Sales processor to customer service representative
A sales processor already meets 40% of what the customer service representative role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.
63.5/ 100
1 How much of what a customer service representative is expected to do is already part of a sales processor’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the customer service representative role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A customer service representative role treats 10 of its required skills as things a sales processor already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- create solutions to problems
- customer service
- ensure client orientation
- have computer literacy
- identify customer's needs
- perform multiple tasks at the same time
What stands in the way is 14 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 15 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A customer service representative role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a sales processor background worth leading with.
- already held process order forms with customer's information information skills
- already held provide information assisting and caring
- already held use e-services working with computers
- already held show diplomacy communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held process data information skills
- already held sales activities business, administration and law
All 15 carried skills, including the 10 the customer service representative role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 24 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn implement customer follow-up required
- still to learn apply conflict management required
- still to learn apply knowledge of human behaviour required
- still to learn communicate with customers required
- still to learn listen actively required
- still to learn perform escalation procedure required
- optional, not held carry out active selling optional
- optional, not held contact customers optional
- optional, not held facilitate official agreement optional
- optional, not held upsell products optional
- still to learn determine charges for customer services required
- still to learn control of expenses required
- still to learn keep records of customer interaction required
- optional, not held measure customer feedback optional
- still to learn process refunds required
- still to learn manage schedule of tasks required
- still to learn process customer orders required
- still to learn knowledge base required
- optional, not held data mining methods optional
- still to learn guarantee customer satisfaction required
- optional, not held perform data analysis optional
- optional, not held use customer relationship management software optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a customer service representative role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 determine charges for customer services practise this
- 02 guarantee customer satisfaction practise this
- 03 implement customer follow-up practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 15 skills that carry over
- already held create solutions to problems skill
- already held customer service knowledge
- already held ensure client orientation skill
- already held have computer literacy skill
- already held identify customer's needs skill
- already held perform multiple tasks at the same time skill
- already held process data skill
- already held process order forms with customer's information skill
- already held provide customer follow-up services skill
- already held provide information skill
- already held e-commerce systems knowledge
- already held sales activities knowledge
- already held show diplomacy skill
- already held speak different languages skill
- already held use e-services skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held relationship marketing optional
- optional, not held consumer protection optional
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held carry out active selling optional
- optional, not held contact customers optional
- optional, not held consumer protection optional
- optional, not held data mining methods optional
- optional, not held facilitate official agreement optional
- optional, not held measure customer feedback optional
- optional, not held perform data analysis optional
- optional, not held relationship marketing optional
- optional, not held upsell products optional
- optional, not held use customer relationship management software optional
19 held skills the customer service representative role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role channel marketing knowledge
- not needed by the target role characteristics of products knowledge
- not needed by the target role characteristics of services knowledge
- not needed by the target role company policies knowledge
- not needed by the target role electronic communication knowledge
- not needed by the target role international business knowledge
- not needed by the target role issue sales invoices skill
- not needed by the target role manage digital documents skill
- not needed by the target role meet deadlines skill
- not needed by the target role multimodal transport logistics knowledge
- not needed by the target role negotiate sales contracts skill
- not needed by the target role present reports skill
- not needed by the target role process payments skill
- not needed by the target role provide customers with order information skill
- not needed by the target role supply chain principles knowledge
- not needed by the target role use databases skill
- not needed by the target role use different communication channels skill
- not needed by the target role use spreadsheets software skill
- not needed by the target role work independently in sales skill
4 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn knowledge base required
- optional, not held consumer protection optional
- optional, not held data mining methods optional
- optional, not held relationship marketing optional
Other moves recorded from sales processor
Common questions about this move
Can a sales processor become a customer service representative?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A sales processor already covers 40% of what a customer service representative is expected to do: 15 skills carry over, 10 of which the customer service representative role treats as required.
What skills does a sales processor need to become a customer service representative?
14 required skills are missing, plus 10 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is determine charges for customer services.
How hard is the move from sales processor to customer service representative?
Its learning distance is 63.5 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.