Customer Service Skills That Big Tech Companies Are Looking For (and Free Resources to Build Them)

Customer service is constantly evolving, and the best customer service representatives (CSRs) are able to adjust their skillset to keep up. With these well-developed and specialized skill sets, these professionals are attractive to even the world’s largest tech companies. 

Here’s a look at the customer service representative skills you’ll need to get these companies’ attention.

Customer Service Skills That Big Tech Companies Are Looking For

Here’s a list of customer service skills list you can use to hone your professional abilities and land a great new job.

1. Attention to detail

Attention to detail can help the best customer service representatives make every little interaction count. This advantage gives you the power to change negative experiences into positive ones and develop close relationships.

Monzo is looking for detail-oriented representatives.

Monzo is hoping to build a new type of bank that offers 24/7 customer support to its account holders. Therefore, the company is putting together a robust Customer Operations (COps) team. As you can imagine, it’s important for these team members to offer detail-oriented support to customers that’s specific to each industry.

Free resources to master your detail-oriented approach.

Here are some great resources you can use to boost your attention to detail:

• How to Develop Your Attention to Detail Skills from CareerAddict
• Critical Reasons Why Attention to Detail Matters for Leaders from Thoughtful Leader

2. Empathy

Empathy is an essential skill for any customer service representative. A heightened sense of empathy can help you connect with customers and acknowledge their feelings, which enhances the customer service experience.

Spotify needs empathetic customer support associates.

Spotify needs to both delight its users and contributors. Therefore, this music-streaming provider needs to hire effective customer support associates who understand the needs of both sets of customers.

Free resources to hone your empathy.

Here are some resources that can help you develop your sense of empathy:

• A Guide to Empathy in Customer Service from Freshworks

3. Analytical Skills

Over the course of the day, customer service professionals in big tech companies must be able to think quickly and make an accurate assessment of different situations. Their ability to analyze a complex situation can help them deliver effective customer service that keeps customers happy. 

Google loves customer support representatives with analytical skills.

Google offers a range of sophisticated tech products. So its customer service team members must be able to apply their analytical skills, in order to get the best outcomes for customers. As you can see from the ad above, Google values strong analytical skills.

How to improve your analytical skills.

Ready to boost your analytical thinking skills? Here are some great resources to point you in the right direction:

• 7 Steps to Improve Your Analytical Thinking Skills from Talentbridge
• Logical and Critical Thinking Skills (free online course) from Future Learn

4. Presentation Abilities

Senior customer service professionals must be able to clearly walk their customers and colleagues through complex tasks. They should exhibit unparalleled presentation abilities, which can be used to walk customers through even the most complex tech platforms.

Microsoft is seeking eloquent customer service professionals.

In a job description for a senior position, Microsoft emphasizes just how important fantastic presentation skills are. These skills can help customer service professionals keep everybody in the picture.

Free resources to improve your presentation skills.

Here are free resources that focus on helping you improve your skills to deliver a better presentation:

• Join Toastmasters International 
• 20 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills from WordStream
• How to Improve Your Presentation Skills from Philip VanDusen

5. Great listening skills

As a customer service professional, you must be able to speak confidently. But you also have to be very adept at listening. If you want to enter the big leagues at a tech company, you’ll have to demonstrate the ability to listen, pick out key details, and ask the right questions.

IBM needs attentive customer service representatives.

IBM is at the center of the world’s most exciting technology. Its customer service representatives must be able to use great listening skills, in order to properly understand queries and pinpoint the exact issue they need to solve.

Free resources to help improve your listening skills.

Ready to conquer tech questions by developing your listening skills? Use these free resources:

• 10 Steps to Effective Listening from Forbes

6. The ability to articulate ideas

Tech companies often deliver complex products to customers and other businesses. These products can create challenging situations for involved parties, so customer service representatives must speak clearly and accurately.

Amazon is searching for articulate customer service representatives.

Amazon is a tech powerhouse in the business and consumer spaces. It hires articulate customer service associates who can use the right language in the right way, in order to guide customers to the solutions they need. This skill set reduces frustration and expedites resolution time.

Become more articulate today.

It’s definitely possible to become more articulate by using these free resources:

• How to Be More Articulate: 8 Secrets to Be a Better Speaker from Reader’s Digest
• How to Articulate Your Thoughts from Cynthia Zhai

7. A strong technical aptitude

It’s not surprising that customer service representatives working in tech companies need to demonstrate a technical aptitude. The ability to operate and understand various tech platforms can help you deliver insightful and effective customer service.

Asana needs customer service representatives who specialize in tech literature. 

In this ad for a customer support specialist, Asana underscores the need for a strong technical aptitude. This skill both helps professionals deliver accurate feedback and helps customers feel comfortable and secure. 

Free resources to boost your technical aptitude.

Ready to improve your own tech skills with these free resources?

• Technology Training Courses from Alison
• Fundamentals of IT from Google

8. Problem-solving skills

Customer service representatives in tech companies need to understand what their customers are looking for, in terms of information. For these customer service representatives, each interaction is a small puzzle that needs to be solved, which is why you need excellent problem-solving skills.

Apple makes a good impression via its creative customer service experiences.

Apple is perhaps the world’s most well-known tech company. It thrives by keeping its products simple and accessible. In its customer support and customer service ads, it underscores the fact its representatives must have great problem-solving skills.

Free resources to improve your problem-solving skills.

Here are some great free resources:

• 10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Problem Solving Skills from CMOE.com

9. Strong interpersonal skills

Customer service professionals don’t just need to be able to serve customers. They need to be able to work in harmony alongside colleagues and senior team members, in order to achieve their goals. This situation is often true in large tech companies, which is why customer service representatives must exhibit great interpersonal skills, maintain strong relationships, and connect with others.

Samsung needs customer service specialists who are socially intelligent.

Samsung is one of the world’s largest companies. This tech giant offers international environments that bring a range of employee levels together. As such, it looks for customer service specialists who have excellent interpersonal skills.

Nourish your interpersonal skills with these free resources.

Here are some of the best free resources for pushing your interpersonal skills higher:

• Nine Tips for Improving Your Interpersonal Skills from Kelly Services

10. Big picture thinking

Every team member in every business needs to understand exactly how to push the business forward in his or her role. This axiom is also true for customer service professionals. In order to work effectively, you must understand your function within a business and know the way it will help the business succeed.

Netflix is searching for big-picture customer service professionals.

Netflix’s recruitment message is very clear: It wants customer service professionals who help get customers streaming again. This description demonstrates just how tech companies need customer service representatives to focus on the big picture and understand their roles. 

Improve your ability to see the big picture.

These great free resources can help you see the big picture:

• 5 Ways to Get Big Picture Thinking from Engineering Management Institute

11. The ability to develop product knowledge

Tech companies offer some of the world’s most sophisticated products and services. So in order to operate effectively, customer service professionals like you must be able to develop product knowledge and become true experts.

Typeform needs true product advocates.

Typeform helps businesses all over the world offer interactive experiences to their customers. Since this platform is intricate and complex, it needs customer service professionals who can nourish their product knowledge.

Free resources to improve this ability.

Here are some tools you can use to accelerate your learning abilities:

• 74 Tips on How to Learn Smarter from Open Education Database

12. Efficient execution

The world’s largest tech companies often experience a steady stream of customer service requests. Therefore, tech companies need to find customer service professionals who can work quickly and efficiently. If you’re going to land the best roles, you must be able to maintain a high standard of quality while you’re working quickly.

Which companies are looking for this skill set.

TravelPerk is aiming to transform the face of business travel. So it attracts a high volume of customers. In other words, it relies on a fast, efficient customer care team that can deliver fast service yet still tick the right boxes, in terms of quality.

Free resources. 

Here are some of the top resources you can use to improve your efficiency:

• 10 Quick and Simple Ways to Improve Work Efficiency from Tony Robbins
• 20 Ways to Improve Your Efficiency at Work from CareerAddict

13. A collaborative mindset

Since customer service professionals spend significant portions of their day directly interacting with customers and acquiring feedback, they’re often on the frontlines. The best CSRs are able to relay that feedback in a way that will drive value across the business and forge closer ties between tech companies and their users.

Twitch enhances knowledge-sharing by hiring collaborative CSRs.

Twitch is a thriving streaming platform that serves a large, diverse community. It hires CSRs who are capable of collecting and collating feedback from their conversations and relaying that information back to the rest of their team.

Learn how to improve your cross-department collaboration skills.

Here are some resources to help you think about cross-department collaboration:

• 11 Ways to Improve Collaboration between Departments from Workzone

14. Authenticity

Since customers appreciate authentic communication, they’re very quick to spot it. The best CSRs genuinely care about their customers, and they’re driven by a desire to help them. This genuine desire will manifest itself via authentic communication.

Salesforce is searching for authentic customer service professionals.

Salesforce offers the world’s most popular CRM solution, and it works with countless customers around the world. So it’s looking to hire authentic customer service professionals who can deliver effective, authentic service that delights customers.

How to elevate the authenticity of your communication.

Here are some resources that can help you communicate authentically:

• 5 Tips to Communicate Authentically in Business from HuffPost
• 10 Top Tips for Authentic Communication from Communicaid

15. A drive for results

Customer service professionals also need to be motivated by a desire to achieve their goals and produce results. In tech companies, CSRs must be able to resolve a high volume of queries and achieve a successful outcome. So the world’s biggest tech companies have a number of goals and targets in place.

PayPal is looking for results-driven customer service professionals.

There are over 270 million PayPal users around the world. This company has cultivated an excellent customer service team that can effectively handle a large volume of technical requests, thanks to their focus on achieving great results.

Use these free resources to focus on achieving results.

Here are insightful resources you can use to improve your focus on results:

• 5 Ways to Focus on Results Instead of Process from The Business Journals

16. Team leadership experience

Big tech companies often hire large customer service teams, which include professionals with different levels of seniority. In other words, a number of companies require customer service professionals who can demonstrate a wealth of team leadership experience, in order to guide these teams to success.

Uber is searching for customer service leaders.

There are over 95 million active Uber users around the world, and they often require great customer service. In the above ad for a supervisor, Uber underscores just how essential customer service leadership experience is.

Dig into customer service in more depth by using these free resources.

Here are some resources you can use to boost your understanding of customer service:

• 8 Rules for Good Customer Service from The Balance Small Business 

17. Conflict resolution skills

Customer service professionals often find themselves in tough situations that require quick thinking and the ability to diffuse tense situations. So a natural tendency toward diplomacy can help tech companies retain and delight customers, in order to reduce losses and protect profits.

Airbnb requires diplomatic customer service professionals.

Airbnb is a tech platform that regularly faces tough situations. So this company makes sure to search for CSRs with proven skills in conflict resolution. This ability can help Airbnb resolve tense situations and retain its most active customers.

Free resources to improve your conflict resolution skills.

Here are free resources you can use to improve your conflict resolution skills:

• 5 Conflict Resolution Strategies We All Use from The Participation Company
• Activities to Improve Conflict Resolution Skills from Chron

18. Good business acumen

Big tech companies have complex structures, and every member of the team needs to pull the business in the right direction. In other words, every team member should have good business acumen, including the customer service team. This ability can truly help customer service professionals drive value across the business and meet their goals.

Intel requires good business acumen.

Intel is one of the world’s largest tech companies, and it has a reputation for being a very professional and sensible. This reputation undoubtedly stems from the fact that it places a strong priority on business acumen throughout its departments. Intel’s CSRs play a big role in presenting a authoritative, knowledgeable appearance.

How to improve your business acumen.

Read to level-up your business acumen? Here are some business-oriented resources to help you learn:

• 6 Ways to Improve Your Business Acumen from HR Bartender
• The Ultimate Guide to the Best Business Podcasts from Fortune

19. Cultural Awareness

Large tech companies often have an international user base, which means that CSRs must be able to exercise cultural awareness. This tactfulness can help these professionals delight customers, no matter where they’re from. It can also present the business in the best possible light.

Hitachi needs culturally aware CSRs.

Hitachi has a strong reputation as a tech leader. With offices in many countries around the world, this company is also renowned for its international footprint. Since hitachi places a strong emphasis on cultural sensitivity, its customer service teams can provide tactful, effective service.

Hone your cultural awareness.

Here are some resources that can help you think about cultural awareness in new ways:

• How to Develop Cultural Awareness in the Workplace from CareerAddict
• 60 Ways to Improve Your Cultural Awareness from The Odyssey Online

20. Verbal and written skills

Customer service agents must be very comfortable communicating via both written and verbal communication. This ability will make these professionals both adaptable and capable of delivering excellent service on any channel. It will also help them harmonize internal communication with colleagues.

TransferWise needs reps with excellent written and verbal communication skills.

TransferWise is shaking up the world of finance, and its CSRs play a big role in this advancement. These reps need great written and verbal communication skills to inform customers and keep them engaged.

Free resources to improve your written and verbal communication skills.

Here are some key resources to help you improve your communication skills:

• 10 Verbal Communication Skills Worth Mastering from Little Things Matter
• 14 Proven Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills from Entrepreneur

Conclusion

We hope this piece helps you become the best sales professional you can possibly be. We’re sure you’ll achieve your goals! But the right skills are only half the battle. So to make sure you use the right tools, be sure to unlock your 14-day free trial with Messagely today.