Customer Service Assistant – Live Chat Follow-up

HRS Talent Solutions; Portsmouth; Remote; GBP 38,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

HRS Talent Solutions is seeking a Customer Service Assistant for live chat follow-up. This remote role offers either full-time or part-time hours with pay of £27.25–£29.25 per hour.

You will provide clear, written responses to customer questions and ensure threads stay coherent, with next steps or follow-up as needed. Responsibilities include addressing inquiries, escalating when necessary, summarising conversations for colleagues, and documenting follow-ups.

Qualifications

• Experience in customer service is welcome but not required.
• Strong written communication and ability to write clearly.
• Ability to stay calm and organized during busy chats.

Responsibilities

• Respond to online chat inquiries with clear, helpful information.
• Identify customer needs and provide next steps or escalation as needed.
• Keep the chat thread coherent and avoid repeating questions.
• Summarise conversations for colleagues and ensure follow-up where required.

Skills

Written communication

Customer service

Chat support

Job description

Customer Service Assistant - Live Chat Follow-up

Customer Service · Live Chat Follow-up · Remote · Full-time or part-time
£27.25-£29.25 per hour

A conversation should not end halfway through the answer

This role focuses on customer questions that begin in an online chat and need a careful next step. Some can be answered from approved information while the customer is present.

Others need a check by a colleague, a document sent later or a follow-up message once the necessary facts are available. You would help keep the thread coherent so that a person does not have to repeat the same explanation each time they contact the team. The work is remote and primarily written.

You would not be asked to promise an outcome you cannot authorise. A useful chat reply acknowledges the question, separates what is already known from what still needs checking and records the next action. If another person takes over, the handoff needs to capture the reason for contact and what has already been discussed. The measure of a good interaction is whether the customer understands where the issue stands, rather than how quickly a chat window is closed.

In an assigned conversation, you would read the current message and enough earlier context to avoid asking the same question again. You might check for a missing reference, use approved help information to explain an ordinary process and give a concise answer in language the customer can understand. A reply should address the issue actually raised, not merely repeat a standard greeting.

Where an account decision, complaint review or specialist answer is needed, you would summarise the conversation for the next colleague. If information becomes available later, you may send an appropriate follow-up through the approved channel. You would mark the conversation complete only after the stated action or handoff has occurred.

The work has a particular rhythm. Live messages require clear short replies, but not hurried guesses. A customer may describe several problems in one chat; you would identify the separate points and avoid answering only the easiest one. If the chat ends before a question is resolved, a useful note explains precisely what still needs to happen. You may also review a pending queue to make sure a promised follow-up has not been overlooked. The team’s procedures will explain how to assign or elevate an item.

Written judgement, within a defined remit

You should be able to tell the difference between explaining a published step and making a decision about an account. For example, you can direct a person to the right online form when the guidance is clear. You should not say that a request has been accepted before an authorised reviewer has made that decision. Similarly, if a person shares sensitive details in chat, you would follow the company’s handling process instead of copying them into an unrelated message or document.

Customer service experience is welcome, including retail or telephone support, but it is not required. Applicants who have little formal experience may still suit this position if they can write plainly, read carefully and stay composed when a person is confused or frustrated. The employer will train you on its systems, approved answers and escalation routes. Familiarity with a particular chat product is unnecessary; comfort moving between a conversation and reference information is more useful.

This position also calls for the habits used in office administration: a reliable note, a clear status and a handoff that another person can understand. You do not need to have held an administrative job to have those habits. A home office area where you can concentrate on written conversations is helpful. The hiring team can explain its specific working hours and how full-time or part-time cover is arranged.