Customer service advisers

[CherryDocsInYrBalls]

Hi, I've never worked in customer service, but I've applied for an inbound role. Are there any advisers on here who can tell me what to expect? What's a typical day? I feel like I don't really know anything about it other than the corporate jargon on the job description. Help!

Hello! Depends on the industry I suppose but i would say:
Proof of delivery requests
Order chasers
Invoice queries
Replacement requests

You'll need to master actually listening and understanding. If you have to deal with upset customers, listening is the most important thing you can do. I find letting them blow off steam and get their speech out without interruption is key, make sure they know you're listening but don't interrupt, it's makes it more frustrating for the customer.

I worked in customer service for years and been the angry customer as well.

You'll probably be taught this but if someone is overly rude or abusive on the phone, warn them to stop but if they don't you are allowed to terminate the call if you tell them why and give one more chance to stop.

Treat every customer how you'd want to be treated and not like it's the 20th call asking the same thing that day.

Thank you both. I'm very much middle aged and I'm wondering if I will find it either too boring and repetitive or too difficult to pick up, or the pace will be too busy.

What sort of inbound centre is it?

They'll mostly want to know if you have the right transferable skills - active listening, questioning techniques, data input, multi-tasking, etc.

Fwiw I went from 15yrs + in an office job (so a bit of phone works but not much) to an inbound call centre. I loved it but I worked somewhere where the targets weren't about how many calls/getting calls wrapped up quickly.

I've found the pace to be quite busy.
I'm no longer a customer service advisor but was for several years and it is a tough job at times.
You have to be pretty resilient and understand that angry or upset customers are not angry at You specifically but just at the situation.
I'd want to know what training you'll receive, how long you are going to shadow a colleague and once your in the role who will be present and available to answer questions or to escalate things too.
Have worked in situations where there was little support / assistance from managers and it was shit, no one to ask for help yet get something wrong and it's all on you.

I worked in a call centre for 8 long years...

It started off OK and we were legit customer service advisers. That was alright unless you got the old lady who called every evening because you knew you'd be stuck on a call with her for an hour and it would mess up your stats.

As time went on they set more and more targets and expected us to sell more and more. I'm not a natural sales person and some of what they expected us to do didn't seem ethical. (Apparently that wasn't my call).

It really depends on the actual expectations of the job. Without targets it can be quite enjoyable if you are really helping people.

It's financial products. Thanks I've got some questions to ask and don't feel I'm going in completely blind. Job satisfaction is really important, I want to enjoy work but earn enough too. I'd be taking a paycut but for the right job it's worth it. If it's really stressful I won't enjoy it

I've been working in a contact centre for a few years. Recently they moved me from taking inbound calls and onto answering customer emails. I have to say I was VERY ready for the change!

The job is not for everyone. It can indeed be busy, fast-paced and yet sometimes boring. There is a lot of micro-management and not as much variety as a normal admin role. If you're busy taking calls all day there might not be much time to chat with colleagues. A lot of people don't make it past probation where I work (usually their own choice to leave but sometimes they get pushed out) so you might find that if you start with a group, only some of you will still be there in a few months.

Dealing with customers on the end of the line, day after day, can certainly be tough at times. Then again, it can be rewarding when you feel you've helped someone.

There are bad days when it seems all the customers are out to get you, and good days when everyone is lovely. You just can't let the bad days affect you too much.

Take the feedback you get from the call monitors with a grain of salt. Some of it is useful feedback which will help you improve, at other times they are nit-picking to justify their own existence.

Usually there is lots of overtime and different shift patterns available, if that's a consideration.

@CherryDocsInYrBalls I have worked in finance for 22 years, also in customer services. If you want some help with prep feel free to pm me.

Thank you all for sharing your wisdom. I like the idea of movement in the roles especially if the calls are relentless. Thanks @alwayswrighty I know nothing of financial products, so your offer is much appreciated

@CherryDocsInYrBalls anytime

They will probably want to know about how you handle difficult situations, prioritise workloads, that you can ask the right questions to get the right result, going above and beyond for a customer. I work in a call centre and after 5 long years I'm finally moving departments to an admin based role so no longer on the phones. I think who the company is makes a big difference. My company is ok but I'd rather guage my eyes out than work on the phones for HMRC tax credit hotlines. Same with places like EE that have ridiculous call wrap up expectations.

To be honest I wish I'd never started in a contact centre role and tried harder to find something admin based because I've felt stuck there most of the 5 years, although it has taught me to always be nice to the person on the other end of the phone!

Also just to add, those days where the calls are non-stop, every other customer starts the call by complaining how long they have waited and you end up working well past closing time just to get all the calls in the queue really are draining and make you hate your life.

Can you tell I've had one of those days? Thanks Bank of England base rate change

I worked in call centres for years and it was a great stepping stone for me.

What to expect:

• KPI driven, you will have targets around things like call length and how much off call time you use in a code when you are not available to answer other calls.
• it is quite a rigid environment in terms of things like breaks and lunches. Staffing is worked out and forecasted down to the individual minutes, they will have data and forecasts that show how many calls they expect to receive in at every point of the day and will have worked out how many people need to be on shift, how many can be on break etc to meet that demand. Usually there are contractual requirements to answer calls within a certain period (80% calls within 20 seconds of customer selecting an option on the phone line), so if the business doesn't meet that it affects reputation, complaint volumes, increases call volumes as people put the phone down and re-dial and can even lead to fines from their customers if they are an outsourced call centre.
• soft skills are important, you need to be able to build rapport quickly, adapt your approach to the caller (ie if you have someone on the phone who is vocally very angry you need to be able to deescalate, if you have someone who is timid or unsure then you need to be able to get them to tell you the reason for the call and what they need)
• generally there's a structure that you will be trained on, it is usually something like: Give greeting, How can I help? Listen. Repeat back what has been said and obtain confirmation that you've understood. Offer help. Gain acceptance that you have solved the query in full. Ask if there is anything else you can help with. Thank them for calling.

I love the environment, fast paced, people are usually a good mix and there was always someone to have a good laugh with. I liked the variety of dealing with different people, the need to keep my knowledge up to date on the products/services I was supporting in order to offer a good level of customer service.

I went from telemarketing at 17 to team manager by 22.
Then moved into training/quality team leadership roles
Was managing the call centre by 30.

I’m working in it atm and il be perfectly honest I hate it.
I have to work bank holidays/weekends and I find it mentally draining, some of the customers are elderly and it really messes with my morals. Im finding getting yelled up because of price increases and there being nothing I can do and having to take a call 10seconds after really difficult. I think you have to be a quite sales hungry person to be able to do this job and I’m just too sensitive.