For many, the thought of finding a work-from-home job can be intimidating.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you don’t have the necessary skills or aren’t qualified to obtain an online job.
After all, many online jobs lend themselves to technically savvy workers who have experience in web development, programming, or graphic design.
But this shouldn’t scare you away.
There are plenty of entry-level opportunities out there for you to explore — specifically in the area of online customer service.
In this article, we’re going to tell you about entry-level work-from-home customer service jobs.
We’ll go over worker requirements, the different types of home-based jobs you can get, and where you can start applying for jobs.
Let’s get started and get you one step closer to scoring that awesome job.
Overview of Remote Customer Service Jobs
As a customer service representative, you’ll be responsible for solving any issues customers may have.
This could include answering customer questions, troubleshooting problems that arise, dealing with customer complaints, or solving any other account issues.
This job is all about maintaining customer happiness.
Customer service positions are plentiful because nearly every company has a need for customer support.
Regardless of what type of company it is, there will always be an opening for someone to handle issues customers have.
Customer service is increasingly outsourced to other companies or given to internal employees who can do the job from a home office.
As long as employees are well-trained and capable, customer support representatives can do their job from anywhere in the world.
Remote Customer Service Job Requirements
For the most part, the requirements for a work-from-home customer service job are basic.
If you can master a few customer service skills and have access to a reliable internet connection, then this role could be the perfect fit for you.
Since support specialists deal with customers on a daily basis, it’s imperative that you’re personable and have a great deal of patience.
Having previous customer service experience is not usually necessary, but it’s definitely an added bonus if you have experience maintaining customer relationships.
In some cases, you’ll be dealing with customers who are frustrated and experiencing issues with a product or service.
It will be your job to keep customers happy and manage what may be a stressful situation by ensuring their issue is resolved in a timely manner.
You’ll also need to be an impeccable problem-solver and be able to think on your feet to handle any issue thrown your way.
Overall, it’s all about ensuring a positive customer experience.
You’ll also need to have basic computer skills, the appropriate tools, and access to an adequate workspace.
In regards to which tools you’ll need, a laptop for you to work on and a phone for you to take calls are the two primary requirements.
You’ll also need to have a reliable high-speed internet connection and a quiet space if your role requires talking on the phone with customers.
Types of Remote Customer Service Jobs
There are a few different types of customer service jobs you can have.
Depending on what you’re most comfortable with, you can decide on the following roles for your next position.
Call Center
Customer service jobs over the phone are some of the most popular roles out there.
There are thousands of call center representative opportunities just waiting for you to apply.
In this role, you’ll become the first point of contact for a business as a customer support specialist.
If you think about it, a majority of companies out there have a customer service phone number you can call if you have an issue.
The person on the other line could be someone — like yourself — solving issues from the comfort of their home without you ever knowing it.
These types of remote customer service representative roles are plentiful in the United States, however, not everyone likes sitting on the phone taking customer service calls all day.
If a customer call center role isn’t your cup of tea, there are other customer service roles that may be more up your alley.
Chat Support
Online chat support is becoming more and more popular every day.
Have you ever been on a website and seen a chat bubble pop up in the lower corner?
If so, this is a perfect example of a chat support job.
Many companies only offer chat support and no longer provide customer service over the phone.
In this type of role, you’ll respond to the same types of issues and problems, except it will all be online through a chat interface.
Like phone support, chat support requires you to be online waiting to solve urgent issues for customers.
If you prefer interacting with customers over an online messaging application rather than over the phone, this is an ideal role for you.
You won’t have to speak with anyone, and you can even do the job from a home office in a different timezone.
Email Support
Email support roles are similar to the jobs previously mentioned, however, this is a less urgent way to solve customer problems.
While phone and chat support are geared towards solving customer problems immediately, email support enables you to problem-solve in a slower manner.
This means that the issues at hand may be slightly different.
For example, a phone or chat support issue could be that a customer can’t access their online account.
A customer service associate would be able to solve this problem in a relatively quick manner and move on to the next customer.
In an email support role, you may have less urgent issues or ones that require further investigation.
This could include basic questions regarding a service or follow-up inquiries about a product’s performance.
This doesn’t mean you can take your time and respond to customers a week later.
It just means you won’t have to be online waiting for a call or chat to come through.
Social Media Moderator
Social media moderators are the new customer service points of contact for many brands.
In addition to chat support, email support, and customer call centers, many brands leverage their social media channels as a customer service tool.
In many instances, social media channels like Twitter and Facebook are used to address concerns and issues customers have.
The benefit of using social media to answer questions includes showing customers that the company is always available to help solve their problems, as well as being able to contribute to the general conversation and dialogue online.
This allows brands to get ahead of issues and squash problems before news of them starts spreading over the internet.
Companies like Postmates, Grubhub, and Lyft all have dedicated Twitter handles that focus on customer service and solving current customer issues.
Virtual Assistant
While virtual assistant roles are different from all of the customer support jobs we’ve already mentioned, they do have a customer service aspect to them.
A virtual assistant is someone who’s hired to help out in a variety of ways, and the job descriptions for this position can vary.
Virtual assistants could take care of clerical work, data entry, administrative tasks, technical support, or any other form of assistance that a company, small business owner, or other professional may need.
One way you can look at it is that your “customer” is the person who employs you, and you’re solving their problems on a daily basis.
Another way you can look at it is that some virtual assistant roles will require you to answer customer emails for your employer.
So in a roundabout way, you’re still fulfilling the same duties as a customer service agent.
Find a Remote Customer Service Job
Since customer support jobs are so plentiful, there are many ways you can go about finding a remote job.
One way includes going to any job board you can find online and searching for remote customer service job titles.
The other way is heading to remote job boards that specifically focus on remote workers.
These employment boards will have a range of full-time and part-time customer support job postings that you can start applying for:
With some of these job boards, you’ll need to select only remote positions, however, most of them are remote work job boards and only feature online jobs.
If you don’t see anything you like, then by all means, keep searching.
As mentioned before, the number of companies out there that need customer service representatives is almost limitless.
If you have a specific company in mind, then check out its job listings to see if there are any remote customer service openings.
Customer Care From Home
Customer care jobs are a perfect fit for anyone who wants to work at home.
Many of these positions have few requirements, making it easy for people with varying skill levels and experience to find employment.
If you think you’re capable of creating customer success stories, this is a great line of work.
If you think you have what it takes to troubleshoot issues and interact with customers throughout your day, then make sure you apply today.
