Customer Service Advisor

If you have
- Excellent communication skills including written, on the phone and face to face
- Good level of computer literacy, to use multiple systems and platforms simultaneously
- A background in customer service
- The desire to help people sometimes in difficult situations

Then we may be the opportunity you are looking for. We need another advisor to join our newly restructured Customer Services team. You will be on the ground floor and an essential part of developing a dynamic and responsive team for the future. Answering all first contact into the council and providing the fastest and correct pathways to enable the council to optimise delivery of across all services.

Duties include answering our busy phone lines in a timely manner and recording the enquiry as appropriate on the relevant system. Call centre experience would be highly beneficial. You will also take similar enquiries received electronically via our website’s contact us or report it options and eventually when fully trained face to face on our reception desk.

You will need to be a trusted source of dependable information, touching the lives of strangers or repeat contacts in an important way, every day. Whether a customer is calling about a missed bin or having nowhere to sleep tonight, you will need to treat them with the same level of care and respect. It won’t always be easy. You will need to accept or decline requests in line with legislation, accepted responsibility or policy. With the right balance of empathy and resilience, you could gain and hone skills and experience to develop a great career for yourself.

Advisors are monitored and assessed on call and case quantity and quality. Meeting and maintaining targets set for individuals and the team is critical.

Full training will be provided throughout the six-month probation period.

Need an informal chat to decide call Team Leaders Jane Brown or Edmond Badger on 01483 445053

Interviews will include a basic electronic skills aptitude test, a face to face interview and group activity. The group activity may be held at a different time or date.

**Job Profile**

**Level 1**:

- Process a wide range of customer queries and transactions, providing clear, accurate and timely advice or guidance in accordance with policies and procedures
- Ensure accurate and detailed records are kept in line with procedures and data protection
- Act as the first point of contact for the majority of customers and refer cases to Case Services as appropriate
- Ensure all customers are treated fairly and provide support and advice based on their individual needs
- Ensure that the customer’s preferred method of contact is captured and maintained
- Adhere to legislation, policies, procedures and workflows for dealing with all queries and transactions
- Ensure strict confidentiality is maintained and data protection rules followed
- Identify improvements in customer and service provision
- Proactively market the benefits of digital and self-service channels to all customers
- Actively develop and maintain an extensive working knowledge of council services, IT systems, processes and procedures
- Work with other team members to organise and manage workloads effectively, ensuring that all customer and performance standards and targets are achieved
- Undertake routine and procedural cases that will require some understanding of relevant service processes and compliance, regulations and legislation
- Undertake straight forward cases that will require a good level of understanding of relevant service processes and compliance, regulations and legislation
- Will regularly refer to Team Leaders or CSA level 3 for advice and guidance
- Some requirement to refer to Specialists for case resolution

**Level 2 (in addition to the above)**:

- Undertake more complex cases that will require a more detailed understanding of relevant service processes and compliance, regulations and legislation
- Assist in the training, inducting and mentoring of new staff in customer services processes in a specific area
- Will occasionally refer to the Team Leader or CSA level 3 for advice and guidance
- Requirement to refer to Specialists for case resolution, having a good understanding of the handoff points between Customer Services and Specialist teams

**Senior Customer Service Advisor (in addition to the above)**:

- Owning complex cases that will require a detailed understanding of relevant service processes and compliance, regulations and legislation
- Working with the Team Leaders to promote new ways of working, responsible for multi-skilling people within teams and encouraging knowledge sharing across customer services teams
- Some team management responsibilities including but not limited to: training, inducting and mentoring of new staff in customer services processes in a specific area - requesting the support of CSA level 2 when required
- Assist Team Leaders in maintaining the reference material available to the Custom