Is it true that you should be able to read people in order to better serve them as a customer service agent?

It depends how big is the deal .. if i am electronics salesperson no need to read person but if i am selling buildings or closing big deals reading person is a must in my opinion.

No, there is no need to read people as a customer service agent, you just need to have a voice or face that is ready to help to assure him/her  and you just need to really understand what he/she is inquiring about and give the best shots of answers he/she needs to satisfy his/her inquiry.

Yes. As a Customer Service Agent, it is very important to know the customer's needs. We do profiling, gather information from the customer to know their purpose, needs or preference to be able to advice or suggest to them. This is one way to properly deliver a successful customer service.

Definitely true. It is one strategy to have a fast service in every business entity and important for marketing to attract customers.

Defiantly Yes, always put yourself in your customer shoes

If the service is rendered in person, then it is a must to read the person within seconds of meeting.

Perception without judgment is spineless; judgment with no perception is blind.

Yes, if a particular task or a job role repeatedly done by a person he/she get expert and specialized in what they do. once we are handling customers at their best we will become expert in understanding, studying their body language, psychology etc.... this will lead to become expert in what we do.... 

Frankly speaking from customer service in banks , not all of customer service team has the ability to read thier clients even they are trained . The most important is dealing with clients' reaction because when talking about READIN people it means we are specialized in psychology more than in the pheloiphy of dealing with customers needs and solving the problem.

Customers normally wants their problems to be solved what ever their character is BUT if the customer service team has an IDEA about reading the body it would be an advantage to satisfy the customer faster. Our mind can put many thymes when meeting any body because of our experiance and life time working.

Surely Eye contact and understanding customer needs is the shortest way to satisfy their needs

Agree, as Customer Service has a  good portion of studying people behavior, and then you can read them and know how to gain them as loyal customers, else it would ruin the whole relationship and cause a massive loss.

As a customer service agent, you only need to understand customer problem/complaint carefully and give a economical, satisfactory and quality solution to satisfy the customer. I don't think so reading customer is important.