Customer Service Representative Skills & Tools

What skills do customer service representatives need?

Customer Service Representatives need technical skills such as crm and ticketing systems, product and policy knowledge, and typing and multitasking, plus people skills like empathy and patience. They also use tools such as CRM platforms such as Salesforce or Zendesk and Phone and headset systems.

Technical (hard) skills

CRM and ticketing systems
Product and policy knowledge
Typing and multitasking
Order and payment processing
Written communication
Basic troubleshooting

People (soft) skills

Empathy
Patience
Active listening
Problem-solving

Tools, equipment and technology

CRM platforms such as Salesforce or Zendesk
Phone and headset systems
Live chat software
Knowledge bases
Order management systems
Microsoft or Google productivity tools

Skills in action: common tasks

These step-by-step guides show how customer service representatives put their skills to work:

How to show these skills on a resume

Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “CRM and ticketing systems” and “Product and policy knowledge.”
Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “empathy,” describe a situation where you used it.
List credentials such as HDI Customer Service Representative (HDI-CSR) near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our customer service representative glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.

How to build these skills

Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Customer Service Representative training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.

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