1. How to provide customer service
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
PowerPoint presentation
Deliver customer service
How to provide customer service
Explain this is the continuation of element 4 in Unit 230 Deliver customer service. Explain the unit is partly knowledge and partly practical. This is a practical element but it is necessary to understand why they should always be able to provide customer service. Workplace Activity 1.4 will have required them to carry out some research on the organisation they are working for. Ask them to have it ready to refer to during this part of the session.

2. Organisational guidelines
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Organisational guidelines
Organisational guidelines exist to ensure all staff carry out work in the same way to the same standards. Customers expect a certain level of customer service from an organisation. If they have previously used the organisation or if they have heard about it from others they will have very definite expectations. If staff do not follow organisational guidelines they could get things wrong and disappoint both the customer and the organisation.
Discuss what is meant by organisational guidelines – ask them to refer to the research they have done on their own organisation (Workplace Activity 1.4). Discuss what they see as organisational guidelines and what examples they have in the workplace. Ask them to discuss and give examples on a flip chart of what can happen in their own organisation when guidelines are not followed.

3. Organisational guidelines
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Organisational guidelines
Not adhering to organisational guidelines can:
mean you get things wrong
cause mistakes that cost money
cause the organisation to break the law
cause problems for the others you work with
result in the loss of customers.
Encourage the learners to think about what can go wrong. Ask for examples and discuss the above eg they may be causing a legal issue when eg they don’t adhere to H&S guidelines.
Ensure they understand that they need to know the guidelines and understand why they exist and what can happen if they don’t follow them.
Ask them if they have by mistake not followed the guidelines and what happened.

4. Organisational guidelines
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Organisational guidelines
Organisational guidelines come in a number of forms:
organisational policies and procedures
work instructions
scripts.
Discuss with the group how organisational guidelines can be shown in a variety of ways. Discuss the above with them. Explain that they will be used in different situations eg in a contact centre there may be a script that gives details of what to say in certain situations, while in some cases there are strict work instructions to be followed to complete a task.

5. Organisational policies and procedures
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Organisational policies and procedures
An organisation will often have formal policies and procedures. These will relate to the following:
roles and responsibilities showing limits of responsibilities –these will show what you have to do and what you are responsible for. It may also show you when you have to refer to others
service offer – this will give guidelines of the level of service that needs to be offered to customers – it is likely to state what can be done and what can’t.
handling of customer issues – these will be guidelines, eg how to deal with refunds, complaints etc.
Discuss with learners what organisational policies and procedures are. Refer the learners to the work they have completed on Workplace Activity 1.4 and have them discuss the policies and procedures they discovered they need to follow.

6. Maintaining communication with customers
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Maintaining communication with customers
Keeping in touch with customers is vital. Customers who ask for information expect a response; if you can’t respond immediately, tell them when you will contact them. Always respond to the customer when you have agreed. Failing to do so can frustrate them and make them angry. It can often turn a query into a complaint and there is then the possibility the customer will be lost. If you don’t have an answer for the customer, still make contact even if it is to say you don’t have an answer: that way at least the customer knows what is happening.
Discuss with the learners when they have been frustrated because someone hasn’t phoned them back when promised. Discuss how they have felt. Talk about the need to make contact and keep in touch. Talk about the problems that can occur if communication is not maintained.

7. Confirming expectations
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Confirming expectations
It is important to confirm customer expectations have been met. Without realising it there could be misunderstandings and while you think customer expectations have been met, they may not have been. It is important to check with customers that you have fully understood what they want and get them to agree and confirm your understanding. State what you think is your understanding and ask them if it is correct. It is important to ask probing questions to get the answers and then closed ones to ensure your understanding is accurate. If you fail to confirm you may lose the customer. Confirming takes no time, but can win and keep a customer.
Refer to the Workplace Activity 1.4 which the learners will have completed. Discuss how their customers have formed their expectations and why it is important that they appreciate that customers come in with expectations.
Discuss how they should confirm expectations.

8. Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Legal requirements
Organisations have certain laws they need to comply with.
The legislation that organisations must consider will vary according to the industry.
Generally the main legislation all organisations will need to comply with will be:
Health and Safety at Work Act
Equality Act
Data Protection Act.
Discuss there are many Acts that exist. Ask the learners to refer to what they found when they were carrying out the research for this session in Workplace Activity 1.4. Discuss there could be eg the Trades Description Act where goods must be ‘fit for purpose’ and must be sold as described.
Also discuss the fact the the Sales of Goods Act states that goods must be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose.
Fit for purpose means both their everyday purpose, and also any specific purpose that you agreed with the seller (for example, if you specifically asked for a printer that would be compatible with your computer)

9. Health and Safety at Work Act
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Health and Safety at Work Act
Employer’s duties
Here the employer has a duty to ensure the employees’ safety, health and welfare at work as far as is reasonably practicable. In order to prevent workplace injuries and ill health the employer is required, among other things, to:
Provide and maintain a safe workplace which uses safe equipment
Prevent risks from use of any article or substance and from exposure to physical agents, noise and vibration.
Discuss the H&S at Work Act with the learners. They should be able to discuss how this applies in the workplace. Refer to the Workplace Activity 1.4 sheet they have completed for this session.

10. Health and Safety at Work Act
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Health and Safety at Work Act
Employer’s duties cont.
Prevent any improper conduct or behaviour likely to put the safety, health and welfare of employees at risk
Provide instruction and training to employees on health and safety
Provide protective clothing and equipment to employees
Appoint a competent person as the organisation’s Safety Officer.
Continue with the H&S Act

11. Health and Safety at Work Act
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Health and Safety at Work Act
Employees’ duties
The duties of employees while at work are set out in Section 13 of the Act. These include the following:
To take reasonable care to protect the health and safety of themselves and of other people in the workplace
Not to engage in improper behaviour that will endanger themselves or others
Not to be under the influence of drink or drugs in the workplace
To undergo any reasonable medical or other assessment if requested to do so by the employer
To report any defects in the place of work or equipment which might be a danger to health and safety.
These are the employee’s responsibilities so discuss with the learners that they do understand they are their responsibilities.

12. Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Equality Act
The Equality Act became law in October It replaces previous legislation (such as the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) and ensures consistency in what you need to do to make your workplace a fair environment and to comply with the law (
The nine protected characteristics of the Equality Act are:
Age and sex
Disability
Gender reassignment and sexual orientation
Marriage and Civil Partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race, religion or belief
Discuss the fact that the Equality Act has replaced other legislation. Also discuss there are now nine protected characteristics and discuss how their workplace applies the legislation eg they have an Equality Policy and it will be part of their induction. They will be expected to apply the characteristics in both the workplace and in their daily life.

13. Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Data Protection Act
The eight principles of data protection ( It must be collected and used fairly and inside the law. It must only be held and used for the reasons given to the Information Commissioner. It can only be used for those registered purposes and only be disclosed to those people mentioned in the register entry. You cannot give it away or sell it, unless you said you would to begin with. The information held must be adequate, relevant and not excessive when compared with the purpose stated in the register. So you must have enough detail but not too much for the job that you are doing with the data.
Explain that all organisations must comply with the Data Protection Act. For the personal data that organisation’s store and process there are eight principles of data protection that must be applied. Talk to the learners about the data protection procedures they need to apply in the workplace.

14. Data Protection Act (contd.)
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Data Protection Act (contd.)
It must be accurate and be kept up-to-date. There is a duty to keep it up to date, for example to change an address when people move.
It must not be kept longer than is necessary for the registered purpose. It is all right to keep information for certain lengths of time but not indefinitely. This rule means that it would be wrong to keep information about past customers longer than a few years at most.
The information must be kept safe and secure. This includes keeping the information backed up and away from any unauthorised access. It would be wrong to leave personal data open to be viewed by just anyone.
The files may not be transferred outside of the European Economic Area (that's the EU plus some small European countries) unless the country that the data is being sent to has a suitable data protection law. This part of the DPA has led to some countries passing similar laws to allow computer data centres to be located in their area.
Continue with the Data Protection Act and the principles.

15. Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Any questions?
Ask if there are any questions. Discuss with the learner that this is an element that is part knowledge and part practical and evidence will need to be collected. Ask the learners if they have evidence from the work they did in the activity. Discuss possible evidence with them and what they should do to collect it. The learners should have completed Workplace Activity 1.5 for the next presentation.