Session 5: Plan and deliver customer service PowerPoint presentation Unit 304: Organise and deliver customer service Session 5: Plan and deliver customer service

Session 5: Plan and deliver customer service The aim of this session is to allow you to understand how to plan for changes, increased workloads and how to manage customers expectations (Unit 304 LO2 AC 2.5, 2.6 and LO3 AC 3.1, 3.2) By the end of the session you will: 1. understand how to plan for unexpected additional workloads 2. understand how to allocate priorities to address points of service failure 3. understand what steps to take to ensure that the needs of customers are balanced with organisational objectives 4. understand what are realistic and achievable actions with customers. Tutor to display and discuss the 4 outcomes of this session and make reference to assessment documentation and/or e-portfolio pages.

Unexpected workloads Think about the scenario below: The following news article hits TV and press at 6am: “Ginger and lemon are the new craze in weight loss. Proven scientific research shows that ginger and lemon in boiled water aids up to half a stone weight loss in a week – if drunk daily” What is likely to happen that day?

Unexpected workloads Think about the scenario below: “A team of 20 online support staff are suddenly reduced to 10 due to a sickness bug” Discuss how this unexpected workload could be managed?

Unexpected service failure Think about the scenario below: “A 10-place workstation ‘call centre’ has been flooded during the evening and it causes so much damage that only 2 workstations have survived with 8 stations being totally destroyed” What are the solutions to this problem?

Planning for the unexpected Planning for such events cannot always be foreseen. However if such problems are encountered it allows for ‘contingency planning’ to become part of the operating procedures so breaks in customer service are minimal.

Worksheet 7 – Contingency planning Please take time to complete Worksheet 7. You can put this in your portfolio or scan it if you have an e-portfolio.

Allocating priorities Managing service failure involves being able to manage priorities. Below is a simple set of actions to consider when dealing with a service failure or additional workloads. Set priorities A = high value – important and urgent B = medium value – important but not urgent C = low value – urgent but not important Planning workloads need to be prioritised so that the customer service professional can operate effectively

Allocating priorities (contd.) Using resources such as diaries and to-do lists are essential to effective prioristing of tasks. There are other resources which ensure that strategic planning is managed, such as the use of Gantt chart software. A Gantt chart lays out the order in which the tasks need to be carried out.

Worksheet 8 – Gantt chart research Please take time to complete Worksheet 8. You can put this in your portfolio or scan it if you have an e-portfolio.

Balancing the needs of customers with organisational objectives To understand how to balance customer needs with organisational objectives you need understand what the objectives are. These could be: service or product offer customer service standards/key performance indicators targets – sales, conversions or number of calls financial limits – cost or service time restrictions.

Steps to ensure needs of customers are met so organisational objectives are not compromised Staff training – so they understand what the restrictions are if a customer is asking for more than the service is can offer. Information sheets – with updates of changes to products, services or objectives. Intranet and website – pages kept up to date and outline what the service key performance indictors are. Performance management – monitoring performance such as agreeing targets, observing performance and monitoring outcomes.

Agreeing realistic actions with customers To ensure customer service is maintained and organisational objectives are not compromised the following are essential skills: open and closed questioning managing customers’ expectations adapting behaviours and tone of voice using positive body language.

Worksheet 9 – Agreeing realistic actions Please take time to complete Worksheet 9. You can put this in your portfolio or scan it if you have an e-portfolio.

End of session 5 Any questions?