Customer Support Representative

Position Summary

Thales is looking for an Customer Support Representative to be responsible for providing best in class customer service to our customers within the avionics and In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) departments. The emphasis of the position is to promptly and accurately respond to customer inquiries within the expectations of the customer. It is imperative that customer specific pricing, contracts and requirements be approved by the company.

In this position, you will also maintain knowledge of customer and Thales agreements and acts on that information as appropriate. Acts as a point of contact between assigned customers and Thales Avionics, Inc. Identifies possible upselling and sales opportunities to action or forward to regional sales managers. Ensures overall customer satisfaction and escalates required customer issues to Manager and through Account Management channels as appropriate.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Responsible for the WIP management of each assigned customer. First point of customer contact; Follow up with customers concerning approvals to repair estimates, required customer paperwork revisions, and other miscellaneous area causing customer delays to the repair process; Provide weekly customer status reports on WIP and ongoing issues as needed by customers account representative; Work Account Management Team (AMT) members to drive understanding and tracking of customer products and fleets; Attend meetings with customer and AMT as needed and provides input where appropriate.
• Work with Industrial Engineering, Repair Line Managers and Product Support Engineers to obtain technical knowledge related to products customers send in for repair; Ensure correct work order identification and coding of database records when quoting each repair notification; Ensure proper identification of Thales performance commitments in database and sets TAT exclusions as appropriate.
• Generate estimates and set not-to exceed (NTE) authorization levels allowing labor hours and material cost to be applied to customer units for technician repair activity as required by site specific procedures; Create and send estimates to the customer in regards to repairs or RFQ’s with information taken from shop technicians and pricing directives/contracts; Propose exchanges to customers for products under repair and works with Exchange Team for exchange unit availability as appropriate.
• Monitor customer terms and authorize return shipment of customer product. When circumstances support, request authorization to ship if a customer is blocked due to late payments or financial risk; Provide feedback to the customer in a timely manner regarding changes resulting in a delay of product delivery or increased cost estimate where applicable; Promote the use of PartEdge for internal and external customers; Collaborate with the Virtual Shop and Operations Support Team to fix customers issues and obtain customer information when needed; Responsible for initial customer account setup collaboratively with other departments; Monitor customer terms and authorizes return shipment of customer product. When circumstances support, requests authorization to ship if a customer is blocked due to late payments or financial risk; Participates in customer support meetings as appropriate.
• Promote upselling tactics with customers, where appropriate. To inform and work with Account Management team of upselling opportunities that will bring increased margins and/or market share; Obtain customer related information for Thales retrofit and distribution teams where required; Utilize web-based tools as needed to manage customer accounts. Ex. AeroExchange, ILS, etc.; Document in Salesforce ongoing customer issues and feedback from customer for AMT review.
• Actively participates in improving the processes of the Customer Support Department and the repair station utilizing Lean and 6S principles; Take the extra mile to engage customers; Conduct oneself in a way to ensure excellent customer service; Additional duties as assigned by team leader / Customer Support Manager.

Minimum Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED.
• Minimum of 4 years of direct Customer Service related experience, preferably within Aerospace, Electronics and or sales background helpful; Minimum of 3 years of program coordination experience.
• Proficient in SAP, Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook.
• Strong oral and written communications skills to include telephone skills. Must be able to work independently and as part of a team. Must be able to maintain business confidentiality.
• Positive attitude and ability to deal with satisfied and dissatisfied customers.

Special Position Requirements

• Schedule: Monday through Friday; Core Business 8 AM- 5 PM.
• Physical Environment: Typical office environment. Ability to work in a high pressure, deadline-oriented environment.
• Physical Demands: No special physical requirements.
• Travel: This position may require domestic and/or international travel, up to 5%.
• Regulatory Compliance Requirements: None.