11 Important Customer Service Skills to Be Successful

Key takeaways

• Good customer service requires many interpersonal skills, such as active listening, empathy, and resilience.

• If you pursue technical support roles, you'll need to develop product knowledge, among other technical skills.

• Whether you work in a customer service role or not, developing customer service skills can be useful.

Learn about the top customer service skills to be successful. Afterward, consider enrolling in the CVS Health Call Center Customer Service Professional Certificate to further develop your abilities.

11 customer service skills for success

Customer service roles require a mix of workplace skills and technical skills. Learn more about the most important skills to build or strengthen when you work with customers.

1. Empathy

Empathy is a critical interpersonal skill that involves understanding another person’s emotions and perspective. Being empathetic often means thinking about your customer’s situation from their point of view and building a foundation of patience, kindness, and respect as you set about working with them. Showing customers you understand their situation and connect with their feelings is an element of strong customer service.

Example: A customer calls their internet service provider complaining that their WiFi has been spotty over the past week. The representative says, “I understand how frustrating that can be. Let me do some tests to troubleshoot the issue.”

2. Problem solving

Customers often contact customer service representatives when they have a problem. Being able to think critically about a customer's complaint and identify creative solutions—aka solve problems—can go a long way. This often involves listening to what a customer needs, determining the source of the issue, and resolving it by turning to your company’s products or services.

Example: Over live chat, a customer cannot reset their password to log into their account. The representative performs a manual reset and then walks the customer through how to reset their own password in the future.

3. Communication

Effective communication means using clear, concise language when speaking with or writing to customers. With good communication skills, you can confidently build a rapport and a feeling of trust. When speaking with customers in person, think about what your body language says. Refrain from crossing your arms or looking annoyed.

Example: A customer calls a local cafe to inquire about opening hours. The barista on the phone responds quickly and cheerfully, instead of muttering incoherently and placing them on hold.

4. Active listening

Active listening goes beyond listening to respond. Instead, it's listening to fully understand. When working with customers, it’s important to hear what they have to say, ask questions to better understand the matter, and respond with empathy. 

Example: When a customer calls a restaurant to make a reservation, the host listens and then repeats, “You’re all set! To confirm, your reservation is 7 PM on Saturday at our Brooklyn location.”

For more ideas on active listening, watch this video from the CVS Introduction to Customer Service course.

5. Product knowledge

Understanding your company’s products and services is a vital part of any customer service role. You’ll want to be able to help customers make informed decisions and troubleshoot any issues. Representatives should be up-to-date on all product specifications, the purchasing process, product or service usage, and company policies. Plus, technical knowledge is helpful if you’re trying to upsell a product or service because you’ll be able to list out the features of the newest edition.

Example: An electronics sales representative helps a customer decide which mechanical keyboard to purchase because they explained every model, brand, and key type. They even convinced the customer to opt for the pricier, but higher quality option.

6. Patience

Customer service jobs can be stressful due, in part, to frustrated or angry customers who may direct their emotions toward you. As a customer service representative, you should separate a customer's emotions from your own. With strong stress management skills, you can balance your emotions and approach customer issues with a positive attitude.

Example: A customer drops her umbrella while leaving the nail salon and ruins her just-polished nails. The nail technician calls her back with a smile and repaints the ruined nails.

7. Tenacity

The ability to remain consistent and persistent throughout a difficult situation can be an overlooked quality in customer service, but it's a crucial skill nonetheless. Tenacity is required to get the job done thoroughly and accurately. Customers appreciate it when service professionals walk them through the process when they need help. They are more likely to continue doing business with you if you have ensured customer satisfaction.

Example: A landscaper who is new to the job makes a mistake when tending the lawn and accidentally cuts the client’s beloved rose bush. The next day, he drives several hours to find the exact same plant to replace it.

8. Adaptability

Customers want to reach a business on nearly every digital platform. That means your ability to respond to customers needs to be adaptable depending on the platform you use. After all, a phone call interaction will be very different from a chat interaction.

Example: A customer contacts a dermatologist by phone (with a headset) if they’re in the car and running late for their appointment, but prefers to email or text for appointment confirmations and administrative questions. 

9. Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness is a useful customer service skill related to problem-solving. Finding innovative and quick ways to solve the problem can decrease time with each customer so that you can help more customers in a day. It requires being familiar with different departments within a business and referring customers if needed. Developing creative approaches to problem solving is a skill that can be sharpened while on the job.

Example: Customers are responsible for return shipping for a company that is based in Australia. With an uptick in complaints, the CEO decides to experiment with free shipping for two months to keep up with the status quo. Five-star ratings increased shortly thereafter.

10. Positive attitude

Maintaining a positive approach to customer service can be difficult if your customers are frustrated with your product or service. A rule of thumb is to stay calm and try to meet the customer where they are, to empathize with their situation and why they might be upset. Driving customers away with a negative attitude will only cause more pain for the business, as it can lead to a poor reputation and a decrease in sales.

Example: A customer who just bought a board game from the store is upset because some important pieces are missing. The employee thanks the customer for their patience and understanding as they mail the missing pieces to them within one week.

11. Customer relationship management (CRM)

A customer service representative must be able to use customer relationship management (CRM) databases to document customer interactions and find information quickly. Customer service roles often lean heavily on workplace skills, but CRM experience is technical knowledge that many hiring managers look for.

Example: When a customer contacts a business about an issue, you look up previous interactions and document their current request to create a more seamless experience.

How to highlight customer service skills on your resume

You can find many opportunities to highlight your skills when writing a resume, including the following:

• Resume summary: A resume summary is a brief explanation about who you are professionally. You can use the description to insert a few phrases, such as “Empathetic customer service professional.”

• Experience: When you craft a chronological resume, you’ll list your experience by starting with your most recent role and moving backward. Whether you write a brief paragraph summary or use bullet points to list your responsibilities, this is a great place to show how your skills added value to your work.

• Skills section: A dedicated skills section usually appears near the end of your resume and is a chance to list or further detail the specific workplace and technical skills you offer.

• Certifications: If you’ve completed any role-specific education or skills training, then you should include that information in a certification section on your resume.

Measuring customer service skills on your resume

More than simply stating the customer service skills you have on your resume, it’s important to find ways to express the impact you’ve had due to those skills. Adding quantitative impact to your examples, such as your average response speed, rate of escalation in complaints, conversion rates, or ratio of resolved versus unresolved issues, can strengthen your resume and your candidacy for customer service roles.

Examples of expressing your impact include:

• Decreased average response speed to customer queries from three hours to two hours

• Increased conversion rate by 1.2 percent in the first quarter

• Decreased complaint escalation to 18 per month

• Improved customer satisfaction rate by at least 9% each quarter

Expand your customer service skills on Coursera

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