1. Handout 3 How to prepare to deal with customers
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
PowerPoint presentation
Deliver customer service
Handout 3 How to prepare to deal with customers
Explain this is an element 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 prepare to deal with customers. Learners should complete Workplace Activity 1.3 during this session if not completed prior to the session.

2. How to prepare to deal with customers
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
How to prepare to deal with customers
Good customer service doesn’t just happen. It requires preparation. To be ready to handle customers you need to first of all know who your customers are and what the products and services are your organisation sells or offers.
Explain to learners this is a practical element of the unit ‘Deliver customer service’. However although it is about practical activities the learner needs to understand that good customer service doesn’t just happen – good customer service needs preparation.

3. How to prepare to deal with customers
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
How to prepare to deal with customers
Who are your customers? Who are the internal, who are
the external customers?
It is important to know who your customers are as you must
understand:
why they use your organisation
what their needs are
how to meet these needs.
Encourage the learners to think of the organisation they work for and ask them to think about the internal customers they would have to deal with in their role and the external ones they deal with. They should have completed this in Workplace Activity 1.3 which they should now refer to or complete now. Ensure they appreciate there are internal and external customers. Discuss with them who their customers are and why it is important they know who they are, what they buy and why.

4. How to prepare to deal with customers
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
How to prepare to deal with customers
Preparing to deal with customers is not just about knowing who the customers are.
You also need to know what the products and services are supplied by your organisation. Customers expect good, up-to-date, reliable knowledge of these products and services delivered with confidence.
Up-to-date knowledge can be obtained from:
organisation’s Intranet
Internet
newsletters
marketing materials
training manuals
colleagues
It is also useful to listen to customers and learn from their experiences.
Learners also need to appreciate they must not just have some knowledge of the products/services offered but good, up-to-date and reliable knowledge. They must understand they need to keep up to date themselves and not just rely on training sessions or information from management. Learning from customers is important as customers who use the products/services can give good, positive feedback that can be passed to others (both internal and external to the organisation) where relevant. Again learners should refer to Workplace Activity 1.3 and the section relating to product/service knowledge should be discussed.

5. How to prepare to deal with customers.
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
How to prepare to deal with customers.
There are many resources that need to be organised before dealing with customers.
Some will need to be organised for the start of the day, others before each customer.
There will be different resources depending on the customer service situation.
Some general resources will be:
marketing materials
manuals
documentation
schedules/rotas/daily plan/diary
customer records
any monetary requirements.
Discuss with the learner the need to be prepared at the start of the day and on an ongoing basis. They need to understand customers expect to be dealt with by organised and confident people. Explain that being disorganised means they lose confidence and the customer loses confidence in them. Discuss the fact that there are basic resources that need to be in place but the resources required will vary from role to role, organisation to organisation. Explain they need to know where to get the information.
Again refer them to the relevant section in Workplace Activity 1.3.

6. How to prepare to deal with customers.
Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
How to prepare to deal with customers.
Being organised is vital in any customer focused role. An organised person is confident. The customer in turn has confidence in them and so both have a good customer service experience. Being disorganised reflects badly on the organisation you work for and can affect its reputation, resulting in lost customers. Prepare for each new day and each new customer.
Go over the results of disorganisation and how it can affect both themselves and the organisation.
Refer again to Workplace Activity Any areas of Workplace Activity 1.3 not completed to be finished in the workplace.

7. Level 2 Diploma in Customer Service
Any questions?
Learners should now progress to Workplace Activity 1.4 which they should have completed prior to this session. Workplace Activity 1.4 will have required them to carry out some research on the organisation they are working for.