Customer Service Representative

My client in the Financial Service industry is currently looking for a Customer Service Representative.
**Key Requirements**:
- Minimum requirement:
Grade 12 or equivalent.
- Exposure to or theoretical knowledge of FAIS &
FICA legislation required.
- Minimum 2 years’ experience in a reasonably complex process-orientated environment, preferably within Financial Services industry recommended.
- Tertiary qualification in Financial Services would be a definite advantage.
- Knowledge and experience with sales techniques/strategies to meet customer/business needs and objectives.
- Proven ability to be self-motivated and work autonomously, while also working successfully within a team.
- Proven organisational skills including the ability to prioritise work to ensure deadlines are consistently achieved.
- Strong attention to detail and follow-through.
- Excellent telephone manner and confident on the phone.
- High degree of initiative and motivation.
- Demonstrated inclusive, collaborative and engaging approach;
including the ability to consult, facilitate, negotiate and influence a broad range of people at all levels in a medium sized corporate environment.
- An ability to work under pressure in a rapidly changing environment.
- Solid stakeholder management skills and ability to develop trusted and enduring relationships with customers.
- Sophisticated communications skills, both verbal and written (English and Afrikaans) with excellent grammar and spelling.
- Strong interpersonal skills coupled within a resilient yet enthusiastic life disposition, including the ability to remain calm in dynamic situations and project with sunny poise and aura.
- Demonstrated and applied knowledge of relevant regulatory and compliance frameworks.
**The Role**:
The Customer Services Representative (CSR) is a key member of the Sales &
Operations team reporting to the Team Leader. The role is responsible for end-to-end delivery of customer outcomes and will facilitate and administer processes necessary to achieve mutually agreed customer outcomes. It will furthermore act as conduit between business and customers (after customer accepts quote for service/s), taking responsibility to ensure information is supplied to the business in a prompt fashion whilst keeping customers informed on progress until outcomes are successfully achieved. The incumbent will liaise with customers, internal staff, external service providers and partners.
**Key Accountabilities**:
**Deliver customer solutions**
**Insurance**:
- Facilitate the surrender of customer retirement annuities held with South African based insurance companies.
- Facilitate the surrender of all other customer held policies with South African based insurance companies.
- Facilitate the transfer of customer section 14 funds and/or Preservation fund solutions and/or transfer of pension to new retirement annuity.
- Obtain final values for financial products (e.G., policies).
- Identify and facilitate cancellation of cessions on customer policies and/or change of ownership.
- Administer paid-up policies.
- Handle communication with bank and/or insurer regarding cession cancellations and paid-up requests.
- Execute retirement claims, retirement investments and deferred pensions.
- Support Financial Planning and Investments specialist to institute new investment/s for customers.
- Support Financial Consultants (FC) to obtain customer specific information regarding the insurance and/or investment products they have in South Africa. Work collaboratively with Financial Consultants (FC) on all matters that will enable value to be realised for the customer and business alike.
**FICA &
Banking**:
- Facilitate the FICA compliance requirements with the customer, identification, and verification of the client in terms of natural person as primary customer.
- Facilitate the opening of the relevant bank account for the customer and process on the Bidvest Bank API system.
- Facilitate and obtain the required Tax Residency Certificate from the customer. The certificate of tax residency from the foreign revenue authority or a letter from the authority that indicated that the customer is regarded as a tax resident in that country is required by SARS to withdraw from a Retirement Annuity Fund.
**Customer communication**:
- Obtain sign-off from Financial Consultant/s (FC) on the processes to commence that will enable the business to meet their service outcome obligations as agreed to with customer/s.
- Establish good customer report and maintain a professional relationship end-to-end.
- Provide clear, accurate and consistent communication, enabling customers to respond with information, feedback, documentation, etc. in a prompt fashion.
- Guide and assist customers with the completion of their Personal Data Form (PDF) or similar.
- Regularly follow-up with customers to reduce service turn-around time.
- Keep customers informed on progress.
- Connect customers with internal specialists (if necessa