Role Overview
The client hires a Customer Service Expert to protect their brand experience and retain customer trust at scale. This role exists to handle post-purchase interactions with speed, accuracy, and empathy—so customers feel heard, supported, and willing to buy again. In a DTC environment, CS is not a support team—it’s a key profit driver. A good CS Expert saves sales. A great one builds lifetime value.
This is not a task robot role. Clients don’t need someone to blindly copy-paste templates or give generic replies just to close tickets. They need a specialist who understands their products, tone, and policies—and can respond like a true extension of their brand. Inconsistent messaging, delays, or sloppy replies don’t just lose one order… they damage reviews, refund rates, and marketing ROI. The risk is high—but for a sharp, reliable CS Expert, so is the reward.
Standards You Must Meet
• Replies must reflect deep product and policy knowledge — scripted answers that miss context will not pass.
• Customers should walk away feeling heard; rushed replies or cold tone break trust fast.
• You are expected to resolve tickets quickly and clearly, without back-and-forth that wastes time.
• Every message must match the brand’s voice — slipping into generic or off-tone language hurts credibility.
• You must protect revenue first: know how to de-escalate, save sales, and avoid avoidable refunds.
• Inboxes must stay under control — clients will notice delays, even if you don’t.
• Mistakes in tagging, note-taking, or tracking issues quietly break backend logic — accuracy matters.
• Clients aren’t just buying coverage — they’re counting on you to protect reviews, loyalty, and repeat purchase rates.
What You’ll Be Doing
• Respond to customer tickets using accurate product knowledge, clear logic, and client-aligned policies — no guesswork, no fluff.
• Match brand tone consistently across platforms — even when handling angry customers, refunds, or complaints.
• Spot and de-escalate high-risk issues (e.g. chargebacks, viral comments) before they trigger loss or public damage.
• Keep inboxes clear and on schedule by resolving quickly, tagging properly, and avoiding message pileups.
• Track and surface repeated customer issues that may signal deeper operations, fulfillment, or listing problems.
• Tag every ticket and record internal notes with precision to preserve refund logic, trends, and team handoffs.
• Prioritize resolution paths that protect revenue — don’t default to refunds if an exchange, discount, or fix can save the sale.
• Maintain speed and accuracy during volume surges — no shortcuts, no dropped threads, no excuses.
What You’ll Hand Over
• A fully resolved ticket queue with all customer issues addressed using brand-aligned, policy-correct messaging.
• A weekly report summarizing volume handled, top issue trends, potential escalations, and customer sentiment shifts.
• A clean, accurately-tagged helpdesk system with notes that support refunds, exchanges, and internal visibility.
• A list of high-risk orders or at-risk customers proactively flagged for client review or retention campaigns.
• A message history that reflects consistent brand tone, timely responses, and resolution-first communication.
Tools You’ll Need to Use
• Shopify Admin – Core platform for managing customer accounts, orders, refunds, and product inquiries.
• Gorgias (or similar helpdesk tool) – Central hub for managing tickets, live chat, and customer communications.
• Zendesk – Alternative support system used by some client accounts for multi-channel service resolution.
• Gmail or Google Workspace – Daily communication and documentation tools for internal and client-facing updates.
• Meta Business Suite – For handling inquiries via Facebook and Instagram messaging, comments, and support threads.
• Slack – Internal messaging for rapid team coordination and task resolution tracking.
• WhatsApp Business – Used by some clients for fast, mobile-first customer interaction.
Why Work Smarter
If you cannot automate basic workflows — like tagging tickets, auto-responding to FAQs, or routing messages between helpdesks and order systems — the client is wasting money. Platforms like Zapier, Make (Integromat), and n8n are in daily use by lean DTC teams. These are not “nice-to-haves” — they’re now quietly expected, especially at the specialist level.
You are not required to be an expert today, but being unaware or uninterested is not acceptable. We set AI and automation awareness as a standard at OES because the market already demands it — whether it’s said out loud or not.
Why Your Work Matters
Right now, every DTC brand is fighting two battles at once: keeping loyal customers and protecting margins. One unresolved issue, one slow reply, one off-brand message—any of these can instantly flip a customer from repeat buyer to refund request. In a landscape where a single bad review can derail $10,000 in ad spend, the cost of poor customer experience is immediate and measurable. That’s why brands don’t just want a warm body in support—they need a specialist who can preserve revenue, reputation, and retention in real time.
This role is not back-office—it’s frontline profitability. When a CS Expert handles post-purchase moments with speed and empathy, customers stay calm, stay loyal, and come back. When that same expert is sloppy, slow, or tone-deaf, the client doesn’t just lose a sale—they may lose a brand ambassador. At OES, we call that unacceptable. Every message you send is a lever: it either builds customer LTV or breaks it. That’s why this seat can’t be filled casually—it’s a trust-based role with direct impact on brand survival.
What We Expect From You
As a Specialist-level Customer Service Expert in Shopify + Private Label (DTC), your role is tactical, accountable, and exposed to risk. You are decisive under pressure, able to translate brand standards into day-to-day execution without compromising compliance or margin. You represent the client—commercially and operationally—by turning complex buyer issues into resolved tickets, reviews into revenue, and metrics into proof of reliability. You must be fluent in root cause thinking and know when to escalate, when to act, and when to push back. Discipline in communication, ticket handling, and CRM hygiene is non-negotiable.
This role demands sharp pattern recognition and mature judgment across shifting priorities—volume spikes, chargebacks, system bugs, or supplier bottlenecks. You must own your numbers, your queue, and your impact on customer LTV. If an order issue threatens brand trust or fulfillment SLAs, it’s on you to resolve or route it fast—with zero excuses. You will work closely with BrandOps, Shopify, and Supplier VAs, but no one will chase you for updates—you are expected to lead from your seat. This role is a direct lever on customer retention, and we take that seriously.
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$525 – $1,225
OES salary standards reflect real market benchmarks, tier and experience level, ensuring fair pay for VAs and realistic expectations for clients.
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