Job Overview
Job description
- Location:
- South Africa
- Work arrangement:
- On-site
Role Summary
We are seeking a customer-focused Customer Support & Trade Development Executive with a strong automotive background to manage enquiries and provide exceptional service to small trade and independent automotive businesses. While the role involves supporting commercial growth, the primary goal is to deliver a high-quality customer experience, nurture relationships, and ensure enquiries are handled professionally and efficiently. The successful candidate should understand car culture and enthusiast behaviour, take ownership of customer needs, and communicate credibly within the automotive community.
Responsibilities
Customer Enquiries & Support (Primary Focus)
Manage and respond to inbound customer enquiries across assigned channels
- Support and manage enquiries via Gorgias (including AI chatbot handovers)
- Ensure every customer is responded to promptly and professionally
- Maintain clear, complete records of all customer communications
CRM & Knowledge Management
Maintain accurate tracking of enquiries, accounts, and interactions in HubSpot CRM
- Keep deal stages, notes, and follow-up actions updated
- Support improvement of the customer knowledge base within Gorgias
- Identify recurring questions or themes to help refine FAQs and support materials
Daily Service Threads & KPIs
Monitor and action all daily enquiry threads
- Work within agreed SLAs to ensure smooth customer handling
- Treat daily enquiry threads as a core service performance KPI
Small Trade & Independent Business Support &
Development
Identify and engage small trade customers and independent automotive businesses
- Provide guidance on products and services appropriate to their needs
- Where relevant, conduct light outreach (including occasional cold calls) to introduce offerings and maintain relationships
- Maintain a healthy pipeline of engaged small trade customers
Customer Support & Trade Development Executive
Escalation & Communication
Escalate unclear, complex, or delayed cases promptly
- Communicate blockers or risks clearly and early
- Provide accurate, honest updates on all open enquiries and follow-ups
Ownership & Accountability
Take end-to-end responsibility for assigned customer enquiries
- Ensure all actions claimed are genuinely completed
- Manage workload effectively to avoid backlogs
- Highlight process improvements and recurring challenges
Customer & Trade Partner Experience
Represent the brand with credibility and professionalism in the automotive space
- Communicate in a way that resonates with enthusiasts and trade customers
- Contribute to improved response times, customer satisfaction, and overall confidence in the brand
Training will be provided on HubSpot, Gorgias, and internal systems.
Behavioural Expectations
Customer-first mindset with commercial awareness
- Comfortable initiating conversations where helpful
- Honest and transparent
Detail-oriented and process-driven
- Reliable, consistent, and accountable
Working Style
Able to balance inbound customer needs with light trade development activity
- Understands that responsiveness, clarity, and follow-through support both customer satisfaction and commercial outcomes
Requirements
- Essential
- Experience in customer service or customer-facing roles
- Strong organisational and time-management skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication
- High level of accountability and ownership
- Comfortable using digital tools and platforms
- Highly Desirable (Strong Priority)
- Automotive background or genuine knowledge of car culture
- Understanding of automotive customer behaviour
- Experience with light outbound calling or follow-up communication
- Confidence engaging with small business owners
- Experience nurturing small trade or B2B customer relationships
Desirable
- Familiarity with CRM systems (e.g. HubSpot)
- Experience with customer support platforms such as Gorgias
- Customer Support & Trade Development Executive
- Exposure to AI-assisted customer support tools
- Ecommerce or automotive aftermarket experience
- Role:
- Customer Support & Trade Development Executive
- Job Type:
- Full Time
Company profile

Talent Shore
talent-shore.comTalent Shore Ltd. helps UK companies recruit and employ remote staff in South Africa. It handles recruitment and employment so clients can build customer-facing teams with strong English skills, a one-hour time difference from the UK and staffing cost savings of around 40%. Talent Shore focuses on making it easy for UK businesses to hire remote talent in South Africa.