills. customer support 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 support representatives do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "displayed courtesy and strong interpersonal skills with all customer interactions. "
Listening skills. Another crucial skill for a customer support representative to carry out their responsibilities is "listening skills." A big part of what customer support representatives 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 support representative duties can be seen in an example from a customer support representative resume snippet: "entered data accurately and effectively into baan computer systems communicated with credit departments to resolve customer credit issues"
Patience. While "patience" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to customer support representative responsibilities. Much of what a customer support representative 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 representatives: "maintained patience, displayed courtesy and strong interpersonal skils with all customer interactions. "
The three companies that hire the most customer support representatives are:
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Compare different customer support representatives
Customer support representative vs. Customer service specialist
Customer service specialists are employees who are responsible for providing the best customer experience to customers, usually for after-sales transactions. They attend to customers' inquiries and provide answers to their questions on products or services that the company offers. They also address customer complaints and help mitigate the concerns by offering solutions such as instructions on how to fix defects, or processing replacements or refunds. Customer service specialists also listen to customer feedback and ensure that these are logged properly so that proper departments will be able to receive them.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, customer support representative responsibilities require skills like "technical support," "work ethic," "inbound phone calls," and "crm." Meanwhile a typical customer service specialist has skills in areas such as "customer service," "cleanliness," "front end," and "cash management." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Customer service specialists tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $34,860. In contrast, customer support representatives make the biggest average salary, $38,928, in the finance industry.customer service specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than customer support representatives. In fact, customer service specialists are 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Customer support representative vs. Customer advisor
A customer advisor is responsible for assisting customers with their inquiries and concerns regarding the company's goods and services. Customer advisors also coordinate with the sales and marketing team to sell services by reaching out to potential and existing clients to increase revenue resources and profits. Customer advisors document reports, resolve complaints, and process orders and payments. A customer advisor must have excellent organizational and communication skills to ensure the highest customer satisfaction and achieve the business' long-term goals and objectives.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that customer support representative responsibilities requires skills like "technical support," "data entry," "inbound phone calls," and "strong problem-solving." But a customer advisor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "excellent interpersonal," "persuasion," "multitasking," and "customer service."
On average, customer advisors earn a lower salary than customer support representatives. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, customer advisors earn the most pay in the media industry with an average salary of $34,880. Whereas customer support representatives have higher pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $38,928.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Customer advisors tend to reach similar levels of education than customer support representatives. In fact, they're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Customer support representative 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.
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 support representative resumes include skills like "technical support," "windows," "data entry," and "work ethic," whereas a customer associate is more likely to list skills in "sales floor," "customer service," "phone calls," and "stock merchandise. "
Customer associates make a very good living in the telecommunication industry with an average annual salary of $33,698. On the other hand, customer support representatives are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $38,928.When it comes to education, customer associates tend to earn similar degree levels compared to customer support representatives. In fact, they're 1.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Customer support 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.
Types of customer support representative
Updated January 8, 2025
