To begin with, anyone who takes on a job position in sales has to enjoy working with people. Successful applicants in this job field usually have a high degree of customer service skills. Many of these skills seem to come naturally but others must come through education and experience.
As we said, many jobs require customer service. What would be the specifics with a sales job position? First, the employees must present themselves well, as, in essence they are representing the companies they work for. Job opportunities are given to candidates who present themselves in a proper manner right from the start, which is the job interview. As an employee in customer service employment the customer must find you friendly. If you are reluctant to greet a client or answer a question then it may very well be you are not ready for customer service jobs. On the other hand, it may be that you are shy or not secure in your position yet. In this case, it may be wise to take some courses, particularly in social skills, if you really enjoy the position you have.
Providing good customer services means presenting yourself as enjoying what you are doing. You don't have to be in love with your job but you have to portray that you are happy being in the employment position you hold. If you can't do that then this constitutes poor customer service.
In many ways, customer service employment means you must act as a mediator. Meaning handling the complaints of the customer versus the policy of the company, you work for. You may very well have a customer complaints department but in this type of employment, you are often the first person the irate customer meets. This means you must have the skills to remember the old business motto, the ''customer is always right.'' It will be your job to direct the client to the right customer service department, and it has to be done in a pleasant manner.
Presenting good customer service skills in your place of employment will often lead to job advancements. Managers take particular note of employees who demonstrate excellent people skills. Not all customer service jobs require face-to-face contact with customers. Employment in a call center requires a different type of customer service. In this type of customer service employment, verbal skills will be the priority. There are various types of call center jobs so the skills required for a particular position in customer service will be dependent on the job description for that position.
Customer service offered by way of telephone might entail call-ins from customers with questions or complaints. Remember it is the tone of your voice and choice of your words that is going to portray good customer service here. It does not matter how irritating the customer may be you must not let the person detect anything negative in your voice. The customer is already irate so your demeanor could escalate the situation.
Candidates for job employments that offer telephone customer services must be able to retain their patience at all times. They must be prepared to deal with negative situations through the entire working day. This particular job can be stressful.
Then there are the customer sales jobs where you make cold calls to sell something to a customer. These jobs are similar to the sales jobs like those that you would get in a store. The difference is that, here, you are presenting your customer skills verbally. You must remember to be, pleasant at all times, even when the customer is irate with you for calling. You never know when that individual may become a future customer. In addition, your employers will notice your skills and good customer service and you may be the first one they think of when promotions are being considered.
Therefore, if you really enjoy working with people then you may be ready to do some job seeking for employment that involves customer service. To begin with, pick your area of interest, it maybe sales in clothing articles, or telephone services, or anything else. Then pick the geographical area you want to be in. Consider the hours of employment. You may not want to work store hours, which are typically 10am to 9pm; alternatively, you may want to consider some call centers that have afternoon shifts. Go through all your options to see where you fit. Then consider your experience. Do not leave anything out. Anytime you have had to deal with people at any level of employment, you have exercised some type of customer service. Be sure to add this to your resume, unless it was a bad experience of course.
When you go for your interview, for the most part, be yourself. You most likely would not be applying for this job if you did not enjoy people and this should show in your personality. Be pleasant and friendly with your potential employer but do not be phony. This is easily noted. Come across as a professional no matter what level the job description states. Even the junior positions in customer service require some level of professionalism.
