by Iza del Carmen, MomAuthority.com

Customer service jobs are starting to be handled more and more by home workers. You can make your home business all about customer service with little effort.  These jobs are not too difficult to find and there are a range of different types of customer service jobs that offers something for everyone.

Most customer service is done via the telephone.  There are also online chat jobs.  Online chat customer service is not easy to find.  You will have to do quite a bit of searching to find a job of this type.

Phone jobs are more plentiful.  Many companies are hiring freelancers to handle their customer service jobs.  The reason for this is that it is cheaper.  The company does not have to maintain a call center and they do not have to pay the additional benefits and employment taxes.

Phone jobs include incoming and outgoing calls.  Incoming call center positions usually handle order taking, customer complaint resolution and general customer service.  Outgoing positions include telemarketing, also called appointment setting, collection calls and survey taking.

Each of these different positions require different skills and involve doing different tasks.  Here is an outline for each type of customer service jobs.

Order Taking

Order taking involves answering incoming calls from customers who wish to place an order.  You have to take credit card and other payment information.  You are trusted with a lot of personal information.  This information is entered into an online system so that none of the private information is stored on your computer.

Order taking positions are usually very strict about requirements for their freelancers.  You will need a telephone without features and you will have to pass criminal background and credit checks for most companies due to the sensitive information you will be handling.

You will usually work scheduled hours and must have a quiet environment in which to work.

Complaint Resolution

Most company’s have a special call center to handle complaints.  This is because it is a very sensitive area and it can really impact a business.  A company wants someone to handle complaints that is able to handle irate customers in a professional way.

To do this type of work you have to be able to think under pressure.  You have to be able to come to quick resolutions and keep the customer happy.  You also have to be able to deal with unhappy people who will yell at you, blame you and just be difficult to deal with.  You must be the type of person who can not take things personally.

General Customer Service

General customer service involves other types of incoming service calls.  It may be simply taking requests for catalogues or answering questions.  It can also including making account changes and canceling accounts.

These calls are generally simple and require some data entry into the company system via your computer.  With general customer service work you will often have a schedule.  You also need a phone with no features on it and a quiet workspace.

Telemarketing

Of all outgoing customer service, telemarketing is the most popular and the easiest to get into.  This is because telemarketing is a proven marketing strategy and it is not an easy job so there is a lot of turn around on positions.

Telemarketing is challenging.  Much like complaint calls, telemarketing involves handling people who may not be happy about talking to you.  You have to be able to handle people being rude, hanging up and you and possibly saying inappropriate things to you.

You are usually given a script and rebuttals to use that allow you to keep the conversation going.  You are also given information on closing a call, which means setting the appointment.  You are then given a list of names and phone numbers to call.  Some companies will give you an automatic dialer program to use so calls can be automatically dialed through your computer.

For telemarketing all other outgoing customer service jobs you will need unlimited long distance on your phone.  Also you will have to follow the laws regarding these types of calls.  That means you can only call from 9am to 9pm in the time zone in which you are calling.

Collections

Collection calls are another difficult job.  Again, you have to be willing to deal with people who do not want to talk to you.  With collection calls you also have to be somewhat tricky so you can actually get people on the phone.  Most people dodge collection calls and it is your job to get them on the phone.

There are a lot of laws governing collection calls.  You will be given strict instructions that you must follow to ensure you are compliant with the laws.  You will also be given lists with information about the collection accounts.  You will likely get a dialer program, as well.
Survey Taker

Survey takers are often treated the best out of all types of outgoing calls.  People are often not as aggressive with survey takers.  However, some people still will not want to talk to you.

You will be given your call list and a script of the survey.  You will ask the questions and record the answers given.

Now that we have covered the different types of customer service jobs here are some general pros and cons about customer service jobs.  Since there are so many differences in the types of jobs these pros and cons may not apply to all jobs.

Pros

- Most customer service jobs involve scheduled working hours, so you end up with a reliable schedule and a reliable income.

- Most customer service jobs pay per hour or for talk time and the pay is quite comparable to any job you could hold outside the home.

- If you are good at talking with others and enjoy the type of job you have chosen, then customer service work is enjoyable.

- Customer service jobs are plentiful and easy to find.

Cons

- You will likely need a dedicated phone line.

- You have to have a quiet place in which to work without any noises that could be heard over the phone.

- Scheduled work hours may be too constricting for some people who need flexibility in their schedule.

Administrative/Clerical

Administrative and clerical work is a great home business to get into.  It allows a lot of flexibility.  If you have typing skills then you will be able to handle most administrative and clerical out there.

These types of jobs involve a range of clerical tasks.  Sometimes you will mange other people.  You may do a lot of typing.  Some jobs even involve creating online content.

The main types of administrative and clerical work are data entry and transcription.
Data Entry

Data entry jobs involve entering data into spreadsheets and also creating documents, like memos.  You should be a good typist, an average of 65 WPM is best.

These jobs are very difficult to find.  You usually do not need experience to get a data entry job, which is part of the reason they are hard to find.  They are also one of the easiest jobs you can find.

Transcription

Transcription involves listening to audio and typing out what is being said.  It may sound simple but it is actually difficult.  You have to be a very fast typist for this work, an average of 75 or 80 WPM is recommended.

Getting a transcription job can be difficult.  There are different types of transcription – general, legal and medical.  General transcription work is hard to find.  Legal and medical requires training or experience.  For consideration for a transcription job you will almost always have to take a test to prove you can meet the company’s standards.

Here are some pros and cons about administrative and clerical work.

Pros

- You will usually get to make your own schedule.

- If you are good at typing you will probably enjoy transcription work.

- The pay is usually very good and steady.

Cons

- You will almost always need experience or training to be considered for a position.

- You will need a special audio program and usually a foot pedal and headset.

- You have to be able to download files to your computer quickly, so you need high speed internet.

by Iza del Carmen, MomAuthority.com

We have already talked about a couple sales jobs out there – eBay and affiliate programs. There are more ways to make money with sales, though.  Sales is a very large industry and there are opportunities everywhere.

Affiliate programs and eBay are just sales platforms that you can use.  You can also use your own website to sale items.

You can sale things you make or items you buy.  You can also sell services.  As long as you can deliver it to the customer and it is a legal item to sell then you can sell it online.

The online marketplace is huge.  You have a world market where you can sell to people anywhere.  You also have the ability to sell all the time.

Besides those perks you also can get started for a fraction of the price of starting a brick and mortar business.  All you need is a website that is set up for ecommerce.

An ecommerce website features an online catalog.  It allows customers a secure way to make purchases, too.  It should be professional and easy to use.  It is best to hire a company to do the web design for you so that you can ensure it has all the necessary features.

You will also need to choose a domain name and secure that name by purchasing it.  All domain names, which is the website URL, are unique.  You have to find one that nobody else has already bought.  It should be easy to remember and associated with your business and business name.  A bad domain name can be a problem for your business, so choose one wisely.

Once you have your product chosen and your website ready to go you can get started.  Taking your website live means getting hosting.  You will pay a fee every month to have your website hosted.  You want to choose a hosting company carefully, too.

The hosting company should be reliable because the last thing you want is your website being down too often.  You also do not want to have an overload of the host where people can not access your website because things are too busy at the host.  Do some research to find a reliable hosting company.

Once your website is live you now have to get traffic to your site.  You have to start marketing.  Your first goal should be to get ranked highly on the search engines.  You want to be on the first two pages.  You can do this by learning more about search engine ranking and optimizing your website.

You should also place ads, exchange links with other websites and try other means of marketing.  You will need to market heavily in the beginning until you build up a customer base.

It can take some time to get your business going strong.  Fortunately, start up costs are pretty low so you should not be in the negative too long.  Sales are not for everyone, so if you decide to do it you should read up on internet marketing and selling online so you are sure you can handle the work in the beginning getting your business started.

Here are pros and cons for sales.  Many of these are very objective so you should take them as a general outline for things to consider about sales jobs.

Pros

- You have complete control over the business.  You are in charge of all decisions, all sales and all management.

- After the business is established you will need to do very little to manage it.

Cons

- You have to learn internet marketing and be very good at it in order to get your business off the ground.

- Competition is fierce and you have to learn how to deal with that aspect of running business.