Customer service is one of those things that every business needs. Whether it is a start-up or a multinational company, there has to be someone who can help customers find a solution to their problems. This is essential not only for the user experience but also for the growth and development of the company.
In terms of employment, this can be a lucrative career path to pursue. It is not very hard to get into but it can lead to some amazing places in terms of your professional career. Here is why customer service should be on your list of career opportunities.
1. Personal Development
As a customer support specialist, through calls or texts, you will be helping customers resolve any issues they might be facing. This requires a lot of patience, knowledge, empathy, and many other interpersonal skills to do. The most successful customer support specialists are not those who resolve the most number of queries but are those who have the highest success rate. In this role, you will develop a range of personal attributes that will help you in your professional and personal life.
2. Achievement
There is something extremely exciting and satisfying about accomplishing goals. Whether that is waking up at a certain time every morning or completing a four-year degree. In customer support, each call you take and every client you talk to leads to an accomplishment. There is a defined problem and there is a defined way to resolve it. This goal-oriented nature makes this job extremely rewarding no matter the industry you’re in.
3. Flexible Work
Customer support is something that was traditionally done in the office but today it is mostly done remotely. All you need is a decent computer and a good internet connection and you can work in customer service from anywhere in the world. According to information found on https://prepmycareer.com/give-an-example-of-a-time-you-provided-great-customer-service/, this is one of the things that you should highlight in your proposal whenever you are applying for a new job. Showing the employer that you are able to cater to customer problems even if you are out of the physical office shows them that you are able to go above and beyond and take care of customers.
4. Knowledge
No matter how big or small the project, there is a lot to learn in customer support. You will learn a lot about your own product/service offering and you will learn about what the customer goes through post-purchase. In fact, customer support professionals can play a critical role in product development or product optimization. You will also learn about the main problems that customers face and you will learn the most effective ways of solving those issues. Over time, you will be well versed in all the potential problems that a customer can face and you will be in a position to help them in the most efficient manner.
5. Transferable Skills
Besides problem-solving, you will also be learning a wide range of other skills as a customer support professional. These include marketing skills, product development knowledge, and marketing skills. These are skills that you can not only apply to your own job but they are vital personal skills that will help you out in other jobs and even in your personal life.
Just because you are in customer support today doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of your life doing customer support. The things you will learn in this department will play a role in how effectively you are able to carry out your tasks in other departments and at more senior levels of management.
6. Communication
One of the most important things you will learn in customer support, and one of the reasons why everyone should spend at least a bit of time in this role is communication. Since you are interacting with so many different people on a daily basis, you quickly learn the fundamentals of good communication and you understand how to listen and speak effectively. In most cases, you are relying purely on sound or text and you have no visual input so your ability to communicate through voice or text improves drastically.
The pay is not bad either. Customer support specialists can earn decent hourly pay. Even when you are just starting out the salary is quite competitive. However, to make good money in this field you need to polish your skills and move to bigger projects. You can also start taking on projects of your own, build your team, and provide these services independently. Otherwise, you can enhance your customer support skills and move up the chain of command within that department.
