Customer Service Representative: Expectations vs Reality 2020
There is no doubt that the modern customer is more demanding than ever especially when it comes to customer services and they will not be afraid to call out companies they feel are not living up to expectations in this regard. This is something the gurus over at RunRex.com are well aware of as they have worked with many businesses out there in their bid to improve their customer services. This is where customer service representatives come in as they help businesses in developing strong relationships with their customers, which is at the heart of any successful business out there, something the subject matter experts over at RunRex.com will definitely agree with. Customer service representatives have a number of responsibilities in the company such as answering customer questions, recommending to customers the additional products and services they should purchase, helping to resolve problems and many others. As with many other professions, the customer service representative field has undergone massive changes in the last couple of years and therefore, there may be a number of expectations that may not necessarily match the reality going into 2020, something this article will look to take a look at.
One of the biggest expectations most people have when it comes to customer service representatives is that most of the work is done over the phone or through e-mail correspondence. However, as explained over at the excellent RunRex.com, the reality is that more and more companies expect in-person communication between their customer service rep and their customers and clients. More companies are looking to offer their customers that personal touch, especially in the retail industry where as a customer service rep you will be required to personally meet up with clients, something you should be prepared for going into 2020 if you are looking to get into this field. Another expectation here is that you don’t necessarily require to have a college degree to become a customer service representative. However, as per the gurus over at RunRex.com, while this may be the case, the reality is that you may have to undergo training. More and more companies run training programs for prospective customer service representatives. This is something that you should expect going into 2020 if you are looking to get into this field.
When it comes to salaries, customer service representatives earn about $16 dollars per hour, something discussed in detail over at RunRex.com. Here, you would expect that the more experience you accumulate as a customer service representative, the more you should be earning. However, the reality of the matter is that experience doesn’t count for much in this field, something we don’t see changing going into 2020. If you look at the average earnings, customer service reps with less than 5 years of experience earn about $28,000 while those with more than 20 years of experience earn about $34,000 which just shows that there is not much in it as far as experience goes. You may expect that as a customer service representative, you will be mostly behind the phone or meeting up with clients as mentioned above, but going into 2020, the reality is that customer service representatives are doing more and more of their work on social media platforms. More and more companies have a presence on social media and as a customer service rep, you are now required to know your way around social media and how to deal with customers over there. You need to know how to connect with clients on these platforms as well as answering any questions raised there. One of the biggest complaints customers and clients have is that companies take very long to respond to their queries on social media something you will have to be on top of as a customer service representative going into 2020.
As per the facts and figures over at RunRex.com, the numbers as far as job growth trends for customer service representatives are concerned are not that bad and as such you would expect that there will be more and more job opportunities as more companies look to employ their own customer service reps. However, the reality going into 2020 is that due to the rapid growth of voice-response and internet-based customer service systems, more and more responsibilities that have been traditionally handled by customer service representatives are now being handled by these tools. More companies are looking to leverage the technology available to them in this field, something to keep an eye out for as we head into 2020. Also, more companies are looking to outsource their customer service functions to call centers and therefore, the key may be to look for employment at a call center if you are looking to become a customer service representative in 2020. The expectation when working as a customer service representative is that you will be working during the traditional working hours, however, the reality is that most customer service reps have to work non-traditional hours, especially those working in call centers which usually stay open during weekends and holidays with some even remaining open for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is something you should expect and prepare yourself for going into 2020.
As usual, there is more on this and other related topics which you can find over at the highly rated RunRex.com.