Client Service Center Associate

This is a remote position. Only considering candidates who reside in one of these markets : Twin Cities area, MN; Grand Forks or Fargo, ND; or Phoenix, AZ.

Hours : Monday - Friday 10am - 7pm Central Time and one Saturday per month (8am - 1pm).

Position Summary :

The Client Service Center Associate is responsible for answering a wide range of incoming calls from retirement plan participants, banking clients, and health benefit clients.

Client Service Center Associates troubleshoot and address issues, provide support, and offer information as needed to correctly and efficiently respond to caller inquiries.

The Client Service Center is intended to be a single point of contact where clients receive support on products offered with Alerus.

Essential Responsibilities :

Job Function 1 : Client Service 70%

Answer telephone, email, and chat inquiries from Alerus banking, retirement, and health benefit clients promptly and courteously.

Show respect and patience to all clients. Inbound calls will cover a wide range of topics, including retirement plan specific provisions, IRS and DOL regulations surrounding retirement plans, distributions, balance inquiries, disputes, fund transfer requests, health savings account inquiries, and flexible spending account claim status.

• Provide professional, accurate and clear communication.
• Understand and clearly communicate inquiry and transactional use of the Alerus websites, mobile apps, and voice response systems.
• Understand and communicate basic provisions of retirement plan documents, adoption agreements and loan policies to clients and participants.
• Understand and communicate the regulations for health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, and health reimbursement arrangements.
• Handle exchange of information, technical questions, and client concerns confidently and independently.
• Utilize Salesforce to document all client interaction.
• Meet performance standards such as quality assurance scores, productivity, and handle ratio. Proactively notify manager if standards will not be met.

Job Function 2 : Technical and Professional Development 20%

• Actively learn and maintain knowledge of all Alerus products, services, and processes.
• Maintain up-to-date financial services and internal systems and software (AS400, AdminWeb, Architect and Salesforce) knowledge as it pertains to the job.
• Attend and participate in department training programs and meetings.
• Assist in developing and maintaining procedures.
• Actively participate in courses through Alerus University and internal meetings, along with reading published materials to maintain and enhance professional skills.

Job Function 3 : Sales & Referrals - 5%

• Develop and enhance customer relationships by informing customers of Alerus products and services that meet their needs and encourage a financially fit client.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of the features and benefits of all Alerus products.
• Develop and maintain a working relationship with employees in all areas of the company as contacts for referring clients.
• Possess the ability to recognize sales opportunities and refer to sales employees as appropriate.

Job Function 4 : Department Support and Teamwork - 5%

• Complete projects at direction of manager.
• Foster a positive work environment and support co-workers in achievement of departmental goals.
• Treat all co-workers with professionalism and respect.
• Recognize and celebrate individual / team accomplishments.

Position Requirements :

Qualifications :

• 1+ years business experience in employee benefits, customer service, or accounting / bookkeeping preferred.
• 1+ years of experience directly related to financial services preferred.
• Excellent written / oral communication and organization skills required.
• Ability to prioritize, be self-motivated, and independently manage multiple concurrent tasks and meet deadlines.
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Available to work overtime to cover peak workloads and meet other business needs.
• Proven ability to adapt to a fast paced, changing environment.
• A high level of commitment to accuracy and detail; strong analytical skills.

Personal Characteristics :

• Demonstrated relational skills such as diplomacy, judgment, decision making and discretion.
• Demonstrated critical thinking abilities.
• Initiative, creativity and energetic active engagement in all work responsibilities.
• Established communication and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated professional business skills and demeanor.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and problem solve complex situations.

Physical Demands - Must be met with or without a reasonable accommodation :

• Extended periods of time sitting at a desk and using office equipment.
• Ability to operate a personal computer for approximately 8 hours per day.
• Extended time is spent reviewing documents, both actual papers or electronic.
• Vision abilities required by this job include close vision.
• The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with arms and hands, and to stoop, kneel, or crouch.
• Periodically, may also do light lifting of supplies and materials which weighs in at approximately 10 lbs.
• Will spend most of time in an indoor environment.

Alerus Financial is an Equal Opportunity Employer of women, minorities, protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.