While in school, join a school club or organization that handles student affairs. This will give you valuable experience dealing with various issues. Any part-time job in customer service will be helpful in honing your skills. Learn as much as you can about every company you work with. Consider visiting the human resources department of a number of companies you might be interested in working at and ask to job shadow their client services manager to gain insight into the job. Participate in information interviews with CSMs. Suggested interview questions include: What made you want to enter this career? What do you like most and least about your job? How did you train for this field? What advice would you give to young people about preparing for the field and being successful on the job? How will advances in technology change the field?

Participate in competitions that are offered by SkillsUSA (https://www.skillsusa.org) and other organizations to build your skills, compete for scholarships and cash prizes, meet people with shared interests, and have fun. SkillsUSA offers a Customer Service competition that involves live role-playing situations. The organization says that "competitors demonstrate their ability to perform customer service in both written and oral forms including telephone and computer skills, communications, problem solving, conflict resolution, and business etiquette." Visit https://www.skillsusa.org for more information.

Client services managers (CSMs) direct the customer or client relations department of a business. They act as liaisons between a business and its customers. CSMs and their team are the main point of contact for clients and customers. They are expected to answer questions and assist customers to solve problems with company products or services.

The main function of a CSM is to make clients feel that they are important and that any difficulty with the product or service can be resolved. The client services department works in conjunction with a number of different departments within the company to make sure that clients are satisfied. These might include, among others, public relations, marketing, transportation, logistics, and sales.

Most businesses and corporations feel that word of mouth is the best advertising. Satisfied customers tell their friends, family, and colleagues about the product they purchase or service they use and they in turn, may purchase or use the product or service as well. This is where the client services manager and his or her team steps in to make sure clients and customers are happy. Client services managers must assure that employees provide excellent customer service both on the phone and online.

Client services managers have varied duties depending on the structure of the company and specific responsibilities. They often perform many of the tasks that client and customer service reps handle in a business. The main difference is that as managers, they are expected to supervise the client services representatives in the company.

CSMs are responsible for recruiting, hiring, and training client and/or customer service representatives. Depending on the size of the client services or customer care department, this training may be done on a one-on-one basis or may be accomplished in a classroom style setting. The CSM is expected to develop training materials and programs to convey standard operating procedures and the companys expectations regarding employee performance and customer service. He or she is also be responsible for conducting employee reviews.

The client services managers responsibilities often include directing the processing of orders to ensure that they are fulfilled in a timely manner. They frequently develop methods of streamlining the business’s operations to assure that products are delivered in the quickest manner possible.

As part of the job, client services managers and their teams often provide product training to customers to assure that the products are used correctly. In this manner, customers can be assured that they know everything there is to know about the company’s products, making them easier to use and reducing the chance that the customer will lodge a complaint about the product or service.

Client services managers most important responsibilities are ensuring that employees follow proper business practices, auditing recordings and transcripts of customer serve interactions, and ensuring excellent online and phone-based customer services. Other responsibilities include cooperating with business partners, making sure staff capacity can handle call volume, and managing any service issues. Client service managers also make recommendations to management regarding department-wide issues.