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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Service Center Representative

💰 $ - $

Customer ServiceCall CenterTechnical SupportOperations

🎯 Role Definition

A Service Center Representative (also known as Customer Service Representative or Call Center Representative) is the frontline point of contact for customers across phone, chat, email, and social channels. This role resolves inquiries, processes orders and returns, troubleshoots product or service issues, documents interactions in CRM systems, and helps drive customer satisfaction metrics including First Call Resolution (FCR), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Average Handle Time (AHT). The ideal candidate combines strong communication skills, empathy, technical aptitude with CRM tools (Salesforce, Zendesk, or similar), and the ability to work efficiently in a high-volume, metrics-driven environment.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Customer Service Representative (Entry-level)
  • Retail Sales Associate or Cashier with customer-facing experience
  • Call Center Agent (inbound/outbound)

Advancement To:

  • Senior Service Center Representative
  • Team Lead / Shift Supervisor, Contact Center
  • Workforce Management Analyst or Quality Assurance Specialist
  • Customer Experience Specialist or Escalation Specialist

Lateral Moves:

  • Technical Support Specialist
  • Sales Support / Inside Sales Representative
  • Logistics or Order Fulfillment Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Handle high-volume inbound and outbound customer interactions across phone, email, chat and social media, delivering professional, accurate, and empathetic service while maintaining company tone and brand standards.
  • Resolve product and service inquiries end-to-end by diagnosing issues, providing step-by-step troubleshooting, or guiding customers through configuration and usage to achieve First Call Resolution (FCR).
  • Process orders, returns, exchanges, refunds and cancellations in the company order-management system or POS while ensuring accuracy of customer, billing, and shipping information.
  • Escalate complex technical problems and critical customer complaints to Tier 2 support or management with complete, well-documented case notes and recommended next steps.
  • Enter and update customer records, case notes, and activity logs in CRM platforms (e.g., Salesforce, Zendesk, Microsoft Dynamics) in real time to ensure a single source of truth.
  • Manage billing and payment inquiries, verify account status, process payments and adjustments securely according to PCI and internal compliance requirements.
  • Meet and exceed daily and weekly performance metrics such as Average Handle Time (AHT), Service Level (SLA), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), and adherence to schedule.
  • Conduct outbound follow-ups for pending resolutions, warranty confirmations, appointment reminders, or proactive retention and recovery activities.
  • Identify fraud indicators, suspicious account activity, or potential chargeback cases and follow fraud-prevention protocols and escalation procedures.
  • Support field operations by scheduling and coordinating service appointments, dispatching technicians, and confirming parts availability to minimize reschedules and improve first-visit success.
  • Train and onboard new hires by sharing process knowledge, call-handling techniques and system navigation tips; shadow and coach peers to maintain quality standards.
  • Participate in quality assurance reviews, achieve QA scores, and implement feedback to continuously improve call quality, accuracy and compliance.
  • Cross-sell and upsell relevant products or service plans when appropriate by following consultative selling scripts and meeting revenue or attachment rate goals.
  • Resolve warranty, repair and replacement requests by verifying eligibility, initiating RMAs (Return Merchandise Authorizations), and coordinating logistics with warehouse and shipping teams.
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of product lines, service offerings, promotions, pricing and policy changes by reviewing knowledge base articles and attending training sessions.
  • Create and maintain detailed troubleshooting guides and knowledge base contributions when recurring issues are identified to reduce repeat contacts and improve agent productivity.
  • Handle escalated customer disputes or regulatory requests, documenting outcomes and implementing remediation steps in accordance with company policy and legal requirements.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams (logistics, technical support, billing, legal) to remove process bottlenecks, clarify requirements and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Monitor and manage customer queues and work items, prioritize urgent cases, and reassign or re-route complex tickets to specialty teams to meet SLA targets.
  • Provide clear, concise post-call summaries and next steps to customers, including case reference numbers, timelines and contact points, ensuring transparency and follow-through.
  • Protect customer privacy and confidentiality by following data protection policies and securely handling personally identifiable information (PII) and payment data.
  • Participate in workforce optimization activities such as schedule adherence, shrinkage tracking and input for capacity planning to ensure consistent service coverage.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc reporting requests by extracting customer interaction data and trend summaries from CRM or contact center reporting tools for team leads.
  • Contribute to cross-functional projects such as knowledge base migrations, CRM configuration, or process automation pilots by providing frontline insights and user acceptance testing.
  • Assist in identifying automation opportunities (chatbots, workflow rules, canned responses) to reduce repetitive tasks and improve response times.
  • Act as a subject matter expert on recurring customer pain points during continuous improvement workshops and sprint planning sessions to help prioritize fixes.
  • Provide after-hours escalation support or participate in rotational on-call shifts when required to support critical incidents or high-impact outages.
  • Coordinate with marketing and product teams to validate promotional messaging, ensure accurate customer communications, and support customer feedback loops.
  • Participate in regular calibration sessions with quality assurance and training to maintain consistent evaluation standards and update scorecards.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proficient with CRM platforms such as Salesforce, Zendesk, Microsoft Dynamics, or Freshdesk for case management and reporting.
  • Hands-on experience with contact center telephony systems (Avaya, Cisco, Genesys) and softphone tools.
  • Strong data entry skills with high accuracy and typing speed; comfortable navigating multiple windows and applications simultaneously.
  • Familiarity with payment processing systems, PCI compliance basics, and handling refunds/chargebacks securely.
  • Basic troubleshooting skills for consumer electronics, software, connectivity, or product-specific issues; ability to follow technical scripts.
  • Experience using ticketing and knowledge base systems to create, update and search support articles.
  • Comfortable working with metrics and dashboards (AHT, FCR, CSAT, SLA); able to interpret reports and act on performance data.
  • Proficiency in MS Office (Excel for reporting, Outlook for email) and the ability to extract simple reports or filtered lists.
  • Ability to use order-management/ERP systems to check inventory, create RMAs, and process fulfillment-related actions.
  • Familiarity with compliance frameworks, data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA awareness) and internal escalation protocols.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional verbal and written communication with clear, concise, empathetic customer interactions.
  • Active listening skills to understand underlying issues and ask effective clarifying questions.
  • Strong problem-solving mindset and resourcefulness to resolve non-routine customer problems.
  • High emotional intelligence and de-escalation skills for handling upset or high-stress customer interactions.
  • Time management and multitasking: prioritize work across channels while meeting SLA commitments.
  • Attention to detail to ensure accurate data entry, billing adjustments and documentation for downstream teams.
  • Adaptability to change and continuous improvement mindset in a fast-paced, evolving contact center environment.
  • Team collaboration and willingness to share knowledge, mentor peers and contribute to team goals.
  • Professionalism and resilience in high-volume, performance-driven settings.
  • Sales acumen for appropriate cross-sell and retention techniques while preserving customer trust.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • High school diploma or equivalent (required).

Preferred Education:

  • Associate's degree or bachelor's degree in Business, Communications, Information Technology, or related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Communications
  • Information Technology / Computer Science
  • Customer Experience / Service Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 1–3 years of customer service or call center experience for mid-level roles; 0–1 year acceptable for entry-level with strong customer-facing skills.

Preferred:

  • 2+ years in a high-volume contact center environment, experience with Salesforce or Zendesk, and exposure to technical troubleshooting, billing, or order management processes.
  • Demonstrated track record of meeting KPIs (AHT, FCR, CSAT) and experience handling escalations or complex cases.
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