By Nancy Friedman, Customer Service Speaker; President, Telephone Doctor Customer Service

One of the hottest job sectors in 2018 will be in customer service.

According to a story in USA Today, several industries will be hiring and stepping up their customer service to compete and attract and keep customers.

Of the top five selected – they all have one thing in common. The need for customer service training. (But then don’t they all????)

Computer Support Specialists – IT departments in nearly every office in corporate America depend too much on technology and not enough on personalized service. Many computer support specialists come into the job unprepared in the field of customer service and communication skills. They nail it on the computer and fail it with the human touch side. It’s one of the top areas where customer service skills are desperately needed. Computer schools teach technology, but most don’t teach customer service.

Financial Clerks – Those who work in the industry clearly have their numbers down cold. They couldn’t get the job without that. But while they are number experts, many lack communication skills. They tend to talk ‘over’ the customer’s head and miscommunications are high. So, there’s a big need to train people in this sector.

Information Clerks – Information clerks, according to USA Today, serve as the backbones of the companies that they work for, providing vital services such as recordkeeping and maintenance, data collection, customer assistance, and more.

Nearly every industry employs information clerks to help them operate efficiently. But how many have been trained in customer service? Few.

Insurance Sales Agents – Yes, another growing industry as it’s pretty easy to gain entrance into insurance sales. Trouble is, after the agent sells the customer, the account is normally turned over and handled by an assistant, front office personnel; and trust me, many of those are not skilled in customer service. When I have a concern with my insurance agent, I receive an email from him, with a copy to his assistant, ‘to please help Mrs. Friedman.” And, might I remind you, it was an assistant to the insurance agent who mishandled me many years ago with a policy issue. It was that experience that grew into The Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training. Agents sell, they don’t always provide customer service. And sometimes their assistants don’t either.

Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales Representatives – Indeed, a lucrative job. And yet salespeople, in most industries, are the ones that bleed when a call is mishandled with the customer. They make the sale and then the customer is often turned over to the Customer Service Department or Client Success Team or Department to work with the customers. Follow up after the sale by the actual salesperson is often not handled by the salesperson themselves. Salespeople want to sell. They leave the ‘service’ up to others.

All customer service jobs lay in the everyday workplace, in every cubicle in every industry; on every floor of every office. Sadly, companies are so busy selling and making their numbers that dealing with the customer that interacting with the consumer gets ignored. Exactly why businesses need to train their employees in customer service.

Each one of you reading this could probably send me horror stories on how you were treated in each of the top jobs for customer service listed.

Customer service is NOT a JOB – it’s a mentality – and a learned one in most cases.

There are great jobs out there. But without customer service training the companies that hire might not be there long.