Customer Service Advisor Job Description Tasks and Skills

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A recent Microsoft study found that 96% of customers believe customer service is important in shaping their loyalty to a brand. And, really, this should come as no surprise.

Customer service representatives are often the first point of contact for customers, which makes service agents, in many ways, the face of the brand. Their role in a company or organization is essential to shaping customer experience and customer satisfaction, and the importance of their roles shouldn’t be understated.

So how do companies ensure they are selecting the right customer service advisors to fill such an important role? It starts with the service advisor job description.

Most of these descriptions will typically ask for things like problem solving abilities, listening and communication skills, personability, and so on.  However, in order to create a comprehensive job description that reflects the importance  and range of the task, you’re going to need more than just soft skills.

Below are some keywords to focus on in a customer service advisor job description and how to unpack their significance.

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Typical customer service advisor tasks:

Handle customer enquiries, answering any questions and queries in person, over the phone, or online

Regardless of the setting you’re working in, being able to handle customer enquiries through phone calls, chat boxes, or even in person is paramount to the job. This is one of the most essential tasks of customer service agents, and your service advisors are no exception to this rule

What this means, however, is that your service advisors, even more so than your representatives, need to be knowledgeable of the company products and services. Next, we’ll get into product and service support.

Provide support and comprehensive product / service information to customers

Customer service advisors need to be knowledgeable, informed, and well-versed in a company’s products, services, and vision.

And more than that, they need to be aware of any changes in the company or updates in those products or services, which means they need to be constantly learning and growing alongside the company.

When it comes to customer interactions, this means your service advisors need strong short-term memory and memorization skills, and a competent and state-of-the-art customer service solution is a great tool in providing the necessary information to those advisors.

Build relationships with customers

Deloitte found that customers are likely to spend more than double of an intended purchase after sharing a positive experience with a customer service representative.

Building rapport with customers and establishing a personal, human connection is perhaps the most important aspect of customer service. This should be one of the first things stated in every service advisor job description, and the importance of underscoring customer loyalty by building relationships should never be overlooked.

Assist customers in making purchasing decisions

Again, this goes back to having knowledge of goods and services, but it combines that knowledge with seamless soft skills that help lead to purchases.

Customer service advisors should be careful to not to offer advice on certain sensitive topics, like size or fit, but knowing a fair amount about each product will always put advisors in a position to help customers find the best products for them.

This has as much to do with product and service knowledge as it does enthusiasm–enthusiastic customer service advisors lead to enthusiastic customers, and this all starts with making human connections that allow customers to feel understood.

Look for cross-selling opportunities to increase individual purchase value and overall sales

In today’s competitive customer service market, advisors need to be ready to put on their sales hats when needed. This means upselling and cross-selling need to be a part of the customer service strategy and something all of your service advisors are well-versed in.

This starts with making a human connection with customers and relying on rapport to help carry the sale and purchase. It’s also important, however, to emphasize the importance of sales experience in your service advisor job description.

Identify opportunities to enhance customer experience and turn dissatisfied customers into happy customers

So far we’ve covered problem solving with product or service issues, sales skills, and building rapport. But what about working with dissatisfied customers?

Customer service advisor job descriptions should include that advisors will often be working in tense situations with customers who might be dissatisfied with a service or product. This requires advisors and representatives to be flexible, adaptable, understanding, and effective in high-pressure situations.

Advisors need to go above and beyond with these customers to build empathy, trust, and understanding, ultimately improving their relationship and solidifying customer retention.

Computer Skills

Like most positions in the 21st century, customer service advisors will be expected to have experience on a computer. This means not just familiarity with basic software–Word, Excel, Google Drive, operating systems, collaboration tools, etc.–but the ability to learn new solutions.

Customer service solutions that help center people at the customer service experience are becoming more and more prevalent, and your advisor needs to be able to quickly learn how to use these tools if they’re going to succeed in today’s market.

Along with technological deftness, they’re going to be expected to multi-task and utilize several components of their service solutions and technologies.

If you’re looking to hire a customer service advisor, then you’re going to need a comprehensive service advisor job description that does more than ask for soft-skills and communication skills.

This article went over some of the most important things and keywords to include in your service advisor job description, and if you include these key points in your description, you’ll be well on your way to landing an excellent service advisor.

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