Customer Service Specialist

AccuWeather is looking for a Customer Service Specialist that embraces the corporate vision and philosophy by providing quality service support that is personalized, exceeding the specific needs of every client with courtesy, accuracy, timeliness, effort and enthusiasm. The Customer Service team supports all the Operations Department, Sales, Information Technology, and all Lines of Business. The team is overwhelmingly committed to ensuring internal and external client concerns or opportunities are handled until resolution with positivity, sincerity and providing a single point of contact. The Customer Service Specialist position is a remote position.

Job Responsibilities

With the purpose of ensuring AccuWeather provides not only Superior Accuracy™ but world class customer service support, the Customer Service Specialist is an integral member of a team that is a centralized point of contact for customers both internally and externally. Responsibilities include:

Behavioral:

• We expect members of the team to be positive, work well with the team as a whole and demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively with peers throughout the company in a professional manner.
• Work independently and as a team to manage workload in a professional manner.
• Maintain confidentiality.
• Support a learning culture and foster teamwork.
• Be able to communicate complex information to customers, internal or external, in a clear and understandable manner.
• Positively represent the company and the department at all times both internally and externally.
• Maintain a solution-oriented mindset by consistently putting one’s self into the customer’s shoes and looking for ways to improve the customer experience.
• Driving awareness to the products and services we provide.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Monitoring assigned queues on a daily basis.
• Taking inbound calls.
• Outbound calls to clients for required products and follow-up.
• Identify and address all customer questions and concerns.
• Conflict resolution internal/external.
• Thoroughly research and understand all facets of customers’ requests.
• Assist customers by identifying and analyzing their needs to ensure high customer satisfaction, growth and retention of business.
• Maintain a current and robust level of product knowledge
• Work internally to resolve each ticketed issue in queue, conferring with other AccuWeather personnel for resolution.
• Update customer via the phone, email or other communication means as necessary with status of issue and estimated time for resolution.
• Monitor internal communications to alert others of potential issues affecting service.
• Offer input for product improvements or enhancements from knowledge gained by client issue resolution.
• Other duties may be assigned.

Key Performance Indicators

There are two key areas that will be considered when evaluating performance of this role: customer perceptions based on surveys; and internal operational effectiveness and efficiencies based on resolution metrics. The combination of customer and internal attributes constitutes AccuWeather’s “Quality Framework”, and includes:

Customer Perception Attributes

• Resolution - Resolving the customer’s issue/question
• Appreciation - Having the customer feel valued
• Effort - Making it easy for the customer to do what they want to do
• Trust - Building the customer's trust
• Fan - Creating brand advocates

Internal Attributes

• Time to response - Average time for personal response
• 1st contact resolution - % solved with one reply
• Interactions / resolution - Average responses / resolution
• Time to resolution - Average total time to resolution
• Volume & backlog - Qty, Qty open
• Cases escalated / handed off - Qty and %

Job Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• High School Diploma or General Education Degree (GED) is required
• Associate degree in English, Journalism, marketing or other related degree is preferred.
• Experience with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is preferred.
• One to two years in customer service field is required.
• Previous call center work in a customer service environment is preferred.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Professional and pleasant telephone manner with ability to listen actively and communicate effectively.
• Ability to maintain composure in stressful situations.
• Ability to multi-task.
• Sound solving skills and ability to solve customer issues in an efficient and courteous manner.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word and Excel, as well as experience with data entry is required.
• Ability to navigate the internet and web-based programs.
• Strong work ethic and demonstrates excellent record of attendance and punctuality.
• Ability to work well with teams and have professional interactions with all members and personalities.