| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Customer Support |
| Level | Mid level |
| Reports to | Customer Support Manager |
| Direct reports | Customer Support Executive, Senior Customer Support Executive |
| Experience | 3 to 6 years in customer support with some team leadership |
Customer Support Team Leader job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Customer Support Team Leader
Department: Customer Support
Reports to: Customer Support Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Customer Support Team Leader leads a team of support agents on the floor. They allocate work, monitor service level and quality, coach agents, and handle the first level of escalations. They are the bridge between the agents and the support manager. A good Customer Support Team Leader keeps the team hitting service and quality targets, coaches agents so they improve week on week, resolves escalations quickly, keeps adherence and morale high, and gives the manager an accurate read of how the team and its customers are doing.
Key responsibilities
- Allocate work and monitor the queue so the team meets service levels through the shift.
- Coach agents using quality feedback and performance data to improve their work.
- Handle first-level escalations and resolve them or route them correctly.
- Track each agent's service, quality and adherence and act on gaps.
- Brief the team at shift start and debrief on issues at shift end.
- Support agents with product knowledge and difficult customer situations.
- Keep schedule and break adherence high across the team.
- Onboard and buddy new agents until they reach the standard.
- Escalate systemic issues and blockers to the support manager.
- Prepare team performance updates on service and quality for the manager.
Requirements
- Graduate in any discipline
- Experience as a support agent with early leadership
- Good communication and coaching skills
- 3 to 6 years in customer support with some team leadership
KRAs and KPIs for a Customer Support Team Leader
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Service level | Team service levels met on at least 95 percent of days |
| Quality | Team quality scores held above the target |
| Adherence | Schedule and break adherence above the agreed level |
| Coaching | Every agent coached with performance improving over time |
| Escalations | First-level escalations resolved within the agreed time |
| Attrition | Team attrition kept below the agreed level |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Ticketing platform, Telephony and dialer, CRM, MS Excel, Knowledge base.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Assistant Manager Customer Support, Customer Support Manager, Process Manager
Interview questions for a Customer Support Team Leader
- How do you keep your team on service level through a busy shift?
- How do you coach an agent who is missing quality targets?
- How do you handle an escalation an agent could not resolve?
- How do you keep schedule and break adherence high?
- How do you get a new agent up to standard quickly?
- How do you keep a team motivated on a tough process?
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What does a Customer Support Team Leader do?
A Customer Support Team Leader leads a team of support agents on the floor. They allocate work, monitor service level and quality, coach agents, and handle first-level escalations. They track each agent's performance, brief and debrief the team, onboard new agents, keep adherence and morale high, and give the manager an accurate read of the team.
What is the difference between a Team Leader and an Assistant Manager in support?
A Team Leader leads one team of agents on a shift. An Assistant Manager sits above several team leaders, running the floor, handling harder escalations and standing in for the manager. The team leader manages a team's daily performance; the assistant manager manages the shift and the leaders under them.
How do you become a Customer Support Team Leader?
Most team leaders rise from agent roles after building strong performance and product knowledge. Employers look for a graduate degree, experience as a support agent, and early signs of leadership and coaching ability. Good communication, the ability to handle escalations, and the drive to help teammates improve prepare an agent for the role.