Are you looking to change your career or work in a profession that gives flexibility and offers remote work options for you? if this is you, you might consider becoming a customer care representative.
As a customer care representative, you can work in many large chain stores, industrial organisations, call centres, government parastatals, consulting firms, financial organisations e.t.c to provide excellent services on behalf of the company to customers.
But before you can be referred to as a customer care representative, there are some steps you need to take to becoming a respectable professional in this field.
In this article, we’ll take you through the process of becoming a customer care representative in South Africa.
How to Become a Customer Care Representative in South Africa
Most of their work involves interacting with customers on behalf of whichever organisation that they work with. All complaints and recommendations on the company’s products are usually forwarded through the customer care unit to the appropriate channel.
Due to the nature of their work, they might be required to have either an online or offline presence or both. The emergence of technology has made it such that customer care representatives do not need to meet face-to-face before listening to complaints from customers. Online channels include emails, chats and voice call.
However, the emergence of online alternatives does not override the need for certain customers to meet with customer care representatives physically as they may be required to provide some information and documents which are best provided in person.
Now that you have an idea on what a customer care representative does here are some steps you should take in realising your dreams of becoming a customer care representative.
Acquire An Education
The first step in any career would be to attend relevant educational institutions required for you to get a degree in the field of your choice. Although most representative jobs can employ high school certificate holders, getting a bachelors degree would make you a better fit for jobs available especially in corporate sectors and industries.
Get Experience By Working in Similar Positions
The best way to get better at whatever we do is by continuous practise regardless of the theoretical knowledge we have acquired in school. You can improve your skills and knowledge by starting in roles similar to customer care representatives jobs and networking with people in the field you are looking to enter. This always gives you better information about recruitment processes in their organisation or other companies with great work ethics and pay.
Learn About the Organisation Policies and Products
An important part of your job is educating clients or potential customers on the different products or alternatives to making purchases with the organisation you work with. In the first few months of your job, you should take time to learn the organisation’s policies, vision, mission, products or any other relevant information useful for people reaching out to the customer care department.
Attend Training and Professional Gatherings
If you are committed to being the best in your field, then I would advise you to network with other professionals who would give you information on training or professional gatherings aimed at improving your skills and teaching new ways to execute your job to meet current demands.
Perfect Your Communication Skills
For many customer service representatives, you would conduct business both over the phone and in-person if there is a need. Clients always prefer representatives that are audible, courteous, knowledgable and efficient in handling complaints or enquiries received during their work hours.
Be Skilled at Using the Computer
As a customer care representative, your work would involve using the computer a lot, from responding to emails to answering questions on social media platforms or websites you should make sure your knowledge on the use of computer and its software packages are up to date.
How Much Will I Earn?
According to Salaryexplorer, the salary range is between 5,430 ZAR (lowest) to 18,800 ZAR (highest) monthly. Your earning power is dependent on the location of the organisation, level of experience, relevant skills and sometimes the duration of work if it’s fulltime or parttime.
