Customer Support (CS) is a dynamic and fast-paced role that involves being the first point of contact for the company and supporting its customers on a wide range of queries. Customer Support teams most commonly exist in B2C (business-to-consumer) where the customers are consumers, not businesses.

Typically, CS reps have multiple ways in which they can communicate with their customers, most commonly via phone, email, LiveChat, or social media. The queries can vary depending on the company and/or department, but generally speaking, these queries are related to general support, product advice, orders, refunds, non-technical issues, setting up or cancelling accounts; you will need need to be prepared for any question that comes your way since you're the expert.

CS professionals tend to work in a very high volume environment and need to remain optimistic with a calm demeanor to deal with the variety of queries that come their way. It can be a really fun environment if you love speaking to people and problem-solving. With that being said, CS reps are the voice of the company and there is no doubt you’ll come across some difficult customers, therefore soft skills such as patience and resilience are essential.

Progression through the early stages of a CS career path will often involve taking on escalated customer queries or specialising in a niche area of the business or product. From there you may look to become a team leader - this could include people management or overarching responsibility of a group of CS professionals or defined area of the business or product.

You may also hear the term “Customer Success” which is a relatively new term being used most commonly within startups or SaaS (Software as a Service) businesses. Customer Success teams are more common in B2B (business-to-business) where the customers are businesses, not consumers. A success team will work to ensure clients or customers have the most success possible with the business or product. They will have a high level of product or business knowledge and can sometimes sit with the commercial team rather than a customer support team. Customer Success teams can often be monitored on customer renewals, increasing customer loyalty and retention, boosting lifetime value, and reducing churn.

It is possible to move between support and success teams. As long as you have a true customer obsession both roles could be great for you.