What is a customer service manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted Expert
Andrew Gilliam
introduction image

A customer service manager is responsible for overseeing a team of customer service representatives and ensuring that they provide high-quality support to customers. They are responsible for setting goals, monitoring performance, and providing coaching and training to improve customer satisfaction. Customer service managers also analyze data and feedback to identify areas for improvement. They collaborate with other departments to ensure that all customer touchpoints are seamless and consistent. Additionally, customer service managers may handle escalated customer issues.

What general advice would you give to a Customer Service Manager?

A

Andrew GilliamAndrew Gilliam LinkedIn Profile

Customer Experience innovator and change agent,, Informa Tech

Searching for jobs is always intimidating, and this year provides many new reasons to be discouraged. However, based on research HDI conducted in July, 57% of support organizations are creating new positions or continuing to fill vacancies. Furthermore, 82% of organizations say it is likely they will continue working from home long-term. Many companies are opening their minds to hiring candidates who don't live near their offices. That's great news for anyone entering the job market!
When looking for work, the best thing an applicant can do is to think like a hiring manager. They're filling a position to meet their needs, not yours, so consider the context in which they're hiring. Right now, businesses are searching for applicants who can contribute to remote teams and support customers remotely. Experience with unified communications, mobile, cloud, and remote support technologies are in high demand. Additionally, organizations are changing how they work at a rapid pace. Understanding the fundamentals of knowledge management, enterprise service management, incident and problem management, and organizational communications will help candidates speak directly to prospective employers' challenges. Having a dedicated space and internet connectivity to enable working from home and a proven ability to work independently or remotely helps dissuade managers' fears of hiring remote candidates.
There are plenty of ways to build these skills and competencies, even without direct work experience. HDI offers numerous resources, many of them free, to expand your knowledge, including articles, webinars, toolkits, research, and virtual classroom training. Dedicating yourself to independent learning, experimenting in a home-lab, and networking at virtual industry events are fantastic ways to demonstrate your job-readiness.
ScoreCustomer Service ManagerUS Average
Salary
4.8

Avg. Salary $61,487

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
9.6

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
3.5
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.47%

Asian 6.44%

Black or African American 6.27%

Hispanic or Latino 15.48%

Unknown 4.35%

White 67.00%

Gender

female 62.98%

male 37.02%

Age - 44
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44
Stress Level
9.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
9.2

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
3.6

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Customer Service Manager?

Pros

  • Ability to work in a variety of industries

  • Can work remotely or have flexible schedules

  • Potential for career advancement

  • Competitive salary and benefits

  • Opportunity to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty

Cons

  • High stress and pressure to meet performance metrics

  • Long hours, especially during peak seasons or holidays

  • Need to constantly adapt to changing policies and procedures

  • May require working weekends or holidays

  • Can be repetitive or monotonous tasks

Newest jobs for Customer Service Manager in Columbus, OH

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Customer Service Manager career paths

Key steps to become a customer service manager

  1. Explore customer service manager education requirements

    Most common customer service manager degrees

    Bachelor's

    45.6 %

    Associate

    21.8 %

    High School Diploma

    20.2 %
  2. Start to develop specific customer service manager skills

    Skills
    ascdesc
    Percentages
    ascdesc
    Strong Customer Service15.03%
    Payroll6.04%
    Customer Satisfaction5.88%
    Customer Complaints5.81%
    Customer Service5.63%
  3. Complete relevant customer service manager training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New customer service managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a customer service manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real customer service manager resumes.
  4. Gain additional customer service manager certifications

    Customer service manager certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific customer service manager certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

    The most common certifications for customer service managers include Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

    More About Certifications
  5. Research customer service manager duties and responsibilities

    • Manage the accounts payable and accounts receivable dealing with the Michigan WIC program.
    • Ensure SLA compliance are achieved for all incident metrics as well as call resolution.
    • Manage installation and customization of ACD system and PBX for business office call center operations.
    • Develop and manage communications strategies, including Facebook, catalog production, email marketing, direct mail.
  6. Prepare your customer service manager resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your customer service manager resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a customer service manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Customer Service Manager Resume templates

    Build a professional Customer Service Manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Customer Service Manager resume.
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  7. Apply for customer service manager jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a customer service manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Customer Service Manager Job

A

Angel Mboweni

Customer Service Manager, Transunion

I started off as a customer experience agent, where I performed exceptionally well and consistently exceeded metrics. This high performance led my direct manager to entrust me with additional tasks to help me learn the leadership aspects of the role.

I began handling customer complaint escalations for my peers instead of forwarding them to my manager as well as assisting with the daily call centre management. This proactive approach got me noticed, and I was appointed as an interim team leader.

In this interim role, I took on all the responsibilities of a team leader until I was formally placed in the position permanently.
Working as a team leader provided me with the opportunity to collaborate with senior management and gain a deeper understanding of the broader operations functions.
This experience paved the way for me to be able to grow further and ultimately to the role of customer service manager.
G

Gabriel AguileraGabriel Aguilera LinkedIn Profile

Customer Service Manager, bObsweep Robotics

I began my career at a car wash when I was 16 years old. I asked if I could work in sales as I had a knack for building rapport and negotiation skills. They said okay but if I am bad they would take the position from me. Needless to say I was really good at it. Although there were all types of goals I had to hit, I never had an issue being a top performer. I was offered a sales supervisor position but they said I needed to be full time. I was too young to fullfill it but come summer time they would make me full time and give me the position. Eventually the place was sold and the new owners were sold on me. They had a completely different approach to supervising sales. It was like baseball in the 90s to now with all the statistics. They gave me full reign of all the data as I was excited to learn since I was in college and the experience was invaluable to me.

Eventually I left to start selling cars. I did this for about a year and decided to finish my undergrad first. As soon as I finished I went right back to selling cars. I was immediately given a loan officer manager position. They asked me to help with training, recruiting, and sales management. It was a position I was mostly thrown into but my team started to break records and really start moving cars left and right. Unfortunately, this was my first start up, they couldn't keep up with providing cars to sell and made a bad deal to buy up a ton of cars from Hawaii. They all had rust damage and shortly after we were all layed off while they relocated for a cheaper site.

Next was a loan place that did secured loans. I again was thrown straight into the lead position. It was a wondeful set up as they were ready to move me to my managers position next. Quickly wr began to run the numbers up and thats when they got caught with embezzlement. The company closed al Northern California locations and layed us all off.


Strangely I had just gotten laid off on Monday by my loan officer job and on Tuesday bObsweep called and scheduled me an interview on Thursday. I got the Job and started working the following Monday as an entry level CSR. Although that was my official position, the owner who was who interviewed me asked me to come in and move up to lead as soon as I can. I quickly moved up the ranks to Senior customer service representative, then lead, then created a few new departments as Manager and now am the Head of satisfaction and success. Being this was my third startup in a row,

Average customer service manager salary

The average Customer Service Manager salary in the United States is $61,487 per year or $30 per hour. Customer service manager salaries range between $35,000 and $105,000 per year.

Average Customer Service Manager Salary
$61,487 Yearly
$29.56 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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How do customer service managers rate their job?

5/5

Based On 1 Ratings

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Customer Service Manager reviews

profile
5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2022
Pros

Supporting and interacting with the customers

Cons

I don’t like escalations from the customers


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Pros

Working as a service manager i am able to be myself and reconize my own self worth

Cons

I dont like the bullshit that goes on in oginazations like people pissing on eachothers shoes just to get ahead


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019
Pros

People Busy Money Busy and variety in a job Solving problems


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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