Customer Service Representative

Job Description

Job Description

Job Description – Customer Service Representative

Revised 9/03/26

Job Classification: Hourly/Salary, Full time/Part Time

Supervisor: Customer Service Representative- Manager

Job Responsibility Summary: The Customer Service Representative is the quarterback of every customer order they handle at Target Steel. The Customer Service Representative owns the customer relationship end-to-end, orchestrates every internal team involved in an order, and ensures that the customer always has a clear, confident, and proactive point of contact. When something goes wrong, this role does not wait for management to handle it. This role handles it.

Position Requirements:

· Prior experience in customer service, account management, or inside sales in a manufacturing or distribution environment preferred.

· Strong written and verbal communication skills. Ability to communicate with urgency, warmth, and professionalism.

· Ability to manage multiple active accounts and orders simultaneously without losing track of details.

· Comfortable initiating difficult conversations internally and externally.

· Self-directed. Does not require intervention to act on a customer’s behalf.

· Proficiency in order management systems and Microsoft Office.

Job Duties Include, but not limited to:

• Customer Relationship Ownership
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for assigned customer accounts.
  • Build genuine relationships with customers through consistent, proactive, and warm communication — not just transactional order updates.
  • Welcome new and trial customers personally: introduce yourself by name, establish a direct line of contact, and kick off the relationship with a call and team introductions.
  • Know the customer beyond the order — their business, priorities, and what they're building.
• Order Management & Internal Coordination
  • Enter and manage orders accurately and with urgency.
  • Quarterback every order from intake to delivery: know where active orders always stand, coordinate with internal departments as needed, and adapt the plan.
  • When an order is at risk, a shortage exists, or a timeline is in jeopardy: convene the right people, build a game plan, drive it to resolution, and own the communication back to the customer.
  • Confirm delivery details, follow up on shipments in transit, and close the loop with the customer once material is received.
  • Forecast anticipated customer demand in MIS, factoring in inventory and lead time to help meet customer needs.
  • Maintain ready-to-ship and master coil inventory at appropriate levels based on customer needs.
  • Review and resolve EDI errors to the best of your ability, escalating when needed. Maintain awareness of EDI processes and flag any reoccurring issues or patterns to Customer Service Representative Manager.
• Proactive Customer Communication
  • Never go silent and never make the customer be the one to reach out for an update. If something changes — timeline, availability, specs, anything — the customer hears it from you first, before they ask or call wondering where things stand.
  • Lead with a plan, not a problem. When delivering bad news, open with what you're doing about it — not just what happened.
  • Phone communication is part of this role, not optional. Urgent issues, new customer onboarding, and problem resolution happen on the phone — email supplements the relationship, it doesn't substitute for it.
• Sales Partnership & Approval
  • Work hand in hand with the assigned sales representative for each account. The Coordinator and sales rep are a team.
  • When a customer requests anything outside their existing quote — pricing, expedited delivery, special processing, or a spec change — bring the sales rep in immediately to secure proper pricing or approval. Expedited or non-standard commitments also require internal sign-off from production and/or logistics before they're confirmed to the customer. Don't leave the customer waiting, and don't guess.
  • Share relevant customer intelligence with sales & operations — order patterns, complaints, opportunities, feedback.
  • Keep up to date with new market trends and updated pricing.
  • Participate in new customer onboarding calls alongside the sales rep, quality rep, and traffic rep. Be present, be engaged, be the face of Target Steel operations.
• Complaint & Issue Resolution
  • Receive and own any customer complaints: intake the issue, acknowledge it to the customer immediately, and drive it to resolution internally.
  • Do not route complaints to management as a first move. Attempt resolution at your level first — escalate when you need resources or authority you don't have, not when the situation is uncomfortable.
  • Close the loop with the customer after every complaint so they know it was taken seriously and what was done about it.
• Other Duties - Any assignments given by supervisor and upper management.