Customer support is excellent work. I can tell you that from experience, having spent two years on the HubSpot Support Team. If you like solving problems, helping people, and seeing the direct impact of your efforts, it might just be the career path for you.
Still unsure about working in customer service? Don‘t worry — I’ve got you covered. In this post, I'll explore the different types of customer service roles and the many benefits of working in customer support.
Table of Contents
Why Work in Customer Service?
Working in customer service can be extremely rewarding. You help people achieve goals and play a direct role in customer success. And, the professional skills you develop in this field can be applied to any career you pursue.
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How to Master Your Customer Support Career
Learn how to navigate and grow in your customer support job, including:
- The Skills You'll Need
- Tools of the Trade
- Metrics to Know
- Where to Go Next
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Is customer service a good job?
Customer service is a fantastic job, though people often misunderstand it as a “backup career.” I had similar reservations when I first started. However, the truth is that customer support is at the core of a company's success. For example, 94% of customers say that a positive customer service experience encourages them to make a repeat purchase. That level of impact on a company's bottom line is super gratifying to be responsible for.
I’ve also been on the other end of the phone, and I’m sure you can relate. One poor customer service experience is enough to make me consider the competition, and 73% of consumers agree with me.
Regardless of your preconceived notions of customer service, I’m here to show you that a job in customer service will help you develop crucial skills and open the door to a successful career at a company you care about.
15 Benefits of Working in Customer Support
1. You’ll develop emotional intelligence.
Working with customers all day will develop your emotional intelligence and communication skills. I'm not exactly a natural in terms of social skills, but working in customer support helped me strengthen those muscles.
Here are some ways working in customer support will help you develop emotional intelligence:
- Frequent emotional interaction with customers. As a customer support rep, you'll handle heightened emotional situations regularly. Repeated exposure to upset, angry, or confrontational customers gives you the opportunity to understand someone else's emotional state and respond accordingly.
- Problem-solving under pressure. Providing high-quality customer support often entails thinking on your feet and staying calm in challenging scenarios. Frequent exposure to tough situations will train you to regulate your emotions, stay calm, and think clearly when the sh*t hits the fan.
- Builds empathy. Putting yourself in the customer's shoes is a crucial skill for a support rep. Regularly dealing with customer issues will build a strong sense of empathy that helps you get to the root of customer frustration. This valuable skill helps you understand other people's needs and perspectives and connect with them on an emotional level.
- Improves communication skills. As a customer support rep, you‘ll have no choice but to improve your communication skills. You’ll learn to articulate yourself clearly and confidently while managing the emotional trajectory of conversations. Never again will you feel too awkward to order a pizza over the phone!
2. You’ll learn your product or service, inside and out.
Expertise in your company’s offerings is non-negotiable for success in customer support. As a support rep, you’ll have more hands-on experience with your company’s offerings than almost anyone else in your organization. Not only is this helpful for solving customer inquiries quickly, but it’s an excellent foundation for career growth.
Many of my colleagues on HubSpot’s Support Team have parlayed their skills and product knowledge to transition to roles in Engineering, Product Management, Sales, and Design. I chose a different path, leaving my job to follow my dream of being a professional bassist in a touring band — but that’s a story for another time.
3. You’ll build transferable skills.
Building your expertise in customer support will equip you with versatile skills that you can apply to other types of roles. Here are some examples:
- Sales. You will have unparalleled insight into customer needs and precisely how customers use your company’s product or service to achieve their goals. This is a powerful asset in sales that allows you to share compelling social proof of your product’s effectiveness.
- Marketing. Any marketing team will prize your in-depth product knowledge and elevated communication skills. Whether writing blog posts, managing social media, or conducting marketing research, your experience in support can provide a valuable perspective on marketing.
- Product Development. Intimate product knowledge can pave the way for a transition to development. At HubSpot Support, we learned basic web development skills to help customers with web design inquiries, and many of my colleagues used that foundation to launch careers in product. Whether that’s development, user research, or product management, support is a great jumping-off point for more technical careers.
4. You can educate customers without selling.
One of my favorite aspects of working at HubSpot Support was educating and empowering customers. Solving their problems and teaching them new ways to use our product to meet their business needs was so gratifying.
Whether explaining a new feature or devising a workaround on the fly, nothing beats knowing you made a positive difference in the customer’s day-to-day operations and their long-term relationship with your business.
5. You can develop a side project.
At HubSpot, we ensure reps have adequate time away from the phones for a couple of reasons:
- Personal needs like meals, breaks, meetings, and pet care.
- Side projects and initiatives that benefit their careers and the company.
For example, when I worked at HubSpot, one of my colleagues took it upon themselves to create and manage a dedicated social support channel on X (it was called Twitter back then). Now, social media is a major channel that customers look to for rapid support and status updates.
6. You’ll learn how to solve problems effectively.
At its core, customer support is about problem-solving. Every challenge you face will require a blend of creative thinking, expertise, and people skills. Working in customer support will hone your problem-solving skills, which will significantly benefit you in any future role.
Problem-solving skills are essential for leaders in any industry, and customer support will teach you to employ empathy, use critical thinking, and effectively frame problems to align organizational and customer priorities.
7. You’ll master different communication mediums.
Of customers, 76% expect consistent interactions across all departments and communication mediums. As a result, customer service teams require reps to work on multiple support channels. When I worked at HubSpot, I started on the phones but eventually ended up on the email support team.
Here are some support channels you'll be exposed to:
- Email.
- Phone.
- Live chat.
- Social media.
- Community forums.
Different support channels require different skills and standards. Mastering communication across multiple mediums will make you well-rounded and able to handle various roles in the future.
8. You’ll collaborate with a diverse team.
Customer support teams aren't just your stereotypical tech-oriented group. They are made up of unique individuals with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
My favorite part of working in HubSpot Support was collaborating with my team. I made great friends during my time there, and they all taught me something different when we worked on cases together.
Being part of a diverse team exposes you to different perspectives on problem-solving and working with customers. This will benefit you in the long run as you can relate to a wide variety of people, from introverted techy engineers to gregarious salespeople.
Moreover, companies prioritizing diversity are more than 2x as likely to be considered innovators in their fields and experience 6% more revenue than their competition.
How to Master Your Customer Support Career
Learn how to navigate and grow in your customer support job, including:
- The Skills You'll Need
- Tools of the Trade
- Metrics to Know
- Where to Go Next
Download Free
All fields are required.
9. You’ll learn to work remotely.
Of U.S. companies, 40% offered more remote work opportunities this year than five years ago. As customer service technology continues to enable reps to work from home, more customer service teams are taking advantage of this opportunity.
Remote work isn't just a nice perk, though.
Being an accountable and productive team member from home is a skill that will benefit you in any career path. As the cost of office space rises, you might find yourself going remote.
Exposure to remote work in a customer service role is an excellent experience for any career. It challenges you to master your daily workflow without the immediate assistance of your surrounding colleagues. You’ll learn how to be an independent and disciplined problem solver that people can rely on.
10. You can build a network within your organization.
In customer support, you won’t always have the answers. By the nature of the job, you’ll sometimes have to reach out to teammates or people in different departments for assistance on cases. For example, I would often have to touch base with engineers on the product team for help on technical cases or to report bugs in the software.
Being in support puts you in contact with other departments and stakeholders, which results in relationship-building and internal networking opportunities. If you want to grow at a company that inspires you, working in support may be the perfect way to get your foot in the door and establish a career.
11. You can come from any background and experience level.
I joined HubSpot Support right out of college with a Psychology degree and no experience in customer service. Some of my other colleagues had degrees in English or Writing, and others made lateral career moves from Real Estate and Retail.
My point is that you can join a customer support team like HubSpot’s with any level of experience as long as you are willing and able to learn.
12. You’ll directly impact your company’s bottom line.
Businesses that offer excellent customer service boast 4% to 8% more revenue than their competition.
Working in customer support means you are directly responsible for driving customer loyalty and retention that sustains business growth, and I think that’s pretty cool.
In my opinion, Sales and Marketing get too much credit when it comes to business profitability. Of course, you need them to generate new customers, but customer retention is where it's at.
It costs a lot more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one — like 5 to 7 times more. In addition, a 5% boost in customer retention can increase profit by 25% to 95%.
Needless to say, it’s gratifying to be a part of a team with such a significant impact on your company’s bottom line.
13. You’ll master feedback and self-awareness.
Customer support roles often entail receiving and integrating lots of feedback. As a new rep, you’ll have supervisors and more experienced reps shadow your calls and provide feedback on improving your communication. You’ll also have ongoing performance meetings with your manager, and some customers won’t hesitate to give you feedback as well, trust me.
Receiving feedback, especially constructive criticism, can be tough at first. However, frequent exposure to feedback in a customer support role will help you get comfortable analyzing and improving your performance.
Cultivating self-awareness and a teachable mindset is crucial for success in any career, and working in customer service will make you a superstar at integrating feedback if you are open to it.
14. You’ll build motivation and resilience.
I won’t lie to you; customer support can sometimes be tough. There are days when the team is completely slammed with an onslaught of tickets, and you’re glued to the phone for hours.
Some of my most challenging days in support were when there was a product outage, and I had to explain to frustrated customers that there was nothing we could do but wait for the engineers to squash the bug.
But I’m not here to scare you. The truth is that working in customer service will harden your resolve. If you maintain a positive attitude, navigating the challenges of customer support will build resilience that will carry through to any future role and life in general.
15. You can gain data analysis and reporting skills.
As a customer support rep, you’ll likely work in a CRM or other data-driven customer support software tool. Experience in this environment can help you develop valuable data analysis skills like:
- Interpreting customer service metrics and KPIs.
- Creating and presenting reports on support team performance.
- Identifying trends and patterns in customer behavior and feedback.
- Using data to make informed decisions and improve processes.
Getting comfortable with data and reporting is a valuable skill for career growth.
If you see yourself moving up to management, you’ll need to have a firm grasp of data and analytics related to team performance. In addition, analytical skills are highly transferable and beneficial to many other roles, such as marketing and product management.
Looking for customer service software for your team? Check out HubSpot Service Hub.
Types of Customer Service Jobs
There are a wide variety of customer service roles you can apply for when starting a customer service career. Most entry-level applicants start as representatives or specialists, then move into more managerial and strategic roles.
If you’re afraid of working in a call center forever, don’t fret. There’s more to customer service than answering the phone.
Keep in mind that companies will name customer service roles differently. For example, I started at HubSpot as a Support Engineer. However, it was an entry-level technical support role and not an engineering role at all. So, check out the job description when looking for customer service roles to ensure you know what the role entails.
Entry-Level Positions
Customer Support Representative
Customer support representatives receive and answer customer questions. Responsibilities include:
- Primary point of contact for customers
- Answering questions via email, phone, chat, or social media
- Resolving basic issues
- Escalating complex issues to specialists
Customer Support Specialist
Specialists are, well, specialized. Responsibilities include:
- Focus on more specific product areas or customer segments
- Resolve more complex and technical issues
- May require additional training or certifications
Technical Support Representative
Technical support reps are like regular reps, but they support technology products. Responsibilities include:
- Providing support for technology products or services
- Troubleshooting software or hardware issues
- May require a technical background or certifications
Mid-Level Positions
Customer Success Manager
Unlike support reps who reactively answer customer questions, CSMs proactively work with customers to discuss strategies and enable success. Responsibilities include:
- Proactively engaging with customers to ensure satisfaction
- Developing strategies to increase customer retention and loyalty
- Often working with high-value or enterprise clients
Customer Experience Analyst
A customer experience analyst interprets customer satisfaction data for a business. Responsibilities include:
- Analyzing customer feedback and support data to identify trends and areas for improvement
- Collaborating with other departments to enhance the customer journey
- Conducting surveys to collect client feedback
Knowledge Base Specialist
Many companies offer self-service opportunities in the form of a knowledge base so customers can search and solve problems independently. A knowledge base specialist is responsible for maintaining that documentation, among other things:
- Creating and maintaining support documentation and FAQs
- Developing training materials for both customers and support staff
- Ensuring the knowledge base is up-to-date and easily accessible
Management Positions
Customer Support Team Lead
A team lead is typically a highly experienced customer service rep who manages a small team of other reps. Responsibilities include:
- Overseeing a team of support representatives
- Providing coaching and mentoring to team members
- Handling escalated customer issues
Customer Support Manager
Customer support managers oversee customer service and support operations at a company. Responsibilities include:
- Managing larger support teams or departments
- Developing and implementing support strategies and policies
- Reporting on team performance and key metrics
- Ensuring customers receive the best quality service and support
Director of Customer Experience or Success
A director of customer experience is responsible for customer satisfaction at a higher level than support management. They focus on the customer journey as a whole, not just the performance of a support team. Responsibilities include:
- Overseeing the overall customer journey
- Developing company-wide customer-centric strategies
- Collaborating with other department heads to align customer-focused initiatives
Chief Customer Officer
The chief customer officer (CCO) is a high-level C-Suite executive focused on company-wide strategy. Responsibilities include:
- Making overarching strategic decisions regarding customer experience and company financial goals
- Ensuring customer-centricity is embedded in all aspects of the business
- Overseeing all customer-facing teams
A Customer Support Job is the Start of a Highly Rewarding Career
Most people look at customer service as an entry-level role. However, there are also plenty of opportunities for people with more experience.
Whether you're just getting out of college or taking a new direction in your career, customer service teams offer a variety of unique positions and benefits that will help you grow in your professional and personal life.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in February 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
How to Master Your Customer Support Career
Learn how to navigate and grow in your customer support job, including:
- The Skills You'll Need
- Tools of the Trade
- Metrics to Know
- Where to Go Next
Download Free
All fields are required.
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