You don’t need any special skills to work from home. I mean, sure, you can use any of your unique knowledge and experiences to land a work from home job, but if you’re a total newbie, that’s okay too.
You see, the beauty of remote work is that there are endless possibilities. From master degree holding virtual librarians to entry-level chat agents (and everything in between), there is a work from home job out there for everyone. Period.
That’s why I’m surprised to learn that so many job seekers believe that they can’t work from home because they don’t have “the right skills.”
Truth be told, there is no specific skill set that will guarantee you find a remote job. But there is one skill, in particular, that can definitely stack the work-from-home cards in your favor: Customer service!
Put Your Customer Service Skills To Work From Home
Did you just moan and groan at the thought of working from home in the customer service arena? Don’t! Hear me out.
I know customer service work isn’t exactly the most popular in the eyes of job seekers, but virtual companies and online employers have a HUGE need for individuals with customer service skills to fill a variety of remote roles.
And this doesn’t mean you need to have previous experience in a call center. Working retail, in a restaurant, in the hospitality industry or any customer-facing role, can prepare you for the many types of at-home jobs that need workers with people skills, like you.
It’s Not All Call Centers
Yes, there are a lot of virtual call centers out there that are heavy on the phone work. And while these jobs aren’t for everyone, they are a great option for anyone who wants to work from home ASAP. But virtual call centers aren’t the only option for customer service pros.
In fact, you can use your existing customer service skills, to land a work-from-home job that isn’t so phone heavy.
Will you be on the phone sometimes? Yes! But you won’t be tethered to it the entire workday.
Chat Agent
You’ve probably visited a website that had a little window pop up in the bottom right-hand corner that said something like “Chat With Us Now.”
And, chances are, the person on the other side of that chat window is sitting at their home office ready to assist you with questions or concerns you may have.
Chat agents have the luxury of working from home in customer service without having to constantly answer incoming calls. Instead, they answer incoming chats. And chats are nothing more than back and forth exchanges via text — no phones!
Now, this doesn’t mean you’ll never have to interact with customers on the phone. On occasion, you might have to make an outbound phone call to assist someone. But, for the most part, you can expect that remote chat agent jobs mainly use instant messaging to showcase their customer service skills.
Email Support
I don’t know about you, but if I have a non-pressing matter as a consumer, I will gladly email a company for help versus picking up the phone. And, clearly, I’m not alone as more and more companies offer email support as an option instead of an 800-number you have to call.
And this is good news for anyone who wants to work from home in customer service without making a ton of phone calls. That’s because with more companies offering email support, the more jobs for email support pros, like you!
Remember, while these companies have an email support option, that doesn’t mean it’s their only option.
So, you may very well be in charge of answering emails AND answering phone calls. But, it does mean that you won’t constantly be answering the phone. Instead, expect about a 50/50 split on the amount of phone calls answered versus emails sent as a work from home email support rep.
Social Media Moderator
An estimated 67% of consumers now use social media — like Facebook or Twitter — to reach a resolution with a company. You may have done it too. I know I have. I’ve tweeted at Amazon over a shipping issue and had excellent results.
I’ve also used social media to compliment Thrive Market after a particularly wonderful shopping experience with them!
A lot of times, the response you get — whether you’re tweeting them or leaving a comment on Facebook or Yelp — is from someone whose job it is to respond to user-generated comments on social media.
And that’s exactly what a social media moderator does all day — they scour a company’s social media profiles to respond to customer-generated posts, reviews, and comments. You may even proactively reach out to consumers to help build stronger relationships.
Whether working to improve a customer service moment or simply answering a question about a product, you can expect little to no phone work as a social media moderator.
Virtual Assistant
Take it from someone who has worked as a virtual assistant — you need A LOT of customer service know-how to be successful as a VA.
As a VA, you’ll wear a lot of different hats, many of which require customer service skills to get results. You see a VA helps others tackle to-do lists and get more done in their day. This can include everything from calendar management to making travel arrangements.
The good news is, many of the tasks a VA does can be done online without having to pick up a phone. On occasion, you may need to make a call, but a lot of work can be done via email or messaging.
For example, when I contracted with Fancy Hands as a VA, you got to pick from available tasks in a general queue. That means you could totally skip over those that require any phone work and instead focus on those that were email related.
Sound interesting? It is! Learn more about working from home as a VA by checking out these 20 companies that hire remote VAs or learn how you can start your own successful VA biz from scratch.
Work From Home Customer Service Jobs That Don’t Require (A Lot Of) Phone Work
There you have it: 4 ways to put your existing customer service skills to work without having to be tethered to a headset all day!
Remember, most home-based customer service jobs will likely require some phone work. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend 8+ hours on the phone.
Want to learn how to find even more work-from-home jobs? Be sure to sign up below to grab my free guide, How To Find Dozens Of Real Remote Jobs Fast!
nice post thanks for sharing.