customer service - Are you good on the phone?

If you have worked as a customer service representative or telemarketer, maybe a customer service job at home would be great for you. There are legitimate companies like Alpine Access, Arise, Team Double Click and LiveOps that hire people to work from home taking calls for orders and calling other people to renew subscriptions. 

These companies have an online application that you can fill out and begin working. All of them require a phone interview that will be done within a few days or weeks of completing your online application. 

I have found that Team Double Click is very thorough in their interview. It can take up to 20 minutes of your time and it is like any other interview; very tough questions. One of the questions to test your ethics would be, “If a client were to ask you to quit Team Double Click and work for them instead or say that Team Double Click charges too much and they want to use your service exclusively, what would you do?” The answer is obvious, so be sure to answer quickly or they will think you are not honest. 

LiveOps takes a little longer to get back to you because they have so many agents working for them, but if you can get it now, you will get your fair share of Christmas bonuses because they do have a lot of clients to cater for. Alpine Access is in the travel industry extensively, but not exclusively, so you are asked to take clients call regarding making reservations, etc. You then click on the particular job you are interested in and fill out their long application. They ask you how many hours you can work. Their part time hours are 4 hours per day. You have to commit to that time span. However, you are allowed to select morning hours, daytime hours or evening hours.  

You must have a dedicated phone line, your own computer, Internet access and email. Some of them ask for additional equipment and a headset. As a Telemarketer, you have to solicit business for the company. So if you are not comfortable with cold calling, then you won’t be able to apply for those jobs. Up to the point of writing this article, I know that only Team Double Click offers some telemarketing positions. However, the other three, I really don’t think they do. These companies already have their own customer base that they give you to use. 

You have to be quite disciplined and love answering the phone to do this kind of job. You must be professional and know how to handle irate or friendly customers. If this is the job for you, then go online and search for these companies. They are waiting for someone like you to join them.