Customer Service
If you like the idea of a customer-facing role, keeping customers happy and helping them with their enquiries, then you should consider a career in customer service. Most businesses employ customer service professionals as a first point of contact for consumers and other companies so there?s a wide selection of employers to choose from.
If you love fashion and enjoy advising people on their style, then why not consider a position as a retail manager for a leading label or brand. Equally, if you?re passionate about travel, perhaps a career as a travel advisor or holiday rep would suit you.
As the face of an organisation, customer service professionals are vital to driving and retaining business by ensuring consumers have a positive experience. Often, there is also an element of sales to the work, with employees expected to recommend products and encourage customers to spend more money. So it helps if you have strong powers of persuasion, as well as diplomacy and tact when responding to difficult enquiries or complaints.
Customer service can be a nine-to-five job but many of the larger companies employ staff to provide customer service virtually around the clock, so shift work is common in this sector. Part-time work is often available.
The average wage for a customer service executive is £19,772 per year, while customer service managers earn an average salary of £33,000. Senior managers can earn up to £60,000 in larger organisations.
Although a degree is not necessary to work in customer service, companies often recruit graduates from any discipline to train for senior managerial positions, and graduates can expect rapid career progression. A degree in business, management or marketing or a subject related to the organisation?s industry may put you at an advantage.
As the primary function of the role is communicating with customers, top-notch communication and interpersonal skills are a must for working in customer service. Good leadership and team-working skills are important if you are a graduate entering a managerial role. The ability to remain calm and polite under pressure is also important as you may have to deal with some difficult queries. Strong organisation, IT and administration skills are vital for an office-based customer service role, but if you are based in a shop or other public area then you will be expected to be personable, polite and well presented at all times.
