Reasons Why Starting Your Career in Customer Service Is a Good Idea
Job possibilities where you want to live might be competitive—and scarce—whether you know exactly what you want to be when you grow up or have no notion. However, you might be able to get work in customer service, which is a booming field in the United States.
You may have preconceived beliefs about customer service based on your own experiences as a customer, leading you to believe the position isn’t right for you. But I’m here to tell you that it can be an excellent beginning step toward a rewarding career in practically any business function you’re interested in.
Your Emotional Intelligence will improve.
It’s a certainty that working in a customer-facing position will help you build people skills. While working on the phone all day can have some drawbacks, the abilities and methods you’ll learn will far surpass those drawbacks.
You’ll be assisting customers with a variety of issues that could have a significant impact on their personal or professional lives, so your ability to sympathise and create relationships with them will be crucial. When dealing with difficult consumers or hostile language, you’ll need to use your self-control to calmly and efficiently de-escalate the situation so you can better assist the customer. You’ll use your sense of motivation and self-awareness to keep yourself on track and upbeat so you can buckle down and get things done on those rough days when you don’t feel like making another phone call (we all have them).
These soft talents, rather than cognitive competence, have been related to professional performance in studies, particularly when it comes to management. Starting your career in customer service puts you on the path to developing and honing these abilities for the rest of your working life. (They’re also useful for effective communication and collaboration in interpersonal relationships.)
You’ll know a product from top to bottom.
To be effective in customer service, you must be familiar with (nearly) every facet of your product or service so that you can rapidly answer inquiries and address issues for your clients.
Learning about your product or service can help you become a subject matter expert, which can lead to a variety of opportunities as your career progresses (in or outside of customer support).
For example, you can specialise in training and onboarding new members of your team and take on a leadership role by practise educating your clients how to utilise your product or service. If you prefer writing, you might be able to supplement one-time customer support contacts by producing blog posts. Alternatively, you might use your creative side to develop product walkthrough films to assist your consumers while also increasing your internet visibility.
Whatever path you choose, having a deep understanding of a product or service will help you become an expert—on your team, inside your business, and in your industry.
You’ll Gain Transferable Knowledge
Building subject matter expertise will not only help you advance within your customer service team, but it will also teach you essential skills that you may utilise to land a new job if you want to go even further.
In the Business of Selling
Working with customers will teach you how to use your company’s product or service to help customers reach their objectives, and you’ll be able to apply this knowledge and experience if you decide to go into sales.
Prospects may be more interested in concluding a transaction with you if you can tell them how your product or service has helped other customers over the phone.
When it comes to marketing, product expertise is also extremely valuable. In-depth product knowledge and strong communication skills could help you obtain a career on a marketing team, whether you want to write for the blog, perform product and market research, or handle social media support channels.
In the Workplace
You might be able to make it yourself if you know the product inside and out. You might be able to use your depth of knowledge to migrate away from the phones and help build the product you’re servicing if you have some product development chops—whether that means software engineering, outreach, or vendor management.
Your company will have a network of people.
You may not always have the solution to a customer’s query if you work in customer service. You may need to provide feedback to key stakeholders, or you may have new information to present that will impact how your company’s leadership views your ideal customer persona.
To do any of the above, you’ll need to tap into the wisdom of others around you. Not only will you be able to get your job done quickly and effectively if you can form a network of coworkers with different skill sets and knowledge than you, but you’ll also be able to create a network of new opportunities for growth and professional development.
You’ll learn how to solve problems effectively.
Customer service is all about reacting to your customers’ needs and fixing their difficulties. Every client problem on your plate will demand creative thinking, people skills, and knowledge to address, whether it’s a quick fix or a multi-step procedure.
Any work, whether in customer service or not, requires the ability to solve problems quickly, effectively, and diplomatically. It’s the foundation for being able to prioritise, manage projects, and handle disagreements, all of which are necessary if you want to advance in your career, lead a team, and use your influence and experience to achieve your objectives.
Whether you want to work in customer service for a long time or just want to get your foot in the door at a cutting-edge organisation, a position in customer service can teach you vital skills that you’ll need again and again throughout your career.
