Customer Service Representative

Job Description

Job Requisition ID: 15865

Additional Locations:

The Customer Service representative position is the first line of contact for any customer inquiry into HMH. This role provides support and information to all external customers as well as internal customers including Sales, Global Supply Chain, Corporate departments and other employees. Type of support includes responding to phone call, email and potentially (chat) customer inquiries regarding processing orders, researching and resolving order issues, researching and resolving product returns, providing product pricing and availability status to name a few.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Process orders and related tasks timely and accurately as assigned. Includes sales quotations, orders, returns, credits and order adjustments in SAP. Communicate order status or other items such as product availability, (including 3rd party), substitutions, pricing, discounts and product compatibility issues to customers. Evaluate order requirements and ensure that customer, inventory and system requirements are met before processing. Understand the system interfaces to and from SAP, Esker and Salesforce.com as well as the downstream processes. Thorough understanding of policies, processes and procedures required in order to assure accurate information is communicated. Must utilize good judgment and be able to make decisions independently
• Provide positive and timely responses to internal and external customer inquiries, including phone calls, written communication and other methods of inquiry. Provide a positive customer experience that will promote future business through courteous, accurate and prompt responses to inquiries. Provide answers to customer and sales inquiries on all company products, pricing and contracts, as well as gratis guidelines, including how to access and interpret information in SAP and downstream systems that are utilized by our customers. Research and process credits for products returned to various warehouses, and support other duties as assigned by Customer Experience and GSC Leadership
• As required, research inquiries and resolve customer order issues (i.e. incomplete or incorrect ordering, shipping, pricing, returns and/or billing problems) expeditiously. Provide SAP queries regarding backorders and transactions to both customers and sales force, with ability to create/and or populate basic excel spreadsheets, with use of formatting and formulas. Understand and monitor SAP reports to ensure individual processing in SAP is correct and complete. Possess knowledge of Supply Chain processes ensuring that accurate information is passed to all customers regarding product attributes and inventory availability. Manage salesforce cases, creating, editing and closing standard cases.
• Contribute to team effort and provide backup support to co-representatives following departmental policies and procedures in addition to other duties as assigned. Mentor and assist in training new hires and summer temps.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• Excellent verbal and written skills.
• Ability to manage email and outlook calendars
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, with emphasis in Excel and Word. (example-Able to export items from SAP and analyze in Excel)
• Ability to multitask and be proficient in multiple functions such as return processing, emails, and credit claims
• Ability to analyze large volumes of data
• Ability to respond to internal and external customer emails concisely and with proper grammar, sentence structure and punctuation.
• Ability to handle customer escalations with empathy
• Ability to make decisions with minimal supervision and handle a high volume of incoming calls, emails and paperwork.
• Thorough working knowledge of various software packages including, SAP, Salesforce.com
• Strong organizational skills and ability to prioritize workload and adapt to change
• Must be willing to work a considerable amount of overtime
• Remote capabilities to support business needs, including continuity plan.
• Ability to work extended hours or different shifts as business needs dictate.
• Work is performed at fast pace in an office environment with exposure to noise and video display terminals on a regular basis.
• Work pressure exists due to lack of control over number of incoming phone calls.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

Required

• H.S. diploma
• Minimum of two years Customer Service or related experience

Preferred

• College Degree
• Email to chat experience
• SAP experience
• Bilingual (Spanish) a plus
• Minimum one-year call center experience

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Might be in a stationary position for a considerable time (sitting and/or standing)
• The person in this position need to move about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, etc.
• Constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine, and computer printer
• Must be able to collaborate with colleagues via face to face, conference calls and online meetings

ABOUT US:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (NASDAQ:HMHC) is a global learning company dedicated to changing people’s lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. As a leading provider of pre-K–12 education content, services, and cutting-edge technology solutions across a variety of media, HMH enables learning in a changing landscape. HMH is uniquely positioned to create engaging and effective educational content and experiences from early childhood to beyond the classroom. HMH serves more than 50 million students in over 150 countries worldwide, while its award-winning children's books, novels, non-fiction, and reference titles are enjoyed by readers throughout the world.
For more information, visit http://careers.hmhco.com

PLEASE NOTE:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an equal employment opportunity employer and participates in E-Verify. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, or other protected group status.