Customer Service Associate

Position Overview

The Associate, Customer Service is responsible for ensuring that all customer requests and requirements are met and responded to professionally and in a timely manner. This role administers, coordinates, and controls specific customer programs and processes within the framework of established company policies, ISO procedures, and work instructions.

Responsibilities

• Receives, retrieves, and processes purchase orders and customer forecasts in the order entry system as designated (PLEX)
• Provides timely and accurate information to external and internal customers regarding order status, inventory, quotations, post-shipment status, and other issues by conferring with the appropriate department, such as Materials & Warehouse personnel
• Responds to in-coming telephone calls and web requests immediately. Responds to order related questions, such as confirmations, pricing, order status, etc., within 24 hours of order receipt, not to exceed 48 hours
• Sets up and resolves scheduling conflicts with appropriate department or freight forwarders to meet customer needs
• Communicates with internal cross-functional personnel at all levels of the organization to meet and exceed customer's expectations
• Keeps manager informed of issues and improvement opportunities
• Manages complex situations for domestic and export customer accounts (last minute changes, freight forwarder & credit coordination, etc.)
• Works closely with appropriate departments to resolve credits, returns, customer complaints, and invoice issues
• Maintains customer files, profiles, and all records of order activity
• Works with Sales Representatives and/or other departments to resolve customer order and related issues
• Reports data inaccuracies and customer problems to manager immediately
• Prepares memos, correspondence, reports, and other documents
• Fulfills quality system procedures

Qualifications

• Associates degree in Business Administration or related field preferred
• Minimum of 2 to 4 years of experience working in a Customer Service/Inside Sales role
• Experience working in a Customer Service/Inside Sales role with a multi-site distribution and/or manufacturing company required
• Distribution experience and an export or import background
• Excellent telephone skills: position communicates with many individuals, both internally and externally
• Must have the demeanor and temperance to work effectively in a customer service and fast-paced environment
• Must work well in a team environment
• Must possess effective problem-solving skills, exceptional organizational and multi-tasking abilities
• Excellent decision-making skills and ability to perform complicated tasks, attention to detail
• Excellent PC and working knowledge of order fulfillment/Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) is preferred
• Knowledge of Sales Force is a plus
• Export/Import logistics and battery knowledge a plus
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Applications, especially Outlook, Word and Excel