What does a service lead do?
A service lead is an individual who manages a team of customer service staff members to support a company's customer service activities. Service leads help staff members respond directly to customers who need assistance through phone calls or emails and provide a quick resolution to the issues and concerns. In case a team member is unable to resolve customer issues, service leads are required to identify a solution to the customer query or direct them to another department. Service leads must also conduct periodic evaluations of team members to discuss performance and note their improvement areas.
Service lead responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real service lead resumes:
- Manage services and supports for intellectually and developmentally disable individuals, within compliance with all Medicaid and I/DD waiver regulations.
- Deliver world-class customer service to patients and physicians while resolving issues regarding delivery and administration of specialty medications.
- Deploy Citrix technology from scratch.
- Provide monthly RSA VPN user reports.
- Assist PBX with answering guest calls and meeting their needs.
- Ensure all PC's receive OS patches and up-to-date antivirus software.
- Operate PBX phone system to ensure flow of information within all departments.
- Tutor and mentore students from grades kindergarten to twelfth in English and math.
- Use PMS computer system to do check-ins, check-outs, posting and auditing.
- Operate the drive-thru window (s) and sales register quickly and efficiently.
- Design and execute geotechnical field explorations to aid in the design and construction of building foundations.
- Recognize and promote VIP status and benefits including room requests, newspaper delivery, and VIP check-in.
- Handle most VIP relate details; room allocation, meet & greet, post stay satisfaction follow-up.
- Support all OS versions of Microsoft/Mac, mobile device management, various line of business applications and general desktop support.
- Supervise closing shifts to ensure cleanliness and organization.
Service lead skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Service Leads are proficient in Food Service, Food Safety, and Exceptional Client. They’re also known for soft skills such as Computer skills, Customer-service skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Service Leads that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Food Service, 14%
Executed marketing initiatives for residential dining facility, while performing day to day food service operating tasks to assist supervisors.
- Food Safety, 9%
Observed food safety and sanitation procedures.
- Exceptional Client, 6%
Ensured exceptional client service and quality product offerings.
- Client Service, 6%
Provide Client Services agent feedback of plus/delta opportunities to recorded call record to ensure policy and accreditation standards are maintained.
- Customer Complaints, 6%
Guaranteed positive customer experiences, ensuring that service standards and resolved all customer complaints.
- Business Development, 4%
Supported company goals by traveling to client headquarters and developing trusting relationships between business development and client management.
Most service leads use their skills in "food service," "food safety," and "exceptional client" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential service lead responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. Another essential skill to perform service lead duties is customer-service skills. Service leads responsibilities require that "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." Service leads also use customer-service skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "delegated tasks to coworkers when necessary and ensured quality guest service from all coworkers by supervising tasks performed by coworkers. "
Interpersonal skills. service leads are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to service lead responsibilities, because "representatives should be able to create positive interactions with customers." A service lead resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "developed excellent interpersonal communication skills. "
Listening skills. For certain service lead responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "listening skills." The day-to-day duties of a service lead rely on this skill, as "representatives must listen carefully to ensure that they understand customers in order to assist them." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what service leads do: "listened to and resolved customer complaints regarding services or personnel. "
Patience. A commonly-found skill in service lead job descriptions, "patience" is essential to what service leads do. Service lead responsibilities rely on this skill because "representatives should be patient and polite, especially when interacting with dissatisfied customers." You can also see how service lead duties rely on patience in this resume example: "handled customer problems with patience and sensitivity. "
Communication skills. Another skill commonly found on service lead job descriptions is "communication skills." It can come up quite often in service lead duties, since "customer service representatives must be able to provide clear information in writing, by phone, or in person." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day service lead responsibilities: "demonstrated excellent cash handling, customer service, computer, and communication skills. "
The three companies that hire the most service leads are:
- Kwik Trip499 service leads jobs
- CDM Smith419 service leads jobs
- Deloitte375 service leads jobs
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Compare different service leads
Service lead vs. Assistant customer service manager
An assistant customer service manager is in charge of performing support tasks for managers, helping customer service operations run smoothly and efficiently. Among their responsibilities include assisting managers in supervising customer service teams, managing schedules and objectives, coordinating staff, and addressing issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. There are also instances when they must communicate with customers to identify and meet their needs. Moreover, as an assistant manager, it is essential to monitor the workflow and progress of the workforce, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between service leads and assistant customer service manager. For instance, service lead responsibilities require skills such as "food service," "food safety," "exceptional client," and "client service." Whereas a assistant customer service manager is skilled in "store operations," "customer support," "bill pay," and "loss prevention." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Assistant customer service managers tend to reach similar levels of education than service leads. In fact, assistant customer service managers are 4.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Service lead vs. Lead customer service representative
A lead customer service representative is responsible for managing a group of customer service staff to assist in daily operations and help with customer issues. Lead customer service representatives manage high-level customer complaints and provide immediate resolution and disputes. They implement strategies to ensure customer satisfaction, increase productivity, and achieve profitability goals. A lead customer service representative handles escalation and evaluates team member's performance. A lead customer service representative must have excellent communication and leadership skills to supervise the team and support the business' improvement plans.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that service lead responsibilities requires skills like "food service," "food safety," "exceptional client," and "client service." But a lead customer service representative might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "shift supervision," "gas pumps," "customer care," and "house training."
In general, lead customer service representatives achieve lower levels of education than service leads. They're 5.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Service lead vs. Customer service senior associate
A customer service senior associate provides support and assistance to clients through calls, correspondence, or face-to-face interactions. They are responsible for responding to inquiries, discussing product or service specifications, helping them understand procedures, providing step-by-step instructions, or referring other services when necessary. They also maintain logs of all transactions and report to managers regularly. Additionally, as a customer service senior associate, it is essential to empower and serve as a mentor to junior associates in reaching team objectives while promoting company policies and standards.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, service leads are more likely to have skills like "food service," "food safety," "exceptional client," and "client service." But a customer service senior associate is more likely to have skills like "data entry," "customer service associates," "customer calls," and "financial transactions."
Customer service senior associates typically earn similar educational levels compared to service leads. Specifically, they're 3.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Service lead vs. Customer service supervisor
A customer service supervisor is responsible for directing the staff in providing the best services to the customers. Customer service supervisors' duties include evaluating the performance of the service staff, implementing strategic procedures to improve operations, developing promotional offers and products to increase the business' revenues, keeping documents of operation records, and assisting with customer's inquiries and complaints. A customer service supervisor must have exceptional leadership and decision-making skills to lead the service staff with daily operations.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between service leads and customer service supervisors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a service lead might have more use for skills like "food service," "food safety," "exceptional client," and "client service." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of customer service supervisors require skills like "customer care," "customer support," "payroll," and "corrective action. "
Customer service supervisors reach similar levels of education compared to service leads, in general. The difference is that they're 4.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of service lead
Updated January 8, 2025
