Five Customer Service Skills To Add to Your Resume

Communication skills

This is the most essential customer service skill. Clear communication lets customers know that their needs are being met. It also makes the customer feel more comfortable asking for help.

Customer service agents should also demonstrate active listening. Automation can’t replace a face-to-face interaction where someone can see your open and inviting body language. If a customer is having an issue, it’s up to you to help them out. By listening to customer feedback, you can implement a solution that benefits everyone.

Conflict resolution

Sometimes you will get angry customers that will use any chance to take their rage out on you or your team members. It’s never fun to deal with frustrated customers, but it is one of the most essential customer service skills to have.

Using positive language, exercising self-control, and maintaining an even tone of voice can all help to de-escalate most situations. At any rate, proving you are able to handle difficult customers or clients can tell recruiters a lot about your problem-solving skills as a whole.

Time management

Time management skills are crucial in any industry, even if you aren’t working in customer service. Being able to maintain a strict schedule for store hours, breaks and other in-store events is a great transferable skill to have.

Adaptability and problem-solving

Good customer service skills require more than just being able to talk to the customers. You also need to be able to think on your feet if a customer has a problem. Often, a customer’s problem can be solved pretty easily just by talking to them.

Let’s say you work at a video game store and a parent is looking for a new game for their kid. They might not know the exact name of it, only a vague genre or other aspects of the game. You can then help them work out the exact game their kid is looking for by asking them more questions or by showing them different games popular with children in the same age bracket. A frazzled customer will be more appreciative of a customer service agent who tries to help them out instead of standing by.

Product knowledge

When you work for any given company, you should always know what product or service you’re offering your customers. This is a pretty basic rule but an important one that some people might forget.

For instance, if you work at a bakery and a customer asks what you would recommend, you need to be familiar with all the kinds of pastries available. Your enthusiasm and knowledge can encourage new customers to come back again and again, thus boosting customer retention. The bottom line is that prioritizing your work and the customer experience can be a great sign of excellent customer service.