We are seeking a highly engaged Customer Service Manager to lead our small customer service department, while personally managing a significant share of the department’s daily customer service responsibilities.
This is a highly hands-on role that believes that every touchpoint with a customer is a chance to make a positive connection and impression. The Customer Service Manager will work directly with our sales team and our customers, process and troubleshoot orders and account issues, answer product questions, and coordinate solutions across departments. At the same time, this individual will guide the customer service team, improve departmental organization, and identify opportunities to streamline processes and work more efficiently.
The role will also help expand the department’s ability to support additional company initiatives and contribute to customer growth through helpful, service-oriented outreach and product support.
Knowledge of musical instruments and products would be highly valuable
Key Responsibilities
Hands-On Customer Service and Troubleshooting
- Personally manage a substantial volume of customer inquiries, orders, account needs, product questions, issues, and follow-up.
- Troubleshoot order, account, product, system, and service issues, coordinating with other departments to reach timely solutions.
- Serve as an escalation point for complex or sensitive customer situations.
- Develop strong customer relationships through responsive, accurate, and solutions-oriented support.
- Maintain key processes, oversight of complete and organized customer records, communications, and follow-up.
- Use available software, systems, and tools effectively to manage customer activity and departmental workflow, as well as help to develop future solutions.
- Balance customer needs with company policies and business requirements while maintaining a high standard of service.
Department Leadership and Organization
- Lead and support the day-to-day work of a small customer service team.
- Support and coordinate efforts with the sales team.
- Establish priorities, monitor workload, and ensure appropriate service coverage.
- Provide coaching, training, guidance, and feedback to team members.
- Promote accountability, collaboration, sound judgment, and consistent follow-through.
- Maintain an organized department with clear processes, responsibilities, and service expectations.
- Identify departmental needs and recommend appropriate changes to staffing, training, tools, or responsibilities.
Process Improvement and Efficiency
- Evaluate current practices and identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary steps, duplication, delays, and errors.
- Develop and implement more efficient workflows, procedures, documentation, and use of systems.
- Improve the organization and flow of customer information within the department and across the company.
- Identify recurring customer or operational issues and work cross-functionally to address their underlying causes.
- Establish practical ways to evaluate departmental workload, service levels, and improvement.
Customer and Business Growth
- Help expand the department’s ability to support new company initiatives, customer programs, product launches, promotions, and other customer-facing efforts.
- Recognize opportunities to strengthen customer relationships and connect customers with relevant products, services, or programs.
- Partner with Sales and Marketing on appropriate customer outreach and follow-up.
- Contribute to growth through a helpful, consultative approach based on understanding customer needs.
- Gather and communicate customer feedback, product questions, and market observations that may help inform company decisions.
Qualifications
- Experience in customer service, account management, inside sales, or a related customer-facing role.
- Experience leading or supporting a team while remaining actively involved in daily customer service.
- Strong troubleshooting, problem-solving, organizational, and follow-through skills.
- Ability to handle complex or sensitive customer situations with sound judgment.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities.
- Experience using customer service, order-management, CRM, ERP, or other business software and tools.
- Ability to collaborate effectively across departments and follow issues through to resolution.
- Ability to recognize customer needs and growth opportunities in a helpful, service-oriented manner.
- Great Plains experience is preferred.