10 successful traits of a Customer Service Executive “I love talking to people, I think I have good chances of getting this customer service job” said Raj to his friend. Mohan smiled and said Raj –“It is not just about being people’s person but a customer service executive need many more skills to play that role in retail stores”. A customer service executive should also have the ability to handle surprises, a calming presence, ability to “Read” customers, acting Skills, attentiveness etc. along with basic skills and qualities. Do you have all those qualities? Let’s look at some of the 10 critical that will make you perfect for a job in customer service. 1. Superior communication – Communication skills are essential to get a good customer service job. Customer service jobs require you to deal heavily with the public and exchange conversations. Everything relating to the buying and selling should be clearly communicated to the customer, leaving it simple and precise. 2. Self control – You are sure to come across different types of customers, having different demands and wants and who will be difficult to deal with. You must be able to handle both the easy and hard times that comes with serving the public and therefore self -control is a must. 3. Patience – It is important to have patience for those customers that no one really wants to deal with. The more patient you are, the better off you will be when working in customer service. The best customer service reps know that they cannot let a heated customer force them to lose their cool; in fact it is their job to try to be the “rock” for a customer who thinks the world is falling down due to their current problem. 4. The ability to be attentive & relate – Customers want to feel like they can relate to the people they are working with. Whether it is face to face or over the phone, the ability to be relatable is without a doubt an important quality. Not only is it important to pay attention to individual customer interactions (watching the language/terms that they use to describe their problems), but it’s also important to be mindful and attentive to the feedback that you may receive. 5. Caring & willing to help – Customers are also looking for someone who actually cares about them, and not just focus on completing a transaction. You should be willing to help in whatever way needed and make him leave the stores with a smile. 6. Knowledge of the product – It’s not that every single team member is expected to build the product from scratch, but rather they should know the ins and outs of how the product works, what are its features, advantages and benefits to the customer. Without knowing the product from front-to-back, you won’t know how to help customers when they run into problems. 7. Phone skills – A customer sales executive should know how to work on multi-phone lines. He should know how to be courteous, calm, responsive, informative and confident even while handling customers and their queries on the phone.
8. Okay with being managed – Are you okay with not being your own boss? Can you handle taking direction from a superior authority? Are you ok with having a boss to report to? Because customer service jobs are usually managed. 9. Willing to go the extra mile – The customer always comes first and is ALWAYS right. You must be willing to go the extra mile to please each and every customer. Sometime, this can be at the expense of your pride, but you should treat it as a profession. You must be willing to swallow your pride and move on. 10. Time Management Skills – Don’t waste time trying to go above and beyond for a customer in an area where you are not confident and just end up wasting both of your time! You should define a time limit for yourself to serve the customer, else have a go to chain to solve. In the end every great customer service Executive will have those basic acting skills necessary to maintain their usual cheery persona in spite of dealing with people who may be just plain grumpy.