Great Customer Services Skills For A Resume | Examples

What Are Customer Service Skills?

Client service abilities include the ability to communicate with others, solve problems, show patient and understanding, assure client happiness, and handle consumer concerns.

Customer service representatives receive and place phone calls, as well as help maintain strong customer connections by promptly and professionally responding to questions and issues. However, cashiers, salespeople, managers, and billing departments can all be considered customer service occupations because they deal with customers.

Employees that provide exceptional customer service can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. These talents translate into brand loyalty (96% of consumers say customer service is an essential component in their brand loyalty decision) and profit (a 5% improvement in customer retention can result in a 25% increase in profit, according to Bain).

Customer Service Skills for a Resume—Examples

Customer service is an excellent skill to have on a resume. Not just for salespeople, agents, or guest service employees. Any client-facing role will benefit from highlighting these skills.

Here’s a list of specific customer service resume skills:

• Attention to Detail
• Active Listening Skills
• Improving Customer Experience
• Building Customer Loyalty
• Positive Attitude
• Bilingual Customer Support
• Time Management
• Interpersonal Skills
• Communication
• Patience
• Problem Solving
• Organizational Skills
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Decision Making
• Product Knowledge
• Cross Selling / Up-Selling
• Service-Based Selling / Telesales
• Dixa
• ERP
• Freshdesk
• Jira Service Desk
• MyTalk
• Salesforce
• Talkdesk
• Zendesk
• MS Excel, PowerPoint, Word
• Microsoft Office Skills

The skills listed above are ideal for work in customer service. But don’t just copy and paste them onto your resume. Always focus on the most significant CS abilities listed in the job posting and add additional talents if they are relevant.

See many more ideas for resume-worthy qualifications and abilities:

• Administrative Skills
• Marketing Skills
• Employability Skills
• IT Skills
• Transferable Skills
• Teamwork Skills
• Leadership Skills
• Computer Skills
• Technical Skills
• Soft Skills
• Hard Skills
• The Difference Between Soft Skills and Hard Skills
• Master List of Skills to Put on a Resume

How to List Customer Service Skills on a Resume?

How to increase the recruiter’s CSAT score by 200 percent? By showing them you’ve got all the customer service skills they’re looking for. Here’s how to highlight them on your resume:

• Check the job ad to see what customer service skills they need.
• Make a list of your customer service resume skills. You can use the aforementioned list as a reference.
• Look for talents that show up on both lists. Those are the right resume keywords.
• Give your customer service skills prominence by listing them in a separate key skills section on your resume.
• Use your bullet points to prove you have those abilities.
• Add both soft skills and hard skills for the right mix.
• List up to 10 key strengths and pick the ones you’re good at.
• Make sure you sprinkle your relevant customer service resume skills throughout your entire application. Put them in your customer service resume job description and objective, too.

According to our analysis of 133,000 resumes, people are most likely to describe their CS skills as:

• Excellent customer service skills
• Great customer service skills
• Good customer service skills
• Strong customer service skills

Just bear in mind it’s just your opinion and recruiters will vet you no matter what you say! Convince them by hilighting a specific responsibility and the results you got.

Let’s take a look at how you can show off those customer service skills on a resume:

Sample Customer Service Representative Resume Template

Mary Allen

mary.louanne.allen@gmail.com

(231) 808-9866

Seattle, WA

Resume Summary

Positive and attentive customer service representative with 4+ years of experience in CSR roles. Eager to support First National Bank in creating long-lasting customer relationships through conflict resolution. Achieved a 20% above average customer retention rate on cancellation calls by utilizing active listening techniques.

Work Experience

Customer Service Representative

American Express, Seattle, WA

January 2019–June 2020

Provided quality customer service to 60+ members daily to build brand loyalty.
Identified customer needs through active listening techniques to initiate referrals to colleagues.
Reviewed customer profiles to find opportunities to upsell banking products and credit cards
Achieved a 20% above average customer retention rate on cancellation calls.
Offered advice and guidance bilingually in English and Spanish.
Customer Service Associate

CallCenterUSA, Salem, OR

September 2016–December 2019

Answered 40+ incoming calls daily and provided instructions for customers per training guidelines.
Provided excellent quality customer service by patiently listening and communicating company policies with empathy.
Maintained a positive attitude at all times in a fast-paced environment.
Received a positive feedback rating of 96% based on customer satisfaction surveys.
Education

Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies

Portland Community College, Portland, OR

Graduation: May 2016

Minor in Business Administration.
Secretary for campus debate club.
Skills

Complaint Resolution
Building Customer Loyalty
Up-Selling
Jira Service Desk
Bilingual Language Skills (English and Spanish)
Typing Speed: >60 WPM
Awards

Received customer service award three times for exceeding monthly upsell goals.

Here’s a brief summary on how to write the perfect resume:

• Find the best type of resume for your situation. If you have some experience already, the reverse-chronological resume format will make all your relevant experience impossible to miss.
• Put a resume introduction at the top of your resume to act as an elevator pitch. Go with a resume summary if you have 2+ years of experience, and a resume objective if this will be your first customer service job.
• Make sure your resume work experience section is in tip-tip shape. Use 5-6 bullets to mention your most impressive responsibilities and achievements. Begin every bullet with resume action verbs like assisted, coordinated, maintained, provided, etc.
• If you’re writing a resume for your first job, you can mention any experience paid or unpaid, including internships or volunteer experience.
• Be sure to include an education section. You should only put your high school on your resume if that’s the highest education you completed. Otherwise include your college in your resume education section.
• Put any professional certifications and licenses in their own section so they can pop out.
• Improve your resume with optional resume sections: language section, awards section, freelance work, projects, and hobbies and interests.

Remember to attach a customer service cover letter to your resume. For more detailed tips, see our guide on how to write a cover letter.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here’s what it may look like:

How to Improve Your Customer Service Skills

Here are seven solid tips to improve your customer service skills and help you shine:

1. Stay positive and never say no.

It may be difficult at first, but try not to use words like “no”, “I don’t know”, or “I can’t”. Why? Negative statements tend to direct conversations toward the problem rather than the solution. The customer is likely to wonder why something is impossible or why you don’t know the answer.

Even if the answer to their query is “no”, you can use positive language to steer the conversation in the direction you want. That way, you may guide them to the remedy without delving into why the problem arose.

2. Step up your game with active listening.

Active listening is when you make a concerted effort to listen to and understand a speaker. Think of active listening as the foundation of providing good customer support. 27% of Americans say “lack of effectiveness” is their number one frustration with customer service. The first step in solving a customer’s problem is to hear what the problem is.

You can improve your active listening skills by taking a course online (like this one from Coursera) and then practicing on a regular basis.

3. Refer to the customer by name.

Calling the customer by their name is a more personable alternative to repeatedly referring to them as “you”. Customers are more likely to rate their experience as positive if you can create a friendly atmosphere. And let’s be honest, people love hearing their own name.

4. Know your product like the back of your hand.

The more you know about your company’s product, the more convincing you can be and solve problems faster. This knowledge can come from a variety of sources, including the company’s product documentation, personal experience with the product, online forums, and consumer feedback. If you’re looking for a new job, demonstrating your product knowledge is sure to impress a hiring manager.

5. Try your best to empathize.

You can demonstrate empathy by reinforcing a customer’s predicament in a way that indicates you understand their sorrow or dissatisfaction. When you connect with their emotions, they will feel heard and understood.

Repeating the problem they’re having and then using phrases like “I get what you mean” or “I can see how frustrating this must be” is one approach to demonstrate empathy. If you sound like a robot reading from a script, you may come across as unpleasant or useless.

6. Keep your technical skills up to date.

Customer service requires dealing with both technology and people. Being able to navigate customer service software and technology is a requirement of the position. Most larger businesses utilize customer relationship management (CRM) systems to track client touchpoints (phone calls, emails, and orders). If you have no experience with CRM software, you can learn about it through online lessons, such as these Udemy classes.

Chatbots are one illustration of how technical abilities in customer service are developing. Chatbots are unlikely to replace customer care positions in the foreseeable future since most individuals prefer to settle issues with humans rather than chatbots. Customer support representatives and chatbots will most likely collaborate more frequently in the future. That is why learning more about chatbots and gaining expertise with them can help you flourish in your customer support role.

7. Don’t lose your cool.

Finally, be patient. It is one of the most important talents for customer service representatives. Because if someone calls customer service, it’s likely that things aren’t going well.

Customers will come at you, ready to bite your head off or collapse in frustration. Just remember that with a little active listening and encouragement, you’ll most likely get through it.