Forward Air logo

Lead, Customer Service

Forward Air
  • Greeneville, TN
  • Autofill and Review
7 days ago

Job Description

The Customer Service Team Lead provides real-time operational support, queue management, and coaching for the Customer Service team while continuing to handle a portion of complex customer contacts. They monitor workload distribution, maintain service levels across phone, email, and chat, and serve as an escalation point for challenging or sensitive customer issues. They offer day-to-day guidance to CSRs, helping them navigate systems, processes, and difficult interactions. While this position does not include supervisory responsibility, it plays a critical role in reinforcing service standards, supporting quality, and ensuring consistent execution across the team.

Responsibilities

  • Monitor real-time contact queues across phone, email, and chat channels to maintain coverage and service levels.

  • Reassign or redistribute work as needed to support response times and manage backlogs.

  • Serve as the first point of contact for complex customer escalations, conducting in-depth research and coordinating with internal teams to resolve issues promptly.

  • Provide daily coaching, assistance, and guidance to CSR I-III team members in navigating systems, processes, and challenging customer scenarios.

  • Conduct call monitoring, side-by-sides, and quality observations to reinforce standards and identify development needs.

  • Support new hire onboarding and ongoing training activities by offering hands-on guidance and subject matter expertise.

  • Review and validate the accuracy of customer documentation and ensure compliance with policies and procedures.

  • Partner with the Supervisor/Manager to communicate workflow changes, process updates, and key priorities to the team.

  • Assist with queue forecasting, daily staffing adjustments, and overall workload planning as requested by leadership.

  • Help maintain and update SOPs, knowledge articles, team resources, and process documentation.

  • Identify trends in escalations, errors, or system challenges and provide recommendations for improvements.

  • Support the team during peak volumes by handling customer contacts to maintain service levels.

  • Model professionalism, accuracy, and a customer-first mindset in all interactions.

  • Regular and dependable attendance is required to support team and business needs.

  • All other duties as assigned to meet evolving business needs.

Qualifications

  • Education: High school diploma or GED equivalent required.

  • Experience: 3+ years of customer service experience, preferably in a high-volume contact center or transportation/logistics environment.

  • Demonstrated mastery of customer service systems, workflows, and processes, with the ability to navigate multiple platforms, browsers, and applications simultaneously.

  • Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities with experience handling complex customer issues or escalations.

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to provide clear feedback, guidance, and coaching.

  • Proven ability to influence, support, and guide peers without direct supervisory authority.

  • Ability to type 35+ wpm with high accuracy, enabling fast and precise documentation while multitasking across systems.

  • Experience supporting training, quality monitoring, or process improvement activities strongly preferred.

  • Demonstrated discretion and confidentiality in handling and protecting sensitive information.

  • Technical: Proficient with common office technologies, including Windows PCs, Microsoft O365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and web conferencing (Teams, Zoom, Webex, etc.)

  • Environment: Comfort commuting to/from and working in a 100% on-site setting (listed in this posting), with travel for related meetings/events.

#LI-onsite

#LI-MP3

Numbers & Facts

LocationGreeneville, TN
IndustryTransport and Storage - Materials
Company Size2,500 to 4,999 employees
Year Founded1981
Websitehttps://www.forwardair.com/content/careers-0

About Company

Since 1990, Forward Air has been a leading provider of ground transportation and related logistics services to the North American air freight and expedited LTL market. We offer surface shipping on an accelerated “time-definite” basis, delivering cargo at a specific time, but under less time-sensitive situations – supplying you with a cost effective, reliable alternative to air transportation. We work with companies of all sizes to develop tangible advantages and build the best products to meet your specific needs. Forward Air presents to the wholesale transportation community (logistics companies, freight forwarders, integrated air cargo carriers, passenger/ cargo airlines, and non-traditional shippers), a single-source provider that can deliver more supply chain services and a superior menu of choices. Throughout the years we have added supplementary lines to our linehaul service, such as full truckload operations (Truckload Services), final-mile coverage (Complete® Cartage), and an Airline Logistics program, and we will continue to expand our services to meet the changing needs and growth of our customer base.

Forward Air is structured to optimize both savings and service to our customers. Direct partnerships with owner-operators and other surface transportation providers, enable us to remain cost-competitive. The Forward Air network is designed with over 90 facilities located at or near major U.S. and Canadian airports, 12 regional sort centers and over 300 beyond points (secondary airports provided through our Complete Cartage service), creating one of the most comprehensive linehaul networks in the industry.

The foundation product for Forward Air is our expedited linehaul service, offering consistent and reliable transit and on-time, damage-free deliveries. By locating terminals on or near airports and maintaining a scheduled transportation network, we are able to arrange for convenient and consistent service with broad geographic coverage. Shipments of varying sizes (TL/LTL) are received at our terminals and transported by contracted service providers either (1) on a direct truck to the destination terminal, (2) through our Columbus, Ohio central sorting hub, or (3) through one of our 12 regional hubs, where they are unloaded, sorted, and reloaded in rapid fashion. After reloading the shipments, our contracted service providers deliver them to the destination city for early morning recovery. Through our Forward Air Complete® cartage service, customers also can have shipments picked up from the shipper, delivered to the final consignee, or transferred at the airport, simplifying the freight management processes. These options allow us to maximize handling efficiency of each shipment while minimizing freight loss and damage, improving transit times over traditional ground transportation.

Skills

  • Backlog Prioritizationunmatched
  • Call Centersunmatched
  • Call Monitoringunmatched
  • Coachingunmatched
  • Communication Skillsunmatched
  • Customer Escalationsunmatched
  • Customer Relationsunmatched
  • Customer Service Systemsunmatched
  • Customer Support/Serviceunmatched
  • Distribution Servicesunmatched
  • Documentationunmatched
  • Forecastingunmatched
  • Information/Data Security (InfoSec)unmatched
  • Leadershipunmatched
  • Logisticsunmatched
  • Maintain Complianceunmatched
  • Microsoft Excelunmatched
  • Microsoft Outlookunmatched
  • Microsoft PowerPointunmatched
  • Microsoft Product Familyunmatched
  • Microsoft Windows Operating Systemunmatched
  • Microsoft Wordunmatched
  • Multiplatform/Cross-Platformunmatched
  • Needs Assessmentunmatched
  • Onboardingunmatched
  • Operational Supportunmatched
  • Presentation/Verbal Skillsunmatched
  • Problem Solving Skillsunmatched
  • Process Improvementunmatched
  • Quality Monitoringunmatched
  • Resolve Customer Issuesunmatched
  • Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)unmatched
  • Standards Developmentunmatched
  • Team Lead/Managerunmatched
  • Time Trackingunmatched
  • Trend Analysisunmatched
  • Web Browsersunmatched
  • Web Conferencingunmatched
  • WebExunmatched
  • Writing Skillsunmatched

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