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Job description: Customer Services Supervisor

Your role as a Customer Services Supervisor is to ensure every member of your team deals with customers in the right way, giving them the information they need when they need it. As the primary point of contact for customer queries, you'd be dealing with people face to face on a daily basis. You'll be responsible for providing excellent service, and making sure other members of staff present the same positive and helpful image.

Whatever business you work in, your workload would involve delegating tasks, monitoring the team's performance, helping their training and development, completing paperwork and handling complaints.

You could work in all kinds of businesses and environments, for example leading a sales team, managing a team in an office or call centre, or leading a section in a factory, restaurant or shop.

In some cases you'd carry out the same work as your team members, whilst in others you'd only be responsible for managing your team. You could also have wider management duties such as personnel or reporting to senior management.

Hours and environment

Working full time, your typical week is between 35 and 40 hours. If you're looking for part-time work and job sharing, this is also often available. Depending on the industry you work in your hours would be divided in two ways. You could either work a standard Monday to Friday week, or your work could be split into shifts.

Your working environment would also depend on your industry - you could work in an office, shop, factory or call centre, for example. In some companies the supervisor manages staff based at different locations, so you may need to travel between different sites.

Skills and interests

To be a good Customer Services Supervisor, you must have:

the ability to motivate people
good spoken written communication skills
a responsible attitude
good 'people skills' for building relationships with colleagues at all levels
the ability to plan and prioritise your own work and other people's
calmness under pressure
decision-making ability
accuracy with record keeping
IT skills

Entry

Experience is typically the main route to becoming a Customer Service Supervisor. This would mean gaining good experience in your workplace and proving that you have leadership skills and can handle responsibility. You should check entry requirements for each job with individual employers.

In most industries, you don't need particular qualifications to become a Customer Service Supervisor. An employer would usually ask for a good standard of general education, but your skills and experience may be more important than your academic qualifications. Skills like leadership, organisational ability and time management are important in all types of business.

Training

You will usually develop your leadership skills on the job. Some employers also run their own structured in-house training programmes for supervisors.

You may have the chance to gain recognised qualifications in management whilst you are working. You could work towards NVQs at Level 2 in Team Leading and levels 3, 4 and 5 in Management, or you could study part-time for qualifications from the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) or the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

ILM qualifications include:

Level 2 Certificate in Team Leading
Level 3 Certificate in First Line Management
Level 5 Diploma in Management.

CMI qualifications include:

Level 2 Introductory Certificate in Team Leading
Level 3 Introductory Certificate in Management
Level 4 Introductory Diploma in Management
Level 5 Diploma in Management.

See the ILM and CMI websites for more details about their qualifications.

If appropriate, you may also be able to take NVQs and other qualifications aimed at management in your own industry. This is common in the call centre, retail, care and hospitality industries.

Opportunities

Almost every organisation employs Customer Service Supervisors to assist Customer Service Managers and so there are plenty of options open to you. Retail holds the widest range of opportunities, and you'll find many opportunities within hospitality, offices, factories, warehouses, call centres, and the public sector.

With experience, you could progress to more senior management positions in your own organisation to become Customer Services Manager, or move into a different type of business to gain more responsibility or a higher salary.

Annual income

Your salary, once a Customer Services Supervisor, would usually run between £15,000 and £25,000 a year, although this can be different depending on what industry you work in.

At management level, you can start to earn up to and above £40,000 a year.