Customer Service Executive

By Aspiring Minds Team | April 17, 2019

We've all needed help from a Customer Service Executive at one time or another,
sometimes it’s a cell phone with garbled display, or a lost credit card, or an urgent flight
booking. Customer Service Executives are required to answer incoming calls from
customers for various reasons- take orders, answer inquiries, resolve complaints and
provide information.
Customer Service Executives can be hired by ITeS companies and work for their clients, or
by companies themselves. Almost all sectors and industries need customer service
executives to handle queries and complaints from their customers.

The Job Role and Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of a Customer Service Executive would be :

1. Answer calls professionally to provide information about products and services, take/
cancel orders, or obtain details of complaints.
2. Keep records of customer interactions and transactions, recording details of
inquiries, complaints, and comments, as well as actions taken. Process orders,
forms and applications.
3. Follow up to ensure that appropriate actions were taken on customers requests.
4. Refer unresolved customer grievances or special requests to designated
departments for further investigation.

Competencies and Skills Required

Customer Service Executive plays a critical role in providing an interface between
customers and the client company. ITeS companies look for candidates who have good
communications skills, interpersonal skills and can handle stress well. The candidate should
possess good listening skills, and the ability to think quickly, to make a recommendation or
solution to the customer's problem. A clear and pleasant speaking voice and fluency in
English is also desired. The major skills and competencies that employers look for in a
candidate are:

1. Good communications skills

2. Ability to listen and active problem solving skills
3. Good interpersonal skills
4. Ability to handle pressure

Assessment for the 'Right' Customer Service Executive

The following table illustrates how various skills and personality traits map to assessments
required for the Customer Service Executive role:
 AMCAT English : High
Communication Skills Spoken English : High
Agreeableness: Mid to High
Spoken English : High
Interpersonal Skills Extraversion: Mid
Openness to Experience: Mid
Problem Solving Skills Logical Ability: Mid to High
Ability to Work under stress Emotional Stability: Mid to High

Assessments Correlation to Performance

Globally, standardized assessments have been used for hiring Customer Service
Executives. The scores of these assessments have shown high ‘validity’ in predicting the
success of the candidate as a Customer Service Executive. The objective criteria consist
of assessments in spoken English, cognitive skills and personality inventory. Our research
shows that spoken English combined with Agreeableness and Logical Ability shows a
strong correlation to the success of a Customer Service Executive at entry level. This is also
backed by previous researches by Sawyerr, Srinivas and Wang1 and Grebber, Semmer et
al2. According to a study carried out by Aspiring Minds at a large call centre, organizational
efficiency can be improved by as much as 26% by using standardized assessment during
selection and recruitment of Customer Service Executives.