5 Skills Every Customer Service Agent Should Master

Ready to deliver an exceptional customer experience each and every time? Focus on mastering these 5 key customer service skills to ensure that the person on the other end of the line is all smiles – always.
Skill 1: Embrace Active Listening
It’s not just about hearing – it’s about understanding. Active listening is when you work to understand the concerns and emotions that are flavoring a conversation, even if those aren’t being explicitly stated. To practice active listening:
- Remove distractions from your work area.
- Don’t interrupt – wait until the customer has finished speaking.
- Ask clarifying questions to confirm you understand.
- Use verbal affirmations (“I understand”).
- Restate the customer’s message back to them.
You can practice active listening by using the above techniques with a friend or colleague, or by trying role-playing scenarios.
Skill 2: Display Empathy
Addressing concerns, challenges, and frustrations is a core part of the customer service role. Doing so with empathy helps diffuse anger or irritation from a customer and makes it easier to work through their request. To hone your empathy:
- Put yourself in the customer’s shoes.
- Keep your tone warm and friendly.
- Communicate that you understand their frustration.
- Avoid assumptions.
- Learn key empathy statements.
You can work on practicing empathy in your day-to-day life, and can even explore options such as creating an empathy map to help you truly get inside a customer’s head.
Skill 3: Communicate Clearly
Aim for clarity and succinctness in your customer service communications. This helps keep your call on track, nurtures trust and rapport, and makes it easier to resolve a challenge. To improve your communication style:
- Avoid jargon or technical language.
- Practice common responses.
- Use scripts and support materials.
- Use positive language.
Practice makes perfect. Run roleplays with friends or colleagues and familiarize yourself with supporting documentation. These will often have scripts or sample responses that can guide your communications.
Skill 4: Learn to Solve Problems
Problem-solving is one of the most important skills you can develop in any field of work – and it will serve you well in customer service. To improve your problem-solving skills:
- Ensure you understand the problem.
- Break the problem down into steps.
- Collaborate with team members.
- Offer solutions.
- Take ownership of the issue.
- Keep your cool.
- Follow up after the call.
Roleplaying and revisiting call logs can be a great way to improve your problem-solving skills, and discussing novel and challenging problems with experienced colleagues can help guide you when a similar problem comes your way.
Skill 5: Use Your Tools!
In today’s customer service landscape, no one flies solo. Most CS reps have a vast repository of knowledge at their fingertips. To deliver best-in-class customer service:
- Practice navigating your CRM or other system.
- Learn your live chat tools.
- Learn how to use your internal database.
- Understand your product or service.
The more you work with your tools, the faster and more efficient you’ll become – and the better you’ll be able to manage your customers’ needs. If you want to improve your skills, ask your manager about additional tips, tutorials, or training.
It’s Time to Deliver Exceptional Customer Service!
Got all that? Master the five skills above, and you’ll be well-placed to deliver excellent customer service. At ACD, we do everything we can to train and empower our agents so that they’re ready to give their best every time. Think you’d be a great fit for our team? Join us!