Customer service teams are vital to the survival of businesses across the world, both large and small. It is easier to retain happy customers than to have a constant stream of new ones coming in, and old ones leaving. For this reason, therefore, most businesses employ a customer service team, which is expected to keep customers happy with the product or service they are paying for, by responding to any problems quickly and effectively. This article will explain how people working within customer service can develop and progress in their careers.
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Day to day responsibilities
The customer service team needs to work together to provide a consistent level of quality service. Customer service advisors work to answer calls and communications, aiming to resolve problems, and provide solutions to any issues customers are experiencing.
They do this under guidance from customer service managers, and line managers, who dictate the overall strategy, and help by calling customers with complex problems or complaints that are escalated.
Customer service teams may also be required to sell products and services through outbound calls, or by encouraging existing customers to sign up to new or extended services that the company is offering.
Customer service salaries
The salaries for customer service roles start at a relatively low level, before rising sharply, as the positions progress in seniority.
Average customer service advisor salaries can range from around £16,000 to £19,000 per year, and increase as an individual gains experience or begins to specialise.
Moving up the pay scale, both account managers and team leaders can expect to earn an average salary of around £25,000. A customer service executive will earn an average of £33,635, while those who manage to reach the top, and become a call centre manager, for instance, can achieve a salary of approximately £40,000.
The location of the job can make a huge difference to the salary that those in customer service roles can expect. As an example, customer service managers in London earn £37,500 on average, while those in the North West of England will earn around £29,000 per year.
Starting roles to potential growth
The average salary earned in entry-level customer service jobs may not look particularly impressive, but it is worth remembering that customer service advisor roles give individuals a platform to develop their skills and shine.
Those who excel can quickly climb to more specialised, better paid, positions. They can progress into line manager roles, before rising to higher-paid positions such as customer service team managers.
Taking time to consider career development, and invest in training, is wise as it allows customer service agents to stay ahead of the game and focus on building up their own speciality. If a customer service agent has an encyclopaedic knowledge of finance products, for example, they are going to find it easier to command a higher salary in the finance sector, than would someone with a more general spread of knowledge. For this reason, using a recruitment company to find a role in an area that is of interest to the individual is highly recommended.
