There is indirect customer service, where the customer calls a help center and speaks to a customer service representative, and then there is the direct customer service, which is face to face with a customer.
Direct customer service is an important aspect of a company’s customer relations and it is something that takes a certain type of individual to do.
When you are on the phone with a customer, and they begin to berate you and use rude language with you, you are fully within your right to hang up on them and demand that they call when they have cooled down.
However, when you are face to face with a customer, it is a bit hard to turn your back on them and not respond. If anything this will cause them to become more irate and irritable, which in turn will result in an escalating confrontation between you, the customer service representative, and the irate customer.
As a result, make sure you are ready for confrontation when dealing with irate customers, and do not back down. Try to understand things from their point of view because often, they just want someone to understand where they are coming from, which makes all the difference.
For a company that uses direct customer service for many of its products, a customer service representative who can diffuse a stressful situation and calm an irate customer down so that they are willing to listen and work to resolve the problem, they are worth their weight in gold.
Of course, talking like this, there seems to be no advantages to being a direct customer service representative.
In fact, there are many advantages that one should be aware of. First of all, you will usually get higher pay because your job requires more interpersonal skill than if you worked in a help desk center as a customer service representative. As well, you can expect to have a lower turnover in your profession, as well as a better chance of upward mobility if you are skilled at your job.
That is not to say that customer service representatives who use indirect customer service are not paid well, have a chance at advancement or deal with high turnover, but generally you can expect some better advantages as a direct customer service representative.
Choosing to be a direct customer service representative also helps you develop important skills that can be used later in your career. If you are able to diffuse tense situations, and even convince a once irate customer to buy some more product, then you have a future in sales. Learning how to talk to people and make them happy with turn you from a direct customer service representative into someone who is able to sell anything to anyone.
If you think that a career in direct customer service will appeal to you, then take the plunge and look at companies in your area who are going to be looking for someone to man the help desk that customers come to when they have a problem, and be ready for a wild ride of a career!
