overview
The customer support landscape has undergone a significant evolution in recent years, fostering new and innovative approaches to customer engagement and work practices. This evolution has been driven by advances in technology, increased focus on customer experience, and a desire to stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive market.
The future of customer support is one of continued innovation and growth. As businesses seek to provide ever-better experiences for their customers, they will need to be nimble and adapt to new technologies, approaches, and ways of working. With the right balance of traditional and modern approaches, businesses can ensure they continue to meet the needs of their customers, now and in the future in-demand admin skills to have in 2024.
Good customer support personnel are more valued than ever as the quality of customer service is recognised as having a lasting impact on business. Moreover, as more customer interactions move online, the importance of human engagement is actually increasing.
In particular, rather than dealing with routine requests, customer contact personnel tend to be contacted by customers to deal with problem issues and complex transactions. This requires both superior knowledge of products and services and excellent empathy and communication skills to deal with customers who may be frustrated or stressed. People with customer engagement experience within industries like health care, banking, retail, and the government will be in especially high demand.
key facts
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where people work
Call centre and at home.
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education and qualifications
No specific requirements though good numeracy and communication skills are useful.
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impact of new technologies
Home working requires greater use of collaborative tools. As more business moves online, call centre personnel devote more time to complex transactions and problem-solving that can’t be dealt with through self-service channels.
what admin skills do you need this 2022?
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software skills
Microsoft Office
- Writing and proofreading text in Word, composing presentations in PowerPoint, verifying data in Excel, Outlook
SAP Software
- SAP stands for System Applications Products. It's a popular Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software used by many businesses globally. SAP allows organisations to run key processes such as sales, accounting, HR and finance on an integrated internal system, allowing information to flow from one programme to another smoothly. Most businesses have at least some contact with SAP, making it a useful skill to have, especially for those in administrative roles that might touch on several different departments.
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proofreading
Administrative support staff are often a second set of eyes for the team or leaders they support. You're the last line of defence for catching errors, so excellent proofreading and writing ability are key.
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email correspondence
The average professional spends about 30% of their day answering emails. That number is even higher for administrative support staff who often manage email correspondence for others or the organisation they work for, in addition to their own.
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invoice and expense processing
Over the past few years, we've been seeing a trend toward administrative roles that have more accounting responsibilities. Expertise with accounting functions such as invoice and expense processing will help you stand out in roles that blend typical admin functions with more accounting-focused duties.
in-demand skills & qualifications for receptionist
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training and qualifications
- You can work as a receptionist without formal qualifications. However, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course in administration, secretarial or clerical studies may be useful.
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skills
- Given the type of work such as communications; basic IT and customer service are useful. See the Government’s Department for Education, Skills and Employment website for information on apprenticeships and courses.
in-demand skills & qualifications for executive assistant/personal assistant
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training and qualifications
You can work as an assistant without formal qualifications. However, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course in business administration, secretarial and clerical studies, accounting or another related field may be useful.
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skills
Given the type of work, skills such as communications, basic IT and customer service are useful. See the Government’s Department for Education, Skills and Employment website for information on apprenticeships and courses.
in-demand skills & qualifications for data entry
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training and qualifications
- You can work as a data entry operator without formal qualifications. Some on the job training may be provided. Some workers have Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications in areas such as business management, accounting, information technology or secretarial and clerical studies.
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skills
- Given the type of work, skills such basic IT are useful. See the Government’s Department for Education, Skills and Employment website for information on apprenticeships and courses.
in-demand skills & qualifications for HR support/administration
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training and qualifications
- You can work in HR support without formal qualifications. But if you want to work in senior and business advice roles, professional courses and certification can be helpful. See Australian HR Institute | Shaping the HR profession for the future.
want to connect with one of our consultants?
in-demand skills & qualifications for office manager/office support
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skills
- Working knowledge of spreadsheet and database software
- Secretarial skills
- Communication skills
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training and qualifications
- You can work as an office manager without formal qualifications. However, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course in business administration, accounting or another related field may be useful.
- For training courses, see the Government’s Department for Education, Skills and Employment website
in-demand skills & qualifications for sales administration
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skills
- Sales administrators are often the first point of contact for the general public, so will need to have excellent interpersonal skills to meet the needs of their employer. For training courses, see the Government’s Department for Education, Skills and Employment website
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training and qualifications
- You can work as sales administrator without formal qualifications. However, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course in business administration, marketing or another related field may be useful.
in-demand skills & qualifications for customer service officer
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tasks and duties
- A customer service officer plays a critical role in representing a company and building customer loyalty. They must possess excellent communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills to effectively support customers.
- The benefits of working from home continue to help customer service roles. Data suggests remote customer service teams get through 13% more requests a day and representatives also report a higher level of job satisfaction, which increases the likelihood of excellent customer service.
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skills
- For training courses, see the Government’s Department for Education, Skills and Employment website
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training and qualifications
- You can work as a customer services officer without formal qualifications. However, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course in business administration, marketing or another related field may be useful.
in-demand skills & qualifications for contact centre operator
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career switch
- It’s well known that the call centre now serves as an internal recruitment pool full of great talent that knows the products and have a customer focus. From roles in marketing, accounting, sales etc. clocking up some time in the call centre is a great launching pad for your career.
- You learn how to deal with difficult customers, turn a negative into a positive, resilience, sell or upsell a product - all useful transferable skills.
