What does a service agent do?
A service agent is an individual whose primary function is to provide a friendly service to internal and external customers about the organization's products and services. An agent should be people-oriented, highly motivated with a positive and friendly attitude. Although an agent usually works in a call center, an agent can communicate in various ways, such as the telephone or often face to face. The minimum educational requirement of being a service agent is a high school diploma; however, the customer service experience is a plus.
Service agent responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real service agent resumes:
- Educate veterans and the college community on veteran's benefits and academic requirements need to accomplish academic goals.
- Work with technical support or various production departments as needed to effectively troubleshoot, analyze and resolve software issues.
- Answer billing inquiries, collect payments, sell products and troubleshoot customer's cable, high speed internet and phone issues.
- Inspect passenger identification and travel documents and process passenger baggage while following FAA and SCA guidelines.
- Maintain highly sensitive patient records following HIPAA compliance; utilize appropriate medical terminology of the specific environment.
- Enforce safety/security measures to protect sensitive zones, ensure FAA, ADA company and airport regulations/policies/procedures are follow.
- Collect and enters insurance and benefit data as well as maintaining customer/patient confidentiality according to HIPAA and company standards.
- Perform a variety of tasks including preparing PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets, drafting e-mails or letters, organizing meeting/business luncheons.
- Demonstrate superb organizational and multitasking abilities
- Utilize several Microsoft programs to and AAA software to keep track of members satisfaction
- Service AAA members with policy changes to meet life-changing events in customer's lives.
- Work in various kinds of weather elements and are responsible for de-icing aircraft which require using equipment to apply chemicals/compounds.
- Initiate and verify ACH files, provide correct routing instructions, and verify payments with branch personnel.
- Communicate and explain current account settlement instructions for sweeps, periodic investments, systematic withdrawal, dividend reinvestment, and ACH.
- Transport equipment such as wheelchairs and stretchers are in proper working condition prior to patient pick up.
Service agent skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Service Agents are proficient in Regular Maintenance, Customer Service, and Credit Card. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Computer skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Service Agents that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Regular Maintenance, 23%
Perform regular maintenance including non-mechanical to ensure proper drive and handling.
- Customer Service, 16%
Communicate with the vendors or costumer and providing superior customer service for deliveries and drop-off locations pertaining to company policy.
- Credit Card, 8%
Upgraded customers from regular to Gold and Platinum credit cards based on customer eligibility and payment history.
- Quality Standards, 8%
Deliver highly positive service experiences consistent with our key performance metrics, quality standards and customer experience program.
- PET, 6%
Worked at promotional events, such as annual pet expo and monthly veterinary educational seminars.
- Car Washes, 4%
Shuttle cars to and from car washes and dealerships for servicing, check fluid levels, and change tires.
Most service agents use their skills in "regular maintenance," "customer service," and "credit card" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential service agent responsibilities here:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a service agent 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." Service agents often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "manage quality communication, customer support and detailed account information for each leader. "
Customer-service skills. This is an important skill for service agents to perform their duties. For an example of how service agent responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a service agent: "develop and cultivating relationships through effective and efficient problem-solving and customer support. ".
Interpersonal skills. For certain service agent responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a service agent 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 service agents do: "used personal judgement and interpersonal skills to alleviate customer problems. "
Listening skills. A commonly-found skill in service agent job descriptions, "listening skills" is essential to what service agents do. Service agent 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 service agent duties rely on listening skills in this resume example: "communicated directly with roadside assistance providers, holding them accountable for their service goals and the expectations of aaa. "
Patience. Lastly, "patience" is an important element of what a service agent does. Service agent responsibilities require this skill because "representatives should be patient and polite, especially when interacting with dissatisfied customers." This resume example highlights how service agent duties rely on this skill: "handled customer issues with patience and sensitivity while ensuring quality of services and complete customer satisfaction. "
The three companies that hire the most service agents are:
- CNO Financial Group232 service agents jobs
- FedEx40 service agents jobs
- DHL32 service agents jobs
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Compare different service agents
Service agent vs. Bilingual customer service
In bilingual customer service, a representative specializes in responding to calls using English or another foreign language that the customer prefers. Among their primary responsibilities include assisting customers and addressing any inquiries, concerns, or issues that they may raise. Aside from this, a representative may also recommend or sell products, process refunds or payments, and conduct surveys or polls. Furthermore, a representative needs to build rapport with customers to secure sales or create a substantial client base.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a service agent are more likely to require skills like "regular maintenance," "credit card," "pet," and "car washes." On the other hand, a job as a bilingual customer service requires skills like "data entry," "strong customer service," "excellent organizational," and "excellent interpersonal." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Bilingual customer services tend to make the most money working in the insurance industry, where they earn an average salary of $33,646. In contrast, service agents make the biggest average salary, $30,711, in the technology industry.The education levels that bilingual customer services earn slightly differ from service agents. In particular, bilingual customer services are 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a service agent. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Service agent 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real service agent resumes. While service agent responsibilities can utilize skills like "regular maintenance," "credit card," "quality standards," and "pet," associate customer service representatives use skills like "patients," "sales floor," "customer orders," and "product knowledge."
Associate customer service representatives earn a higher average salary than service agents. But associate customer service representatives earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $37,473. Additionally, service agents earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $30,711 annually.In general, associate customer service representatives achieve similar levels of education than service agents. They're 0.5% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Service agent vs. Customer service professional
A customer service professional is responsible for providing the highest customer service by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns, resolving complaints, and updating the customers of goods and services for generating revenues and profitability to the company. Customer service professionals process order transactions, administering payment plans and adjusting service features in meeting customers' needs. A customer service professional should be highly communicative, as well as have excellent time-management skills in documenting customers' information on various software tools to maximize productivity and efficiency.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a service agent is likely to be skilled in "regular maintenance," "credit card," "pet," and "car washes," while a typical customer service professional is skilled in "strong computer," "strong customer service," "annuities," and "schedule appointments."
When it comes to education, customer service professionals tend to earn similar degree levels compared to service agents. In fact, they're 1.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Service agent 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.
Types of service agent
Updated January 8, 2025
