Customer Care

What Is A Remote Customer Agent

A remote customer care agents duties are to answer calls or live chats for different business. They address customer concerns and questions about products or services. Some companies may acquire you to assist customers with setting up a device or troubleshooting technical issues. Your responsibilities may include handling order information or billing issues. When a situation occurs where you are unable to assist the customer, you are often required to pass the customer on to someone more qualified to help the customer.

This is a job that requires human skills and patience. You need to have a problem-solving mentality, the ability to listen empathetically and great communication skills. Your duties as a remote customer service agent can vary depending on your employer.

The Pros of Being a Customer Care Agent
You may already be familiar with the advantages of working from home thanks to the lockdowns. There are many great benefits to transitioning out of a common working environment, and into a remote online gig such as a remote customer care industry. Below are a few of the many benefits this industry can provide you:

• Demand is great as most businesses need customer care
• Startup costs are minimal
• Work with your chosen clients
• Flexible schedule
• The power to determine with whom you work
• Freedom to work wherever you want

The Cons of Being a Customer Care Agent

While working with remote customer care has many benefits, there are some cons to this gig that needs mention. Here are a few of them:

• Isolation
• Hard on the voice
• The work can be dull
• Repetitive work
• You need to ensure all client data is kept private

The Required Qualifications

Luckily, there’s not much of formal schooling or specific degrees that this profession requires. Education requirements really depend on the company you work for. However overall, it’s my experience that having a college diploma fulfils the demand to land a gig in this industry.

Many employers only require you to have a high school degree to apply with them. Other employers may require a college degree. Patience and listening skills are the more personal skills you will need to remain in this industry. Most companies prefer optimistic individuals that are problem solvers for this role. Basic tech skills are required of you as you will be working with emails, live chat, and other communication platforms on a daily basis. Finally, some of the qualifications that an employer will be looking for in a remote customer service agent is conflict resolution and the capacity to maintain composure under pressure. So, basically the degrees will land you the gig, while your skills will help you keep the job.

The Required Skills

Working with customer issues and at times very angry customers on a daily basis, can be quite challenging without the proper mindset and communication abilities. This is a business where you need to have the capacity to maintain a positive and optimistic attitude. You need to be passionate and empathetic with your customers. Listening to customers will be a big part of the job. Especially, without judging them. Rid your personal opinions. Your job is to ask questions and help your clients with any questions or issues they may be facing. Help them with clarity, focus, and honesty. Be observant. Communicate well with your customers and preserve your integrity at all times. Your relationship with your customers depends on trust. Some examples of key skills to cultivate for this role include:

• Active listening skills
• Communication skills
• Psychological skills 
• Critical thinking skills
• Technical skills

The Responsibilities of A Customer Care Agent

Every business strives to make their customers persistently happy. When questions or issues arise, these same companies want a good customer care team to solve any issues that the customers may face or any question that may need answers. Nobody wants disappointed customers. Businesses rely on online testimonials and reviews. That’s where a customer care workers duty comes into play. The responsibility to solve issues and complaints from customers is not an easy task. Often a company has a set of rules and guidelines you follow in each case. Basically, each issue or question a customer has, will have a written route for you to follow to help solve the issue or give the customer the answer they require.

Most of these customer care interactions take place over the phone or by an online chat, making it a perfect gig to be handled remotely. The responsibilities of a customer care worker can vary, depending on the customers needs and wants. Hence, this job requires you to have a lot of patience and the capability to not take things personal.


The Three Types Of Customer Care Agents

Within the industry of customer care agents, there are three main niches. The live chat agent, the call agent and finally the technical support agent.

• Live customer care chat agent. A chat agent, is a person who chats with customers via a live chat function. They work to solve consumer issues and reply users questions virtually by chat on a website or social media platform.

• Call agent. A call agent works via inbound and outbound customer calls. Their role is to help customers in any manner necessary. Depending on the organisation you work for, a customer care worker may additionally manage some outgoing calls and operate various tasks such as emails.

• Technical support agent. A technical support representative handles client problems associated with software and/or hardware. They generally speak with tech-troubled customers over the phone or by live chat. They help solve customer issues by presenting a sequence of steps.

Traits of A Successful Customer Care Agent

Landing a remote customer care job is the first step. The next step is to keep the job. In order to keep your job you need to work on some of the qualities that you already posses. Always be learning. Otherwise you’ll burn out. Keep motivating yourself and push yourself to become better than yesterday. Make a list of things you remind yourself of on a daily basis to become the best customer care agent you can be:

• Enjoy talking to people
• Enjoy solving issues
• Be friendly
• Cultivate a pleasant voice
• Have patience
• Cultivate your listening skills
• Be optimistic
• Be a problem solver 
• Think fast and independently
• Stay motivated