Customer Service Jobs Can be Keys to Success

I wasn't surprised when a majority of the responses in our Job Outlook Survey came from service provider businesses.

Sales and customer service jobs, it turns out, are going strong in our community.

We all provide one service or another, and even large industries have customer service departments. At the chamber, we consider ourselves a customer service office, and we like to think we make friends one customer at a time. Helping someone find a location on a map, helping them find a phone number, or referring them to a member business are some of the services we provide.

A few years ago, a woman came in looking for 12 copies of a Door County guidebook. Since we exchange promotional material with Door County, we had some to give her. We could have sent her to the Marinette Welcome Center, something we do when we don't have the tourism material that a visitor wants. But we had 12 copies so why not save her a trip? I knew she had recently experienced some health issues and I wanted to make obtaining these books convenient for her. That, to my way of thinking, is customer service.

Customer service related jobs can be stressful, to be sure, but they can also be extremely satisfying. There is nothing quite like helping someone obtain information, solve a problem, or get results. And that's what customer service is all about.

A good customer service provider is a gem. I've heard local employers say when they find a good one, they'll try hard to keep that person on staff. After all, good customer service is often what helps a business get ahead of the competition. I don't care if I have to pay a little more for an item if I know I will have good customer service after the sale.

In our survey, our members are telling us customer service jobs will be fairly plentiful this year. They may go by different names, so look carefully: Service rep, front counter, account manager, or community relations representative. All those jobs and others require customer service skills.

There will be jobs throughout our community in 2011 - and not just in the shipbuilding industry. That's good news for people who've been recently downsized, or are new in town because their spouses fund work here.

The key is remaining flexible. The skills you acquire and fine tune in a customer service job will help you in whatever job you end up in down the line. With a customer service job, you learn to build relationships, listen, solve problems, think creatively and build a reputation for your employer. Every single one of those skills is applicable to just about every job in the world.

Many years ago, I found myself downsized from a publishing job with an Atlanta company. I explored job openings in marketing, editing, technical writing, graphic design and other areas I was familiar with, but ended up in a customer service job. I helped patients find doctors, and then I helped them resolve issues they ran into while receiving care. The skills I gained and polished have stayed with me for more than two decades. It wasn't the easiest job, it certainly wasn't without its stressful moments. But I left the office every night feeling good. And I learned a lot.

In grade school I read a story about a teen-aged girl who learned from a famous violinist to do everything well, no matter how important or unimportant it seemed. The idea was to do it well. Some people may think customer service jobs lack prestige.

I disagree. I don't think there's any job as important as the one that relates to helping people.