10 Key Customer Service Skills: Examples for a Resume

Customer service skills come in handy in many different professions. When applying for a job that involves dealing with clients, you should definitely put your customer service skills on a resume. I'll teach you exactly how to do it, plus I'll show you some great customer service skills examples. Let's begin!

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Looking for a complete guide on how to write a customer service resume? Check: Customer Service Resume

You might find other retail-related guides interesting, too:

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Let's start with the customer service skills definition—

What Are Customer Service Skills?

Customer service skills are the skills necessary to communicate with clients, solve problems, demonstrate patience and understanding, ensure customer satisfaction, and resolve complaints. They’re necessary not just for customer service representatives but for all professionals dealing with clients.

Employees with excellent customer service skills can have a massive impact on a company’s bottom line. These skills translate into brand loyalty and profit, as research shows that:

• 92% of consumers say they are likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience)
• a 5% increase in customer retention can produce a 25% increase in profit, according to Bain.

Read more: Top Professional Skills for Your Resume + How-To Guide

10 Good Customer Service Skills for Your Resume—Examples

Customer service is a great skill to have on a resume. Not just for a sales rep, agent, or someone in guest service. Any client-facing role will benefit from mentioning these abilities (including administrative and office positions, marketing, and more). That’s why you should treat the list below as much more than just skills to put on a resume for customer service jobs.

Here are 10 customer service skills for your resume:

1. Attention to Detail
2. Active Listening Skills
3. Positive Attitude
4. Time Management
5. Interpersonal Skills
6. Communication
7. Patience
8. Problem-Solving Skills
9. Organizational Skills
10. Product Knowledge

Now, let’s analyze each position from our customer service skills list.

1. Attention to Detail

Being detail oriented is essential for ensuring that you don’t miss any important information provided by a customer. What’s more, it’s also important in terms of tasks that involve data entry. Attention to detail contributes greatly to the overall customer experience and is an excellent foundation for any efforts aiming to boost customer satisfaction rates.

2. Active Listening Skills

When interacting with customers, it’s your active listening skills that allow you to effectively gather all the information you need to satisfy each client’s unique needs. To be able to truly listen to a person, you need to have strong focus, understanding, and empathy. To build a stronger rapport and provide better customer service, try to prioritize your client’s perspective and ask insightful questions.

3. Positive Attitude

Dealing with clients is not always an easy job—that’s why no customer service skills list can do without the ability to maintain a positive attitude despite any challenges that may appear along the way. Not to mention that an optimistic attitude fosters a more pleasant interaction, which often leads to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

4. Time Management

Knowing how to manage your time effectively is one of those employability skills that are crucial in virtually all professions. But—time management it’s even more important if your job involves dealing with lots of customers. Being able to balance between the customer needs and constraints of time is essential for handling all interactions in a professional and productive manner.

5. Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are obviously one of the key skills needed for customer service. Having strong people skills is like a superpower you can always rely on when dealing with clients. Focus on demonstrating empathy, respect, and understanding to nurture positive relationships that increase the chances of repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.

6. Communication

When asked about what are good customer service skills, strong written and verbal communication are the most likely to pop up in your mind first. You simply can’t convey information, instructions, and solutions to customers without these crucial examples of transferable abilities. What’s more, communication skills are crucial for building trust and customer satisfaction.

7. Patience

Although you always try to remain professional, not all of your customers will also try to do the same. Dealing with clients sometimes involves managing frustrated individuals who direct their negative emotions toward you. That’s why patience and the knowledge of stress management techniques are key to remaining calm and composed.

8. Problem-Solving

Problem-solving skills, paired with critical thinking and analytical capabilities, are the key to dealing with issues your clients are facing. By swiftly identifying the root cause and implementing the best solutions, you contribute to how customers view the company you’re working for.

9. Organizational Skills

Being able to stay organized is one of the traits that employers are looking for. But—organizational skills are super important when it comes to dealing with clients in a professional and efficient manner. It’s worth mentioning, that this customer service skill is often closely connected to proficiency in using customer relationship management (CRM) databases.

10. Product Knowledge

Last but not least, knowing your company’s products and services is the foundation of excellent customer service skills. Staying informed about the company’s offerings allows you to confidently answer questions and offer relevant solutions and recommendations, which significantly boost your client satisfaction rate.

The skills above are perfectly tailored to jobs in customer service. But don’t simply copy-paste them on your resume. Always make sure you focus on the most important CS skills mentioned in the job ad and add extra skills if they’re relevant.

Making a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide, use ready-made content tailored to your job and have a resume ready in minutes.

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How to Word Customer Service Skills on a Resume?

How to increase the recruiter’s CSAT score by 200 percent? By showing them you’ve got all the customer service skills they’re looking for.

Here's how to list customer service skills on your resume:

1. Check the job ad to see what customer service skills they require.
2. Make a list of your customer service resume skills. You can use the aforementioned list as a reference. Add both soft skills and hard skills for the right mix.
3. Look for talents that show up on both lists. Those are the right resume keywords.
4. List up to 10 key strengths and pick the ones you’re good at.
5. Give your customer service skills prominence by listing them in a separate key skills section on your resume.
6. Make sure you sprinkle your relevant customer service resume skills throughout your entire application. Put them in your customer service resume job description and objective, too.

Next, we’ll take a look at how you can show off your customer service skills on a resume.

Read more: The Difference Between Soft Skills and Hard Skills

Customer Service Skills in a Resume—Example

Remember to attach a customer service cover letter to your perfect resume. For more detailed tips, see our guide on how to write a cover letter.

Read more: How to Build a Resume

How to Improve Your Customer Service Skills

Here are seven solid tips to improve your customer service skills and help you shine:

1. Stay Positive and Avoid Saying No

It may seem hard in the beginning, but try not to use words like “no”, “I don’t know”, or “I can’t”. Why? Negative words tend to focus conversations on the problem rather than the solution. The customer will likely start thinking why something isn’t possible or why you don’t know the answer. Even if the answer to their question really is “no”, you can use positive language to guide the conversation where you’d like it to go. That way, you can direct them to the solution without dwelling on why that problem occurred.

2. Step Up Your Game With Active Listening

Active listening is when you make a concerted effort to listen to and understand a speaker. Think of active listening as the foundation of providing good customer support. 27% of Americans say “lack of effectiveness” is their number one frustration with customer service. The first step in solving a customer’s problem is to hear what the problem is.

You can improve your active listening skills by taking an online course and then practicing on a regular basis.

3. Refer to the Customer by Name

Calling the customer by their name is a more personable alternative to repeatedly referring to them as “you.” Customers are more likely to rate their experience as positive if you can create a friendly atmosphere. And let’s be honest, people love hearing their own name—no wonder that it even causes a unique brain activation pattern. 

4. Know Your Product Like the Back of Your Hand

The more knowledgeable you’re about your company’s product, the more persuasive you can be and the faster you can problem-solve. This knowledge can come from everywhere: the company’s product literature, your personal experience with the product, online forums, or feedback from customers. If you’re interviewing for a new job, showing off your product knowledge is guaranteed to impress a hiring manager.

5. Try Your Best to Empathize

You can practice empathy by reaffirming a customer’s situation in a way that shows you hear their pain or frustration. When you connect with their feelings, they feel heard and understood. One way to show empathy is to repeat the problem they’re having and then use phrases like “I get what mean” or “I can see how frustrating this must be.” If you sound like a robot reading off a script, you'll come across as rude or unhelpful. 

6. Keep Your Technical Skills up to Date

Customer service means honing both your computer and people skills. Part of the job is being able to navigate customer service software and technologies. Most bigger companies use customer relationship management (CRM) systems to keep track of customer touchpoints (phone calls, emails, orders). If you don’t have any CRM software experience, you can get familiar with them with tutorials online, like these courses from Udemy.

Technical skills in customer service are changing, and one example of that change is chatbots. It’s unlikely that chatbots will replace customer service jobs in the near future because people still prefer speaking with humans over chatbots to resolve most issues. More probably, customer service will increasingly involve collaboration between customer service reps and chatbots. That’s why gaining a better understanding and having experience with chatbots can help you excel at your customer service job.

7. Don’t Lose Your Cool

Last but not least, patience. It’s one of the most essential skills for customer service professionals. Because chances are, if someone is calling customer service, everything isn’t peaches and cream. Customers will be coming at you ready to chew your head off or collapse in frustration. Just know that with a little active listening and positivity, you’ll likely make it to the other side.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Thanks for reading! Now I’m curious about what you think. What are customer service skills that you find most helpful on the job? What’s the most difficult customer service experience you’ve ever had? Is AI the future of customer service? Let’s chat in the comments!

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Sources

• Salesforce, "State of the connected customer: 4th edition"
• Bain & Company, "Prescription for Cutting Costs"
• Statista, "Primary causes of customer service frustration in U.S. 2017"
• Coursera, "Active Listening Skills: Lesson 1"
• Umnico, "Chatbots vs. Human Customer Support"
• Playvox, "The Future of Customer Service: AI and Human Collaboration"
• D. P. Carmody, M. Lewis, "Brain Activation When Hearing One’s Own and Others’ Names"