Welcome to the Career Exploration series! In this self‑guided module, you are beginning an exciting journey to discover and develop skills that align with potential future careers. Each week, you'll explore a new career path and gain hands‑on experience with tools and tasks related to that field. This week, you'll dive into the world of customer service—an essential profession that underpins brand loyalty and customer satisfaction for organizations worldwide. Through this module, you'll learn about the responsibilities of frontline customer‑service representatives, practise relevant skills, and gain insights that will help you decide if this career is a good fit for you.
Please ensure you read each section carefully. Estimated times to completion are listed below. Only seven hours are scheduled for this module, allowing for additional overflow time.
Customer Service Overview (1 hour)
Active Listening & Empathy (1 hour)
Problem‑Solving & De‑escalation (1 hour)
Tools & Channels (1 hour)
Clear Writing for Support (1 hour)
Metrics & Quality (1 hour)
Reflection & Career Fit (1 hour)
In this opening hour, you'll explore the big picture of customer service—what it is, why it matters, and how great support turns casual shoppers into lifelong advocates.
Watch this video for a quick overview.
This mini‑module gives you a taste of customer‑service fundamentals. If you’d like a verified credential that appears on your transcript and signals job‑ready skills, explore the Commercial Fundamentals Certificate offered through BYU‑Pathway Worldwide. The certificate covers strategy, content creation, analytics, and paid campaigns, and it can later stack into an associate’s degree.
Spend ten minutes learning about the certificate here: BYU‑Pathway Commercial Fundamentals.
Create a new Google Drive folder named “Customer Service Module” to hold all your files for this module. Make the settings so anyone with the link can view the contents of the folder.
Inside that folder, create a Google Doc titled “Service Snapshot.”
Think of a recent great (or terrible) service interaction you had. In 200–250 words answer:
What happened?
How did the rep’s actions affect your feelings?
Which behavior would you copy—or avoid—in your own work?
Story is 200–250 words
Includes one actionable behavior to emulate (or avoid)
Doc saved in module folder with viewer access
This session zooms in on the human side of support: truly hearing customers and showing you understand them before racing to solutions.
Watch the video, 8 Steps to Improving Active Listening.
"Lack of empathy in customer service can leave customers feeling unheard, frustrated, and more likely to switch to competitors. In today’s competitive market, empathy is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. Businesses that prioritize empathy build trust, improve satisfaction, and foster loyalty, ultimately driving higher retention and revenue.
This blog explores 35 powerful empathy statements for customer service to help you turn complaints into opportunities, strengthen relationships, and deliver exceptional customer experiences."
Read the full blog post here: “35 Empathy Statements for Customer Service”
Open a Google Sheet called “Empathy Ladder.”
Columns: Customer Statement | Feeling | Empathy Phrase | Next Question.
Enter five common complaints (e.g., “My order is late again!”). For each, list:
The likely emotion (frustrated, anxious)
An empathy phrase (“I can see how frustrating that is…”)
One clarifying question to move the conversation forward.
Five rows completed
Empathy phrases genuine, not scripted clichés
Sheet shared with viewer access
Building on listening skills, you'll now practise structured troubleshooting and calming techniques that turn tense moments into trust.
"In the world of guest experience, the most exciting thing for me is seeing effective service recovery in action. There are very few things more fulfilling than seeing a guest go from angry to frustrated to amenable to working with you to satisfied and then overjoyed. The moment you see the guest cross over the hump and into your territory, you know you are on your way to finding a win-win solution.:
Read the full blog post here: 5 Effective Ways to Resolve Complaints with LAST
In Google Slides create “De‑escalation Flow.”
Design a simple flowchart (shapes + arrows) showing how you would apply the LAST model in a phone call, from greeting through resolution.
Add one “escalate to supervisor” decision point.
Flow shows at least 6 steps
Escalation path clear
Slide deck saved & shared
Support happens across phones, email, chat, social media, and ticketing systems—this hour orients you to the tech stack that keeps it all organized.
Video: Zoho Desk Vs Zendesk | Which One Is Better For Your Call Center?
In Google Sheets, create a sheet called “Ticket Triage.”
Columns: Ticket #, Channel, Issue Summary, Priority (High/Med/Low), First‑Response ETA, Tag(s).
Enter 8 mock tickets (invent subjects).
Use conditional formatting to color High‑priority rows red.
Eight tickets entered
Priorities realistic
Sheet shared
Great service is often delivered in writing—here you’ll craft crisp, friendly responses that fix issues and reinforce brand voice.
"In any online customer service or customer support environment, email plays a crucial role in providing great customer service and turning frustrated or angry customers back into happy customers.
"But good customer support emails take time and effort from your customer service agents and team. As you scale, that team can quickly become overwhelmed. And office workers already spend too long typing up emails, averaging 3.1 hours daily.
"Using templated email responses is a key time-saving strategy for growing businesses, allowing customer service reps to reply quickly and helpfully without starting from scratch every time. Wondering where to start? We’re here to help with 16 free and effective customer service email templates you can start using right now. "
Read the full article here: “Use These 7 Email Templates for Your Customer‑Service Needs”
Find a short 1‑ or 2‑star review on Amazon or Google.
Copy it into a Google Doc called “Reply Remix.”
Draft a 120‑word response that:
Acknowledges the issue
Apologizes briefly
Offers one concrete next step or resource
Highlight any empathy phrase in bold.
Reply ≤ 120 words
Empathy phrase bolded
Tone friendly, solution‑oriented
Service excellence is measurable. In this hour you’ll translate raw ticket data into insights that improve both customer happiness and team performance.
Video: “What Are Customer‑Service KPIs?”
In Google Sheets create a “Service Dashboard.”
Tab 1: Raw Data — Create mock 20 tickets (columns: Agent, CSAT 1‑5, Handle Time (min), Resolved First Contact? (Y/N)).
Tab 2: Metrics — calculate:
Average CSAT
% First‑Contact Resolution
Average Handle Time
Insert a chart visualizing CSAT trend by agent.
Formulas work (no manual totals)
Chart clear & labelled
Sheet saved & shared
Round out the module by assessing your own fit for a customer‑service career and mapping practical next steps.
Create a Google Doc titled “Customer Service Reflection” (250–400 words). Answer the following questions:
Energizers vs Drainers: Which tasks (calls, chats, triage, metrics) lit you up?
Transferable Strengths: Name two abilities you already have that will help you excel.
Skill Gaps: Identify one area to improve.
Ideal Work Setup: Describe schedule & environment you prefer.
Career Vision: One‑sentence answer: “Can I see myself thriving as a customer‑service representative within 12 months? Why or why not?”
Create a Google Sheet “Customer Service Job Listings.”
Create the column headers: Platform | Job Title | Pay / Rate | Standout Requirement | Application Link
Collect 5 remote listings across at least 2 job boards (LinkedIn, Indeed, Upwork, etc.).
Use =HYPERLINK() for clean links.
Read the following LinkedIn article: How my faith helps me serve customers
Ponder how your faith would impact how you would serve your customers.
You have reached the end of this module!