Year Up's Customer Service specialty addresses training requirements in customer service, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system use, and professional written and verbal communications with practical skills in communication and customer service. Training includes concepts and practical application of customer service constructs such as problem-solving, active listening, de-escalation, and professional communications; use of CRM systems to enter, update, query, and report on customer and sales data and take a customer record through the stages of an engagement cycle; and utilizing Outlook to engage clients, communicate with them, and manage customer interactions.

Skills Development at a Glance: What Students Learn

• Communicate effectively and build rapport during phone, in-person, & written customer interactions
• Handle objections and respond to challenging customer behaviors, with resilience to bounce back & ensure high quality customer experience
• Leverage call scripts and common call-handling techniques
• How to multitask during in-person or call center customer interactions to interact with a customer, take effective notes, and perform transactions at the same time
• Problem solving, effective inquiry and research to understand a customer’s needs, motivations, and challenges and translate customer needs into possible solutions
• Identify and effectively communicate solutions to satisfy customer requests, including educating customers on self-serve platforms like websites, mobile apps, and other customer-facing resources
• Identify situations requiring escalation and refer customers to appropriately trained personnel in a timely manner, using judgement and escalation protocols
• Leverage Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to input and update customer information
• Utilize strategies to meet and maintain customer service team goals and KPI’s, including managing the pressure of a metrics-driven work environment

Specialty Training Focus Areas:

• Customer Service
• Customer Service Practicum
• CRM Systems
• Email Communication
• Year Up’s Standard Training  

Training at Work: Typical Job Tasks

• Update daily fund pricing
• Monitor fund cash and custody activity and prepare fund reports
• Take in and execute operational requests from clients
• Process wires and trades
• Monitor to identify causes of breaks between systems
• Analyze data relating to business processes
• Communicate business process improvement requirements to a technology team
• Assist wealth managers with trust operations

Path to a Career: Training-Enabled Role Pathways

• Loan/Financial Products Servicing
• Insurance Customer Service/Claims Support
• Patient Services
• Product Support
• Consumer Fraud Support

Example Roles Filled by Graduates:

• Customer Support Specialist
• Patient Services Representative
• Insurance Claims Support Representative
• Consumer Fraud Support Representative
• Loan Servicing Specialist