Top Twelve Customer Service Skills

Since it is the middle of the twelve days of Christmas and the ever popular twelve days of Christmas rings out everywhere, I thought I would do a blog on the top twelve skills a person going into customer service needs ready for the New Year! 

So here they are (in my order of important to least important):

1) Passionate and enthusiastic about the product / service and helping customers - as I mentioned in a previous blog, Disney only recruits a certain type of person to be a cast member and they want naturally enthusiastic and helpful people. It's probably a given that if you are not helpful or an enthusiastic person then customer service roles are not for you! 

2) Good listening skills: I rate this joint first in key skills. You have one mouth and two ears so when you are with a customer, use these in proportion. It will ensure a smoother and faster customer experience.

3) Good communication skills - this is a mixture of listening to the customer and engaging with them through chatting and being...

4) Positive-ity: again, don't go into customer service roles if you are not a glass half full person. Customers can spot this a mile off. 

5) Putting the Customer First: if you in a customer service role, you need to put the customer first over discussing your latest dating saga over the tills or planned night out over Christmas. I used to work at Harrods many moons ago and you had to acknowledge the customer within one minute of them entering the shop / room. If you are chatting, you can't really do this!

6) Empathy / emotional intelligence: you need to be able to put yourself in the position of the customer to ensure that you understand their needs and solve their problems efficiently and effectively. 

7) Resilience under pressure: if things go wrong, you have to be able to think on your feet and be calm under pressure as the customer wants a smooth and easy experience. If you are out of a product, then you need to be able to solve their problems and make it easy for them. ie: you ring them to let them know when it is in and organise a purchase over the phone rather than them having to ring you. 

8) Proactive problem solver: you have to be able to solve problems under pressure (and your company has to give you the freedom to do this too). if something is not available and the person is not in town again, do you offer them a good alternative and cross sell for instance. Consider all options to ensure the customer leaves happy!

9) Friendliness: be chatty and engaging but remember to be professional. Friendliness can always work alongside professionalism.

10) Good at relationship building / follow up: people want us to care about their purchase and when they spend money and we need to follow up and ensure that customers are happy before, during and after the purchase process. We want life- time customers to support our businesses and you can only do this through follow up and care. 

11) Going above and beyond whilst still being a team player: when I was at Harrods, one of the departments I worked in had a group commission yet, we all knew our individual efforts would increase this at the end of the month. We would all work hard to sell to ensure we could maximise this and each would help the other to support in customer service if needed knowing it was a group outcome. 

12) Be sincere generally and especially when apologising there is nothing worse than being insincere and inauthentic in the sales process and when apologising. Don't bother if you don't mean it. 

Looking over these skills it strikes me that these are Power Skills - something I am very passionate about everyone having. Why? Power skills are essential, transferable "soft skills" crucial for workplace success, enabling effective teamwork, navigating change, and driving results, often seen as the "power" behind technical expertise. More in my first blog for 2026!

So, there you have it - rather than the 12 days of Christmas, you have the 12 tips to great customer service skills!

Happy New Year!