PowerPoint presentation Understand working in a customer service environment Handout 3: The aims of this session are to: State how personal behaviours and presentation create a positive impression. State presentation standards required in different organisations. State customer service standards and practices related to service offers within different organisations. State procedures for protection of customer information and safety. Tutor to read the unit outcomes before the session and prepare by checking the PPT tutor notes, session plans and slides prior to the session. Domestics and session behaviours to be agreed before the session begins.

Attitudes – positive, negative or non-committal judgments. What is your attitude to the current government? What is your attitude to social media such as Facebook and Twitter? Tutor to facilitate this questions to agree with the learner/s what attitude they have to these subjects. It may be emotive depending on age, experiences, values background and upbringing. Discussion could develop about employment duties, organisational procedures, people they work with and for.

Values Values – are general principles held by individuals such as the need for: Freedom Privacy Honesty Equality Competitiveness Harmony Order/tidiness. Tutor to discuss the learners’ values on a variety of these principles and how CS can be affected by some if not all of them.

Beliefs – relate to an individuals faith in the following: Spiritual Moral Social Intellectual Political Economic Environmental. Tutor to reveal these with learners and get them to discuss them if they feel comfortable to do so. Some will prefer privacy and this can be value they hold.

Attitudes, values and beliefs An individual’s behaviour is affected by all these and can influence how they deal with customers, colleagues and visitors. What affects our behaviour? Anger Happiness/contentment Sadness Pressure Stress Tutor to reveal and discuss with learner/s how emotions can affect our attitudes.

Behaviour in customer service Anger makes us ugly – emitting hostile energy, creating a cause for more ugliness in others. Happiness/contentment makes us smile and respond to customers positively. Sadness can affect our body language and voice and make customers respond in a similar way. Pressure and stress lead to impatience, intolerance and negative behaviours. The things that affect our behaviour will affect the customer service experience and their beliefs in the organisations and its product and services

Personal presentation and behaviour What personal presentation standards are expected of all customer service personnel? Discuss this with your group or tutor. What personal behaviours are expected of all customer service personnel? Discuss this with your group of tutor. Tutor to discuss this and agree basic factors such as clean, tidy, fresh, hygienic and wearing appropriate clothing. Behaviours should include positive happy and professional body language and vocabulary, voice volume, and tone.

Personal presentation and behaviour ‒ continued Remember: Different organisations will expect different standards of personal presentation depending on the product or service they provide. Consider how a customer service professional may dress in a call centre and how they may dress if they worked on a reception of a large multinational business? Consider the following: How a young client might expect to be spoken to in a trendy music shop when they are enquiring about a new band? How a client would might expect to be spoken to when complaining over the phone about a service? Tutor to discuss this with the learners and compare the differences with them from a range of businesses.

Customer service standards and practices Customer service practices are defined in terms such as: Timeliness Accuracy Appropriateness. These relate to products and services and can are often called: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Tutor to reveal this and discuss elements of KPIs, eg timeliness: answer the phone within 30 seconds delivery and advice 100 per cent accurate and fit for purpose queries answered appropriately.

Customer service standards and practices ‒ continued To deliver KPIs employers need to train employees in their customer service policies and procedures. Customer service policies will differ from one business to another. Eg: Large retail chains often refund goods without question. Some businesses will offer credit if the product or service is not faulty. What are the benefits of these two practices? Tutor to discuss this with the learner/s and discuss the two practices and the benefits or pitfalls of them. Eg retaining goodwill, retaining funds within the business. The tutor should share their experiences as well as encourage learners to share their experiences.

Different types of organisation practices Large food retailers may set a standard that checkout queues are no longer than three customers. An energy company call centre may set a standard that phone calls must be answered within a set time or number or rings. An events coordinator may set a standard of a minimum amount of face to face meetings with their clients. An internet café may set a standard of a maximum time for customers to use PCs. Tutor to discuss this with the learner/s and discuss the different practices of different types of businesses using own and learners’ experiences.

Mission and value statements Organisations will often publish a statement that outlines their company mission or values. These statements will often outline how customers will benefit and may outline how they will aim to cover: timeliness accuracy appropriateness. Using the internet or your own organisations, research mission and/or values statements. Tutor to discuss this and signpost learners to this activity.

Customer service Worksheet 3 Worksheet 3 ‒ Behaviours, presentation and standard practices. Complete the worksheet and discuss the answers with your tutor. The completed worksheet can be used as evidence in your portfolio. Distribute to learner/s and discuss answers using the worksheet (tutor copy) to explore the responses and learner retention.

Protecting customers’ information Regardless of different practices businesses must ensure customer information is protected. What legislation covers this practice? Tutor to discuss this with learner/s and get them to use sources of information available such as the internet, work policies, notice boards or textbooks. Discuss the need for privacy and how mobile phone calls can be overheard in public and how this can be not only disturbing to others but might be breaking the law.

The Data Protection Act There are eight principles of The Data Protection Act. Data must be: Used fairly and lawfully Used for limited, specifically stated purposes Used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive Accurate Kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary Handled according to people’s data protection rights Kept safe and secure Not transferred outside the UK without adequate protection. Tutor to summarise these eight principles and relate them to the internet search or activities carried out previously.

Data protection Each business will use data and the Act in different ways to implement customer service standards. Customers have the right to know and be informed of how a business will collect, store and share information. This should be explained to customers if they give any details about their address, age group, ethnicity, income and bank/building society details. If details are shared then the customer should agree to it, but sometimes this is not always made clear, especially on the internet or in the small print of a contract. Tutor to discuss what information is held from the learners’ employer or education/training provider and how it is gathered. Tutor to discuss small print and the ‘tick this box’ options on the internet and how these can catch customers out.

Protection of customers’ personal information and safety Information should be safe so that customers feel secure that they will not be inundated with advertisements, cold (phone) calls or at worst identity theft. Customers’ rights have been covered in a previous session but customers should feel safe when they visit premises. Businesses need to conduct health and safety risk assessments on all public areas and protect customers and employees from accidents, death, abuse and faulty products and equipment. Round off this session with this final slide to highlight customer safety on premises as well as safety of information.

Customer service Worksheet 4 Worksheet 4 ‒ Protection of customer personal information and safety. Complete the worksheet and discuss the answers with your tutor. The completed worksheet can be used as evidence in your portfolio. Distribute to learner/s and discuss answers using the worksheet (tutor copy) to explore the responses and learner retention.

Activity 3 ‒ Know how to work in a customer service role. Summary activity Activity 3 ‒ Know how to work in a customer service role. Activity can be printed or signposted to on the SmartScreen portal. Tutor version is available with correct answers.

Questions? Tutor to distribute the first activity for this learning outcome.