Before writing your job post, start by defining the project. To help you do so, ask yourself these six questions:

1. What will they be doing? State a brief one to two sentence overview of the project objectives.
2. What challenge are they solving, or helping to solve? State this in one sentence so the professional understands how the work fits into the bigger picture.
3. What expertise level or skills are needed? Be specific with requirements, such as specific software knowledge, typing speed, and language fluency.
4. What’s the estimated project length? Enter a start and end date. Most independent contractor projects are project based and/or short-term. If you’re unsure of the end date, or if the work may be ongoing, you may need to consult your HR partner or other advisor to verify the worker’s classification.
5. What services or deliverables will they provide? List any deliverables or work product you expect the freelancer to provide. If you have deadlines for the deliverables, list them here too.
6. Payment terms. Independent contractor work is often paid at a fixed price. When paying hourly, you may want to specify the maximum number of hours for the project—if any.

Below is a sample of how a project description may look. Keep in mind that many people use the term “job description,” but a full job description is only needed for employees. When engaging a freelancer as an independent contractor, you typically just need a statement of work, job post, or any other document that describes the work to be done.

Sample Customer Service Job Post

Title: Inbound customer service

We need an energetic and friendly agent for a two-month project, expected to require 20 hours/week of services, from [start date] to [end date]. We’re launching a multimedia campaign that’s expected to dramatically spike call volume. You’ll work from your own location to handle product calls, take orders, and process payments.

Skill Requirements:

• Knowledge of Zendesk and Salesforce software
• Expertise in providing customer service via phone and live chat
• Fluent in English and Spanish
• Handle 15-20 calls per hour
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel
• Ability to upsell and cross-sell products on the phone
• Health industry knowledge is a plus

To submit a proposal, please provide a cover letter explaining a difficult customer experience, and how you handled it. Please write no more than 2-3 paragraphs. Submit by [date].

Ready to streamline your customer experience by providing support for your products and services? Log in and post your customer service job on Globelancer today.

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES FAQ

What is customer service?

Great customer service professionals are masters at understanding people, displaying empathy, remaining calm under stress, and politely diffusing conflict. They usually interact with a company’s customers to answer questions, take orders, trouble-shoot technical issues, respond to complaints, and process returns. The great ones do all of this efficiently, while skillfully building relationships between the customer and the company.

Customer service representatives often analyze situations, investigate problems, and create solutions based on the resources available. They need strong listening skills to accurately understand customer needs. They also need strong speaking and/or writing skills to efficiently resolve customer concerns via phone, chat, or email. Resolving issues through these communication methods can be a little more challenging because they don’t see body language. As a result, they’re usually skilled at picking up on subtleties.

Typical services and deliverables include:

• Resolving inquiries within the allotted time
• Maintaining customer records
• Scheduling appointments
• Providing accurate information about the company’s products or services
• Handling a high volume of calls or tickets
• Researching answers or solutions as needed
• Creating a positive company experience for the customer
• Meeting sales or call handling targets
• Generating sales leads
• Entering data into the company’s databases
• Making outbound prospecting calls
• Taking orders, determining charges, and payment processing

Why are you hiring a customer service representative?

If you want to find top customer service reps, it’s important to identify your customer service needs. Are you looking for someone who speaks native English, or are you hiring someone fluent in another language to provide local customer service to a branch overseas? Is this a temporary hire to meet the demands of a busy season, or will you be hiring long term? Asking yourself questions like these can help you develop a profile of the customer service representative who’s right for your needs.

How much does it cost to hire a customer service representative?

So how do you estimate a budget for a customer service rep (CSR)? There are top four factors that contribute to the cost of customer service.

1. The complexity of your product or service offerings

A customer service professional’s goal is to quickly and efficiently provide practical solutions that keep customers happy. But the more complicated it is to arrive at that solution, the more expertise, time, and effort it takes. The steeper the learning curve, the more you should expect to budget for quality customer support.

Other factors such as complex terminology (such as medical or pharmaceutical terminology) may also require some upfront education so the professional can identify what a customer is asking with less back and forth required to get to the root of the issue. This can help keep calls, chats and other interactions short and effective.

Generally, the hourly rates for CSRs that specialize in a particular field can be 20-50% more than those of general reps, but take into consideration that their specialization may eliminate the need for extensive training on your needs.

2. The scope of the work

What is the scope of your project? Do you have a large backlog of tickets to tackle? Are you tapping flexible support in anticipation of the launch of a new product or announcement of a big change? How many channels will the professional need to monitor and address—in other words, will there be more multitasking involved than usual?

3. The number of sales involved

For many organizations, inbound marketing strategies are closely integrated with the work that their customer service professionals do. These one-to-one communications and interactions offer prime opportunities for representatives to help with closing sales, upselling, signing renewals, or heading off cancellations or returns.

If a CSR’s primary task is selling, however, you’re going to want to offer some type of incentive to encourage them to close those deals. This could be anything from a set commission structure to a higher hourly rate or fixed price based on performance.

4. The Experience and Expertise of the Professional

Most freelance customer service representatives prefer to work at an hourly rate, although some may consider other structures. Those with extensive experience within your field will likely propose a higher hourly rate to start, but they’re also likely to be more adept when speaking to customers on the phone or over chat and ensuring they leave happy—your ultimate goal.

How much should I expect to pay?