How to become a customer service specialist

One part product specialist, one part problem solver, two parts great communicator and a spoonful of positive attitude. It might sound like a simple recipe, but the end result can help your brand go from good to great in the space of just one conversation. That’s the power of having an excellent customer service specialist on the team, working to bring brands and people closer together. 

So how does someone become one of these CX superstars? We’ve got the recipe right here, so read on. 

What is a customer service specialist?

A customer service specialist is a professional who provides assistance to customers with their inquiries, complaints and issues. They help with understanding products or services, solving problems and answering questions. Customer service specialists may also handle order fulfillment, provide technical support and enter data into the organization’s database. In some cases, they may even be trained in sales and marketing to help customers make purchases. 

What kind of responsibilities does a customer service specialist have?

Aside from being responsible for providing customer support and services, they must be familiar with support protocols and CRM software in order to handle inquiries accurately and efficiently. This can range from administrative tasks such as entering data or responding to simple questions, all the way to complex processes,, gathering feedback, and offering technical support. Additionally, customer service specialists are responsible for upselling products or services and helping build loyalty by creating lasting relationships with clients. That makes them a hugely important part of the brand, as they become the voice of the business and can provide essential insight into how to best acquire and retain customers.

Specialists typically work in an office or call center environment, and may be responsible for dealing with customers over the phone and via email. With the increase in omnichannel offerings from brands, these kinds of specialists may have to be well-versed in providing support in a variety of channels, from phone to chat to email to a combination of all. 

What kind of skills do you need?

A customer service specialist needs a variety of customer service, sales, technical and communication skills in order to be successful. These include some of the following:

• Ability to communicate clearly. They must be able to explain products or services to customers in language that can be easily understood, without the need to use too much jargon or complex terminology.
• Excellent problem-solving skills. Good specialists have excellent problem-solving skills and are able to troubleshoot on the spot, taking into consideration a vast amount of possible scenarios and solutions to a customer issue. 
• Expert-level knowledge. CX specialists must also have strong knowledge of customer service protocols, be familiar with customer relationship management software, and most importantly, know the products or services they are supporting like the back of their hand. 
• Capacity to deal with stress. The ability to remain calm under pressure despite many incoming calls or complex inquiries is vital for a customer service specialist. They have to stay calm and organized in order to handle customer inquiries efficiently.
• Strong empathy and interpersonal skills. Talking to frustrated customers and trying to help them resolve their issues is the bread and butter of a specialist’s job. They have to be able to empathize with callers and offer them both solutions and reassurance.

If an agent has additional experience in sales or marketing, they may be more competitive for various jobs. The ability to effectively cross- or up-sell can prove very lucrative, just like extensive expertise in specific industries which make a specialist indispensable and highly valued as an employee. 

What industries do CX specialists work in?

You’re in luck - almost every industry needs CX heroes! From working on the desk in a retail store, to being a car salesman, almost every industry requires some aspect of customer relationship management. Any industry that has consumers (which is pretty much all of them) will require people to provide support to those customers and help them with a variety of issues. Some examples of the most common industries CX specialists might work in can be found below.

Whilst many of these businesses may have their own internal customer support frameworks, often companies will outsource their operations to an external provider, for example a BPO like Transcom. Within a BPO, you’ll find teams of specialists working to support various clients from different industries, and you may even see migration of employees across different projects.

What can a great specialist do for a brand?

Like we said in the introduction, an excellent specialist can take a brand from good to great. Even brilliant. As the voice of the brand, the first point of contact for a customer, they have arguably the most impact on how a business is perceived and how happy a customer is with their selected services and/or products. 

Problem-solving skills for retention.

By providing customer-focused solutions with strong problem solving skills, and the ability to remain calm under pressure, customer service specialists are able to create lasting relationships that will help build customer loyalty. This kind of retention is invaluable as companies aim to increase their average customer lifetime value and beat the competition.

Upselling.

But it’s not just about retaining customers, it’s also the benefit of upselling products and services. CX specialists can help increase customer spend while creating a positive experience for them. By getting close to their callers, they can provide valuable feedback on trends, needs, and preferences that can be used to improve support standards. Excellent training is crucial to improving upselling skills, which is why companies such as Transcom invest a lot of resources to improving agent skills.

Interaction and retention.

Ultimately, support agents are an integral part of interaction and retention. With their customer service, technical, communication and sales skills, they can help ensure satisfaction and loyalty, while increasing customer spend. They are the true, behind-the-scenes heroes of any brand.