Throughout the summer customer service staff have been taking a well-earned holiday. But while they’ve been sunning themselves on beaches and sipping cocktails poolside, who’s been doing their very important jobs?
Well one of those stepping into the breach is Mhairi Simpson. Mhairi is a customer service trouble-shooter and works for an agency that fills in the gaps when there is extra demand for staff or when people go on holiday.
“Until last year I was working in politics,” she says. “I ran the office for an MP, dealing with his appointments, doing political research and handling queries from the public.
“It was very interesting but hugely time consuming, so when he decided not to seek re-election, I thought I’d take some time off. I got bored very quickly so when I heard about customer service temping I thought I’d give it a go.”
So far this year Mhairi has worked for a university, a care home, a consumer organisation and a major car showroom.
“Every job has been different but they’ve all involved dealing with the public, sometimes handling sensitive queries and giving people fast and accurate information.
“Because of my background, I know how to handle the public in all sorts of situations, so switching from car buyers to students is really not a problem.
“I also know how to get answers from colleagues, even when I’m new to an organisation, quickly building up knowledge of chains of command and identifying who to go to when something needs authorised. I think it’s because when you work in politics you learn not to take ‘no’ for an answer – it has proven to be very useful training.”
There are dozens of exciting customer service vacancies on s1jobs and, as Mhairi has proven, even if your background is in another area, you could still have the relevant skills and experience.
Speed, accuracy and the persistence to get to the bottom of an issue are all essential. You should be good with people, sensitive to their needs and able to adapt your pace to theirs.
“You might have a target of customers to deal with but the public don’t know that and, if someone is a bit slow to explain what they need, the worst thing you can do is steamroller them” says Mhairi.
“Really the only target you need to meet is to make the customer in front of you happy and once you’ve done that, you can then move on to the next one.”
If a role in Customer Service sounds right up your street take a stroll through the top vacancies with a visit to s1jobs.