Customer Service Specialist

Customer Support Specialist

Located in beautiful Malvern, Pennsylvania, The Institutes are a not-for-profit comprised of diverse affiliates that educate, elevate, and connect people in the essential disciplines of risk management and insurance. Through products and services offered by our nearly 20 affiliated business units, people and organizations are empowered to help those in need with a focus on understanding, predicting, and preventing losses to create a more resilient world.

Additionally, we understand the importance of work-life balancein 2025 Philly.com named us a Top Workplace for the tenth year and USA Today named us a USA Top Workplace for the fourth year. We provide excellent benefits and a friendly, team-focused work environment to drive employee engagement.

HYBRID ROLE: Monday-Friday, with 2 days onsite per week at our Malvern office

STANDARD SCHEDULE: 10:15 AM - 6:00 PM EST

The Customer Support Specialist is a knowledgeable, customer-focused professional who serves as the primary point of contact for The Institutes' customers across inbound and outbound channels. This role requires a strong understanding of the organization's products, programs, policies, and procedures, with the ability to apply that knowledge accurately in every interaction. The representative must also be proficient in systems such as SIMMS and FreshDesk, troubleshoot customer issues, support self-service resources, and identify recurring trends to improve the customer experience. The ideal candidate takes ownership of customer outcomes, collaborates effectively with teammates, and continually builds product and system expertise.

What You'll Do:

• Product Knowledge
  • Stay up to date on our products, programs, services, pricing, and policies
  • Answer customer questions about courses, study materials, exam registrations, fees, dates, grade history, continuing education certificates, and transcripts.
  • Keep up with changes to products and policies and procedures well enough to help guide others when needed
  • Recommend other Institutes products and services to customers when relevant
• Systems and Troubleshooting
  • Use SIMMS and other Customer Success systems to keep customer and student records accurate
  • Enter customer, student, and order data into SIMMS correctly and catch/fix errors
  • Process orders in SIMMS, including large or complex orders, and escalate exceptions to management with documentation
  • Troubleshoot common customer issues with account access, orders, digital products, and exam registrations; escalate complex issues with documentation
  • Log and manage tickets in FreshDesk, including categorizing, prioritizing, and updating status; meet SLA targets for response and resolution times
  • Use FreshDesk reports and queues to manage your own workload and keep tickets from aging
  • Suggest improvements to systems, workflows, and processes based on what you see day to day
  • Comfortable working across multiple systems/platforms at the same time in a fast-paced environment
• Helping Customers Self-Serve
  • Point customers to knowledge base articles, help portal resources, or self-service tools when appropriate
  • Escalate issues to management when self-service content is missing or needs updates
• Pattern Recognition
  • Inform manager about recurring customer issues or friction points you have noticed
  • Document issues and how they were resolved to help build out the knowledge base
• Customer Engagement
  • Be available and responsive on calls, emails, chats, and other assigned channels per your schedule
  • Support outbound outreach to existing customers about relevant products and services
  • Handle all customer contacts, including complex or escalated situations accurately and on time
  • Genuine commitment to putting the customer's best interest first

• Teamwork
  • Work with your manager and teammates to solve problems and share best practices
  • Suggest ideas for improving processes and systems
  • Take on other tasks as needed from your manager or others in the chain of command
  • Manages competing priorities effectively without sacrificing quality

Education and Experience

Required:

• High school diploma or equivalent
• 1-3 years experience in customer success, customer service, communications, sales, or account management
• Demonstrated ability to learn and accurately articulate complex product and policy information.
• Active team player, self-starter, and multitasker who can quickly adjust priorities in a dynamic environment

Preferred:

• Associates' or bachelors' degree in a related field
• Completion of an Institutes' designation program or equivalent professional certification
• Insurance industry experience
• Familiarity with FreshDesk or comparable ticketing platforms
• Experience with CRM systems and customer database management

Work Environment & Physical Demands

• Primarily office based with the majority of time spent on the telephone and working at a computer across multiple platforms and systems
• Requires sustained focus and ability to manage high volumes of customer interactions accurately and professionally throughout the workday

Equal Opportunity Employer This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.