Why Work for Community Support?
Say hello to Benas — car racing enthusiast, vinyl music producer, graffiti painter and skater. He works for Vinted Community Support and assists our members in the UK.
When, at his job interview, we asked him why he wanted to work in Community Support (CS), in a blink of an eye he simply said:
“Why? You’re really asking me why? Because I’m passionate about helping people!”
However, CS is more than just answering people’s questions. It’s also about helping them fall in love with Vinted. Our CS team members are the voice and ambassadors of our product. If they do an outstanding job, our members always want to come back.
Benas, why have you chosen this position? What skills are important here?
I started at Vinted a year and a half ago. The main reason why I chose this field? Empathy. I always felt that I could understand people’s problems. I always wanted to imagine myself on the clients’ side and I would often think about the ways in which they’d like to be talked to — what the conversation should be and where it should go.
I strongly believe that the most important skills for this position are innate, not acquired. You don’t even need specialized education to start your career in this field. You need to be cool-headed, calm, professional in your communication and have an ability to recognize the problem and its causes. This could be very hard for some people. If helping others doesn’t motivate you in this job, you might lose interest quite fast.
What standards do you set for yourself in your job?
Quality is very important to me. I believe it’s the most important measurement in this field. It’s better to do your job slowly but carefully rather than do more mediocre work. I strongly believe that each time you reply to your client, you need to speak like yourself, like you’re writing a personal message.
At Vinted, CS use an informal communication style with members. What do you think about this decision?
I admit that at first it wasn’t easy. I needed to change my vocabulary, my style of communication, because it had previously been very strict and professional. But I see now that informal communication with our members has more pros than cons.
I ended up really liking this style. It creates a feeling of a friendly relationship between a support specialist and a member. When you buy something, you simply expect to receive it. But when you get a friendly response in addition, that takes the service to a whole other level. I’m very happy that Vinted fosters warm relationships with its members.
I remember one story we had. A great seller was in an unpleasant situation caused by another member. I needed to talk to both of them and help them calm down. The seller was so happy and thankful. This made me feel great.
What do you think makes a good Customer Support agent ?
I think that the most important thing an agent needs is an honest desire to help your clients by building relationships with them. This, in turn, helps build a company’s brand. You need to put yourself in your client’s shoes. If there is any trouble, you need to comfort them. You should also remind them of the rules, talk to them in a way that’s personal, and you’ll be extremely helpful.
What’s even more important — you can’t act as if you know the member better than they know themselves. You need to remember you’re not better or smarter than they are.
This was my point of view when I started working at Vinted, and it hasn’t changed since.
