learner resource & assessment - key institute

BSBCUS301 Deliver and Monitor a Service to Customers

JAN2020 Key Institute 20855 1

Learner Resource & Assessment




Contents Element 1: Identify Customer Needs ...................................................................................................... 3

Performance Criteria Element 1 ......................................................................................................... 3

Use Appropriate Interpersonal Skills to Accurately Identify and Clarify Customer Needs and

Expectations ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Assess customer needs for urgency to determine priorities for service delivery according to

organisational and legislative requirements ...................................................................................... 3

Use Effective Communication to Inform Customers about Available Choices for Meeting Their

Needs and Assist in the Selection of Preferred Options ..................................................................... 6

Identify limitations in addressing customer needs and seek appropriate assistance from

designated individuals ........................................................................................................................ 6

Key Points .......................................................................................................................................... 14

Element 2: Deliver a Service to Customers ........................................................................................... 15

Performance Criteria Element 2 ....................................................................................................... 15

Provide Prompt Service to Customers to Meet Identified Needs in Accordance with Organisational

and Legislative Requirements ........................................................................................................... 15

Establish and Maintain Appropriate Rapport with Customers to Ensure Completion of Quality

Service Delivery ................................................................................................................................. 15

Sensitively and Courteously Handle Customer Complaints in Accordance with Organisational and

Legislative Requirements .................................................................................................................. 19

Provide Assistance or Respond to Customers with Specific Needs According to Organisational and

Legislative Requirements .................................................................................................................. 19

Identify and Use Available Opportunities to Promote and Enhance Services and Products to

Customers ......................................................................................................................................... 19

Key Points .......................................................................................................................................... 23

Element 3: Monitor and Report on Service Delivery ............................................................................ 25

Performance Criteria Element 3 ....................................................................................................... 25

Regularly Review Customer Satisfaction with Service Delivery Using Verifiable Evidence According

to Organisational and Legislative Requirements .............................................................................. 25

Identify Opportunities to Enhance the Quality of Service and Products, and Pursue Within

Organisational and Legislative Requirements .................................................................................. 27

Monitor Procedural Aspects of Service Delivery for Effectiveness and Suitability to Customer

Requirements .................................................................................................................................... 27

Regularly Seek Customer Feedback and Use to Improve the Provision of Products and Services .. 27

Ensure Reports are Clear, Detailed and Contain Recommendations Focused on Critical Aspects of

Service Delivery ................................................................................................................................. 27

Key Points .......................................................................................................................................... 28

Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 28



Element 1: Identify Customer Needs

Performance Criteria Element 1

1.1 Use Appropriate Interpersonal Skills to Accurately Identify and Clarify Customer Needs and Expectations

1.2 Assess customer needs for urgency to determine priorities for service delivery according to organisational and legislative requirements

1.3 Use effective communication to inform customers about available choices for meeting their needs and assist in the selection of preferred options

1.4 Identify limitations in addressing customer needs and seek appropriate assistance from designated individuals

Identify Customer Needs

Use Appropriate Interpersonal Skills to Accurately Identify and Clarify Customer Needs

and Expectations

Assess customer needs for urgency to determine priorities for service delivery

according to organisational and legislative requirements Know Your Customer

In a situation where you are providing a service, an important maxim to remember is that it is your business to know your customers’ business. If you are able to take the time to attempt to get to know your customers, whether they are large or small, you will be able to best meet their needs and wants. Some of the things you may think about attempting to ascertain are:

• Their needs • Their preferences • Their requirements.

Managers are looking to establish a high level of satisfaction among their customers. This requires you to know exactly what it is that they are seeking and how you can assist those customers in getting there. Think, for example, about buying a cake. The actual ingredients generally do not matter and the technical names are not known, but the actual end product – the cake – is what is most important in these processes. It is this that will bring about the level of required satisfaction. So, think about the products that you sell. Generally the actual benefit behind any product you sell doesn’t change over time. What does change, however, are some of the basic attributes like colour, features, and quality. A company that looks solely at the way it produces quality benefits for its customers is more likely to be profitable. Organisations look to attempt to enhance these benefits in order to



make their customers willing to spend more on those products. An important consideration is why a person purchases a given product. This reason may seem logical from the point of view of the customer but may be impossible to work out for the organisation. Element

Everyone is Different

Every one of your customers has a unique set of needs that require a unique set of benefits to be resolved. Consider carefully:

• The pressures a person feels when choosing a product • The considerations they make • The benefits they want to achieve • The perceptions of a customer.

By carefully examining the benefits they want to achieve, you can put yourself in a position of actually meeting and even exceeding those needs.

Customers, however, can be difficult creatures. They often hide the exact reasons why they are making a purchase – in some cases they may not even know themselves – or you may find that there are multiple reasons for a given purchase. Think about purchasing a new house … you may want

• More room • A nice garden • Lower council rates.

In some cases reasons work together and others are opposed. The reasons are often very complicated to work out. Reasons could be trivial, reasons could be intimately related to just not liking a specific brand, or store selection may be completely random. However, knowing the rationale behind buying decisions, no matter how they are made, is critical.



As a service provider, you will find that your customers will have expectations of how their needs should be met. It is important that you try to find out what their expectations are and exceed them with exceptional customer service. This is the best way of winning customers who will remain customers for life. Exceeding expectations is the best way of providing good quality customer service.

Customer service aids profitability, and ensures that you, as a company, are in the best position to provide your customers with what they want to meet their needs. In order to accomplish this, you will need to:

• Establish a trust-filled relationship with your customer base • Determine what your customers expect from you • Ensure that you meet these basic expectations and plan to exceed them wherever possible • Provide friendly service as much as you can.

Improving Your Skills

Thus far we have looked at the importance of getting to know your customers, and their needs and wants. We will now look at ways in which you can go about attempting to use interpersonal and communication skills to learn about your customers. Communication is the key. If you can communicate effectively, it becomes much simpler to ascertain what it is your customers want or need. Principles of Good Communication A good customer service representative thinks from the point of view of the customer. They take responsibility for what is being communicated, how well it is being communicated, and how well it is being understood. Rather than blaming the customer for not understanding what you are saying, good communicators look back at themselves first and ask what they could have done to improve the quality of the communication that they are sending. We all communicate with others at work, at home, with friends, or with colleagues. It is an essential life skill, and as we have already mentioned, crucial to success in customer service. When we communicate with customers or clients, we expect some form of result:

• We expect the customer to respond in some way • We may expect them to change their attitude, their behaviour, or their beliefs • We sometimes expect them to do something – hopefully this response is a sale.

We assess the impact of our communication (that is, what response they give based on our communication) by listening to and assessing the response or feedback from the customer. That feedback may be silence that may indicate that they have not heard or are not interested, a smile or a shrug of the shoulders, or a verbal response. In any organisation, the outcomes of effective communication are essential ingredients of a positive organisational image, a positive environment, and satisfied customers.

When we communicate, we draw on a number of communication methods and forms. When giving information to a client, for example, we combine verbal and non-verbal methods of communication. We talk to the person and we make gestures. We may enhance



our communication by showing an illustration or providing some data, or giving the person a brochure, or perhaps giving a demonstration. So we draw on verbal and non-verbal methods of communication. The verbal methods can be expressed in either written or oral forms, and the non-verbal method can be expressed in forms such as body language, graphic design, use of space, and sound.

Let’s now look at some of the major forms of communication that we may use when delivering a service.

Use Effective Communication to Inform Customers about Available Choices for

Meeting Their Needs and Assist in the Selection of Preferred Options

Identify limitations in addressing customer needs and seek appropriate assistance

from designated individuals Oral Communication

By oral communication we mean not only talking, but also listening and watching. Communication implies a two-way process and so, while someone talks, another person listens. Effective listening is an extremely important quality in attempting to determine a customer’s needs or wants.

Provide an Opportunity for the Customer to Confirm their Request

Confirm customer satisfaction in two easy steps:

1. State what action will be taken

2. Ask a closed question to confirm agreement and understanding.

Question to Clarify and Confirm Customer Needs

You need to use appropriate questioning techniques. There are five main types of questions:



1. Open questions These are used to obtain more information, so you will get a longer answer, containing more detail. They usually begin with question words such as: how, why, when, who, what, where.

2. Closed questions Closed questions usually lead to yes or no answers, or short specific answers from a customer. They are useful for obtaining accurate, detailed information. They are used to direct the customer or conversation. Closed questions do not encourage elaboration.

3. Probing questions Probing questions are used to discover more details about a customer’s needs. Probing questions are non-threatening, but encourage the customer to give greater detail.

4. Reflective questions This type of question prompts your customer to start thinking about the benefits of your product or service. Reflective questioning helps establish the benefits of the product you are offering.

5. Clarifying questions Clarifying questions are used to verify information you’ve received during the call. They ensure that you and the customer are in agreement. Clarifying information with your customer also demonstrates how clearly you’ve identified and addressed their needs.

Seek Feedback from the Customer to Confirm Understanding of Needs

Paraphrasing is an effective form of verbal feedback to use when listening, however it is not simply repetition or ‘parroting,’ but restating another person’s statement in your own words to gain understanding. Use your own words to tell what you think the speaker meant, not what they said. Paraphrasing enables the listener to clarify the speaker’s meaning and it conveys interest in what the speaker is saying and helps create a supportive environment for the conversation.

Summarize to Check Understanding of Customer Message

At the end of the discussion, or at certain times during longer discussions, you can summarise what has been said covering the main themes and feelings. This acts as a check for both parties and helps to clarify any further misunderstandings and to keep the discussion on track.

Oral communication is about talking, about providing information, sharing ideas, and communicating feelings. If you do this effectively, you can ensure that the information can be put to good use by the organisation in ensuring that the service level is enhanced.

Active Listening

Listening is not simply hearing the words that someone says to you. Listening certainly involves hearing but it is a far more active process than that. It involves you as the listener participating through:



• Hearing the words • Attempting to understand the meaning • Providing feedback • Seeking clarification.

The listening process also involves giving feedback both verbally and non-verbally. An active listener:

• Faces the speaker where culturally appropriate and maintains their full attention on what the speaker is saying • Keeps regular eye contact with the speaker (looking away sometimes so as not to create discomfort by staring) • Uses silence constructively, waiting until the speaker has gathered their thoughts or explained fully • Does not constantly interrupt the speaker • Notes the words used by the speaker and the feelings behind them • Gives non-verbal cues — nods of encouragement, ‘Mm’ and ‘Uh-huh’ • Follows up with clarifying and expanding questions relevant to what has been said • Find a quiet place to communicate your message • Directly face the other person and be at their level when you do this • Use eye contact to show your interest • Lean forward to them – this again shows you are interested in what they have to say • Don’t be too casual, it can show disinterest • Always maintain interest – do not look away continually or fidget • Try to imagine what the other person is saying • Make a note of important points in your mind • Nod or make affirming noises • Summarize what has been said • Be objective and do not cut off the speaker too much • Avoid having preconceptions about what is being said • Understand the message from the other person’s point of view • Listen to what is being said, not what you think is being said • Watch the other party’s body language, do not just listen to the words.



To be an effective listener, you have to see the world through another’s eyes, to take the time to think how they are thinking.

It is common for people to now know how to really listen to a given message. People may think they are able to, but when it comes to the crunch they often just do not have the right skills. It is easy to let your mind wander or to start doing something entirely different. There are a range of blocks to listening, which we will look at here

• Rehearsing: Thinking about what you are going to say while the other person is making their point – making it very easy to forget what they are trying to say

• Anticipating: Ignoring what they are actually saying because you are busy trying to imagine what they could say

• Day-dreaming: Thinking about something else related to what they are saying

• Thinking you know what the person is like: Based on the little information you have on them

• Using your experiences to judge the person: Finding a similar event in your life and basing your discussion on this

• Derailing: Butting in and changing the subject

• Interrupting: Listening very briefly and then butting in and interrupting with something that you think will help the discussion.

Some other barriers are presented in the diagram below:



Questioning

As we said earlier, there are five types of questions that can be used depending on the type of information we require or the type of communication process that we want to engage in:



Open Question

These are exploratory questions designed to give the person answering an opportunity to explain clearly and in detail about something that could be quite complex. ‘How’ and ‘what’ can be useful starting words for open questions.

“Sir, how can I help you today?”

“What do you think of the style of this item?”

“What specific needs do you need this product to address?”

Open questions could also be used to give people an opportunity to think out loud about ideas without getting too specific. Using only closed questions will result in a short, specific exchange. Open questions can generate far more information in a more conversational style.

Closed Questions

These are questions designed to obtain specific, factual information.

“Do you have a copy of our latest catalog?”

“What is your budget for this purchase?”

“What brand do you generally prefer to buy?”

Probing Questions

These questions are not just about clarifying specific details, instead they dig much deeper than the surface. An effective probing question helps to get a person to talk about their personal opinions and feelings, and promotes critical thinking.

“What exactly did you mean by ‘XXX’?”

“What, specifically, will you do next week?”

“Could you tell me more about YY?”

Reflective Questions

Reflective questioning means that you take some information you gathered previously, and use it in a question. Reflective questions can work very well, because they show that you have been listening, and help you to focus on determining the exact needs of your customer.

“As you were talking to your customer earlier and asking questions, he said that he wanted to make sure his new leather jacket was good quality.”



“You mentioned earlier that you wanted a good quality jacket - are you intending to wear it a lot?”

Clarifying Questions

Clarifying Questions are simple questions of fact. They clarify the dilemma and provide the nuts and bolts so that the participants can ask good probing questions and provide useful feedback.

“Is this what you said…? “

“What resources were used for the project? “

“Did I hear you say…?”

Non-Verbal Communication

Speaking and writing is just a part of the entire communication process. There is also the highly important area of non-verbal communication to consider. This area of communication accounts for a considerable amount of the information you are attempting to communicate – some studies have found it could be as high as 80% of all communication that is non-verbal in nature. You may have had experiences where you have been trying to say something and the words appear to be right – but the other person completely misunderstands what you are saying and you have to respond with:

“Yes, but that’s not what you really mean.”

The non-verbal messages you are giving just may be completely different to the actual words you are saying. This results in contradictions in the mind of the listener, causing them a lot of confusion about what is really trying to be said.



Relative contribution of several factors to total impact of a message.

When a message is both verbal and non-verbal, the non-verbal message may have more impact on the receiver than the words themselves.

Non-verbal communication is sometimes called body language. In other words, the way we stand and move, the way we present ourselves, and where we place ourselves when communicating with different people. Some means of non-verbal communication or body language we all tend to use include:

• Facial expressions • How we make eye contact • Our appearance (clothing, hairstyle, make-up, jewelry) • The way we use space and territory – for example, how close we stand to someone • The use of gestures • Our tone of voice.

Effective customer service is all about communication, and in particular about the way that you use questioning and listening skills to get your point across.

In order to improve the customer service:



• Understand what is actually being said, not what you think is being said • Take the information given and use it to adapt your service offering to meet their needs.

You will find that the process of retaining an existing customer by giving them good levels of service is much more cost effective than attempting to gain a new customer – which generally requires considerable levels of marketing and advertising to achieve (combined with sales promotions and service when in store). Losing a customer has even higher implications for an organisation – unhappy customers are much more likely to tell others of their poor experience, and this may lead to perceptions of your organisation falling quite considerably!

Key Points

• In order to deliver service to your customers that meets their expectations – it is important that you are able to ascertain exactly what their needs are.

• You can identify customer needs by listening actively and asking appropriate questions.

• The needs of your customers should then be assessed for priority, and this should be used to ensure that customers are provided with the maximum amount of information to assist them in making an informed choice.

• Ensure that you are aware of any limitations in your service delivery so that you may use this to improve your skills.



Element 2: Deliver a Service to Customers


2.1 Provide prompt service to customers to meet identified needs in accordance with organisational requirements

2.2 Establish and maintain appropriate rapport with customers to ensure completion of quality service delivery

2.3 Sensitively and courteously handle customer complaints in accordance with organisational requirements

2.4 Provide assistance or respond to customers with specific needs according to organisational and legislative requirements

2.5 Identify and use available opportunities to promote and enhance services and products to customers

Deliver a Service to Customers

Provide Prompt Service to Customers to Meet Identified Needs in Accordance with

Organisational and Legislative Requirements

Establish and Maintain Appropriate Rapport with Customers to Ensure Completion of

Quality Service Delivery

In the previous Element, we examined the importance of knowing what your customers want. We also examined how you can use interpersonal skills to gain an understanding of this. In this Element, we will again be looking at interpersonal skills, but we will be examining how they can be used to build a solid rapport with your customers.

You may know this from your own experiences, but bad customer service is everywhere these days. On an average day you may have experienced unmanned front desks, clueless staff, employees talking to friends on the phone, and managers who refuse to acknowledge



a customer. Unfortunately, in many organisations, it is no longer an exception, in some organisations poor service has become the norm.

Imagine the following situation:

You walk in to a local store and you have seen a product on TV, you are not sure whether this product is right for you and your needs, so you decide to ask a few questions before committing yourself to the purchase. You look around for someone to help you and notice a young man – he is busy and will not come over to see you. In fact, you notice that his eye contact has a distinct edge to it that makes you feel like he couldn’t care less about your needs. You stand there waiting for someone, and with an air of annoyance, the man finally comes over to you, you ask about the product, and he says “it’s over there” and leaves … What would you do? Go over and buy the product? Or go over to the door and exit? In all likelihood you would do the latter. And you are likely to think to yourself, I am never returning here again! This happens every day in stores across Australia and it’s a great example of how not to do things. A little effort and a bit of positivity can work wonders for customer service. You need to think to yourself ‘how can I look after this customer today’ rather than treating them as an annoyance, as so many people tend to do. Ensure you greet people quickly, ask them questions, understand their needs, and offer them advice as appropriate.

It is important to be accessible to your customers. Everything is an interruption. A phone rings, someone comes into an office – there are all types of interruptions. But if a customer is right there, attend to them over any other type of interruption. That’s why you’re there, you are there to serve the customer, not talk to friends on the phone, or attend to a workmate’s enquiry before looking after the customer.

First Impressions

First impressions are very important and this includes the way you introduce yourself to customers and potential customers. We will shortly discuss self-presentation and how it contributes to a positive image for the organisation. Your verbal and non-verbal communication must complement this. Consider the words you use, your posture, facial expressions, your use of eye contact and gestures. All of these need to match each other.



Remember what was said about the power of non-verbal communication: when they contradict each other, it is generally the non-verbal message, not the spoken word, which is believed.

Not all your dealings with clients will be face-to-face. A phone call is often the way you first meet a new customer or answer inquiries from the general public and/or regular customers. Your organisation may have guidelines for answering the phone and taking inquiries. In general, when answering the phone:

• Say hello or good morning / afternoon • State the name of the organisation: “This is <company name> …” • Then say your name: “This is … speaking” and “How can I help you?” • Listen carefully to what the caller has to say • Make notes if you need to • Ask the caller’s name if they do not provide it, e.g. “May I ask who is calling?” • Write the name down if you are likely to forget it • Clarify and confirm what the caller wants and take notes if necessary • Provide the caller with what they want if you can or direct / connect them to someone who can help • Take down and confirm any contact details if necessary • Re-state what you are going to do, if necessary • Ask them if there is anything else you can do • Thank them – by name – for calling.

Personal Presentation

A further critical point with regards to customer service in the workplace is the way that you present yourself. Personal presentation, as well as the communication methods you use are all critical to presenting yourself in a way that the customer wants to see, and helps you build rapport with the customers in your workplace.

Your image is built up from

• Your appearance • Your clothes • Your cleanliness • Your communication style • Your manner.

Dress Codes



People can present themselves in a particular way to convey a particular image. A person’s appearance, clothes, jewellery, and hairstyle can convey messages about:

• Age • Occupation • Gender • Social status • Professionalism • Financial circumstances • Ethnic background • Mood • Personality.

The way that you dress communicates so much about you, and in fact is critical to the way that people will respond to you. By varying your dress, you can come across as more professional and knowledgeable. Many organisations use uniforms to help them with their presentation. A uniform presents a uniform way of looking among the staff and allows them to be consistent and professional.

If a uniform is not used, it is likely that there will be a dress code stating what you may and may not wear. It may outline styles of clothing that are acceptable and unacceptable as well as colours that you may and may not wear. As a customer service professional, you need to look professional, so following these guidelines is very important. Element

Building Rapport

One of the most important aspects of effective communication is rapport. Whether your communication is with one person or several hundred, to get the outcome you want, you need to establish a harmonious and friendly ‘connection’ (or rapport). Next time you go to a restaurant, observe the people sitting with each other. Often what you’ll see is the people leaning toward one other, smiling, making eye contact, and mirroring each other’s movements. They’re ‘in rapport’. Friends do it naturally. One way of building rapport with someone is to mirror (not mimic) their non-verbal



behaviour, such as posture, facial expressions, breathing rate, pace of speaking, and gestures. In this way you are affirming them or providing positive feedback to them non verbally. You may find you have a tendency to do this naturally. Specifically this means:

• Slowing or speeding up your speaking to match the pace of theirs

• Sitting or standing in a similar position

• Using some of the words and phrases that they use

• Breathing at the same rate as they are (if it is comfortable for you)

• Be receptive, be objective, and willing to hear what someone else has to say

• Guard against preconceived notions based on race, sex, age, or accent

• Empathize, strive to understand, as though you were in the person’s shoes.

Actually listening to your customers is one of the most effective methods that you can adopt for building rapport with your customers. Listen to what is actually being said, even if in your mind you are thinking they are saying something else. Carefully examine their tone to determine how they are feeling and watch for non-verbal cues that may give you more clues into what is being said.

Elements covered:

Sensitively and Courteously Handle Customer Complaints in Accordance with


Provide Assistance or Respond to Customers with Specific Needs According to


Identify and Use Available Opportunities to Promote and Enhance Services and

Products to Customers Handling Customer Complaints



One of the most difficult aspects of customer service provision is dealing with complaints. In this section we will examine how to try and solve customer service problems. Think carefully about interactions that you have had with customers and think about how you have managed these. A good process to consider is

• To formulate a series of questions that allow you to understand what it is that the customer wants or what their point of view actually is • You must actually listen to what it is that the customer has to say, if you do not listen, you will never understand • To take your initial response and change it as a result of what you find out from the customer – we said a goal isn’t set in stone – take this literally! • To respond to the initial questions and queries the customer might have • Using your expertise in the area to find solutions to the problems or questions that they may have • To recommend ways of moving forward • To try to clarify what the consumer wants and how you will build a stronger relationship with them.

As you can see, this is really about the guts of the problem or issue that has arisen. To manage the interaction with the complaining customer and find ways to address their specific needs. Every customer is different and this will require different skills and solutions in order to address their needs. Spending time before the interaction occurs thinking about what you can do to make things better is a good start, however, with an unplanned interaction, this can be significantly more difficult. You can still prepare, to some degree, by understanding your products well and finding ways to address these issues more positively.

Define what it is that your typical customer wants out of an interaction with your organisation and spend time thinking of ways in which you can work to make those interactions occur more smoothly, and if they don’t, what you can do to make things better. To this end think about:

• How to begin interactions with customers • Clarifying answers to commonly asked questions – a FAQ for yourself • Planning questions that you will ask all customers to find out what they want or what they need • How you plan to clarify their expectations of your service / response • How much time you can allot to given situations • What types of goals your customers typically have when interacting with you and the organisation.

Finally, let’s consider service recovery, the process of resolving issues that have arisen in terms of the services being provided. You will never be able to fix 100% of problems 100% of the time; however you can attempt to raise the level of your performance in this area as much as possible.



Ask yourself:

• What went wrong? • What problem needed to be addressed? • Why wasn’t it addressed? • What reaction did the customer have? • What could we have done differently? Consider asking the customer: • What would you have liked to have seen us do? • What would have been the fair thing to do? • What sort of compensation do you think is needed in this situation?

Then look beyond what they mention. Try to find ways to delight your customers and provide a level of service that exceeds what they may have wanted. This will allow you to have a customer for life. Here are five specific steps to help you: 1. Conduct your own survey 2. Talk and meet with your customers 3. Check your telephone manner periodically 4. Make customer service a team effort 5. Extend your efforts after hours.

Here are five specific steps to help you:

1. Conduct your own survey

2. Talk and meet with your customers

3. Check your telephone manner periodically

4. Make customer service a team effort

5. Extend your efforts after hours.

Provide Assistance or Respond to Customers

Knowing about the diversity of traditional and cultural backgrounds of customers will not automatically rule out misunderstandings. Your beliefs, values and customs, and those of



the people around you have an important influence on the way you work, behave, and communicate. Culture is an integral part of your everyday life.

To be culturally aware means:

• Having a basic knowledge of cultural differences of people • Being aware of the traditional and religious beliefs of people • Recognising typical misunderstandings and knowing how to effectively deal with them.

Knowing about the diversity of traditional and cultural backgrounds of your colleagues or customers will not automatically rule out misunderstandings. It will take time and effort to ensure a good workplace culture. Typical misunderstandings:

1. English is not always your customer’s first language

2. Religious beliefs of our colleagues and customers can vary; this can influence food preferences, the way they dress, when they can work, and how they make decisions

3. People have different perspectives regarding problem solving

4. There are many ways that people organise their work practices

5. Stereotyping by background is inappropriate 6. There may be contrasting ways in which people give simple instructions or directions to others.

Effective Strategies

If an embarrassing situation does arise, establish what the problem is, then act to correct the difficulty as quickly as possible. Basic rules for dealing with misunderstandings include:

• Sincerely apologise, respect the person’s feelings • Don’t give excuses; others aren’t interested in what you can’t do, they want to know what you can do to rectify the problem • Learn by your mistakes; when an incident has occurred, remember the situation, work out what went wrong, ask others, and learn from it • Talk to friends and colleagues from different cultures, and of different religions, to find out what offends and why.

Promote and Enhance Services and Products to Customers

In this final section, we will deal with opportunities that you have to improve your service to a level above which the customer expects. In order to ensure that your customers are satisfied with the way that you are dealing with them, you need to understand the way in which your customers think and the things that they are looking for in customer interactions with the organisation.



What do your customers really want? Why are they shopping with you? What emotions do they feel? How do they shop? When do they shop?

Asking yourself questions like this allows you to identify ways in which you could change the way that you do business for the better. You will also find that people are loyal to companies for a reason. Discuss with your loyal customers why they always shop with you, to identify ways in which you could capitalise on your strengths and make your workplace a better, more efficient, and effective one in terms of customer service offerings.

Don’t try and change the way your customers behave; rather consider ways in which you can make sure that you adapt and change your processes to the way that suits them. Some ideas include

• Survey your customers and look for answers to the questions outlined above • Take feedback on a regular basis – a suggestion box is often very useful • Learn from complaints that have been made • Spend time talking with your customers • Learn about the market you are in – who are your customers really? • Make sure that your telephone greeting projects a positive welcome • Bring your customer service staff together as a team – don’t have them work on their own. Improving service is a team event. • Train your staff in ways that they can improve.

Key Points

• Service should be provided to your customers in a prompt, efficient manner – the service must meet all the identified needs of the customer, and be in accordance with your organisation’s requirements.

• Rapport is establishing a connection with your customers – it is important to the success of the delivery of quality service to your customers.

• Always ensure that you handle customer complaints sensitively and courteously.



• Customers with special needs or who require assistance should be dealt with in accordance with the policies of your organisation.

• Always ensure that you look for all opportunities to promote and enhance the level of service that you deliver to your customers



Element 3: Monitor and Report on Service Delivery


3.1 Regularly review customer satisfaction with service delivery using verifiable evidence according to organisational and legislative requirements

3.2 Identify opportunities to enhance the quality of service and products, and pursue within organisational and legislative requirements

3.3 Monitor procedural aspects of service delivery for effectiveness and suitability to customer requirements

3.4 Regularly seek customer feedback and use to improve the provision of products and services

3.5 Ensure reports are clear, detailed and contain recommendations focused on critical aspects of service delivery.

Monitor and Report on Service Delivery

Regularly Review Customer Satisfaction with Service Delivery Using Verifiable

Evidence According to Organisational and Legislative Requirements

Let’s now look at some of the more common methods of getting feedback on your overall performance in terms of customer service. We will look at a number of methods, including:

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are a set of questions that you are able to use to gather specific information for your feedback. Questionnaires are only appropriate when you have a group of people who can easily understand your questions and are interested in actually completing the questionnaire in question. It also allows for some confidentiality – as you can have the questionnaires with no names on them, meaning the information can not be identified.



Actually writing a questionnaire is not something to be taken lightly. Questionnaires are complex instruments and the wording that you use on your specific questions can have a significant effect on the results that you obtain. Questions must remove bias that could affect the responses that you obtain and because there is a chance that you could identify the respondent, asking sensitive information can be chancy. Mail questionnaires have their own set of difficulties. While you can use them to get the opinions of a wide range of people very easily, and you also have the ability to actually give people time to consider their responses… the number of questionnaires that you actually receive back can be much lower than you might expect, and you have to allow people more time to receive, complete, and mail back the finished set of questions.

Face-to-face questioning is another approach that you may adopt, here you read the questions directly to the respondent and allow them the time to think about their answer and give it back to you. This can allow you to quickly gain the information you need and allow you to actually spend time with the respondent and answer any questions that they may have. This method also allows you to spend time carrying out specific investigations into areas that need it.

Finally, there are telephone interviews. In this process you use your set of questions to ask the respondent for information over the phone. Ensure that when you use this method you know that you have people who are willing to talk over the phone and that it would be difficult to bring the group together any other way. This is particularly useful for sampling a population that is widely spread.

Focus Groups

The focus group is a specific market research method that is used to try and get the opinions of your customers. Generally, they involve bringing together four to eight people and asking them for their opinions of your organisation and what your organisation is offering to them in the way of product offerings and services. This method of customer satisfaction research is very useful in that it allows you to gain solid opinions on what you are doing and any changes that you feel need to be made. Your customers also gain a favourable impression of the organisation because by holding the focus group you can provide them with immediate feedback and it shows that your organisation is taking the issues raised, seriously.



It is also very useful to include some of your staff members in the focus group. By including these staff members in the focus group process, it will allow them to get valuable insights into the way that the customers are feeling and may assist them with gaining more knowledge about customer needs. It is, however, important not too include many staff as this may make the customers less willing to be open about their opinions.

So, how does a focus group operate?

• Begin by making your customers feel comfortable – offer them tea or coffee, and allow them to get to know each other

• Open the group by introducing yourself, and provide a brief overview about why the focus group is being run and what you hope to achieve

• Ask your customers what they like about the organisation – keeping things light and positive before you move into those areas which could be heavier. People will open up by providing you with this information first before you ask about where any problems may exist.

Once you have spent time in discussion, end the group on a positive note. Thank everyone that attended, and let them know that you value their contributions. Offer them an opportunity to discuss anything in more detail with you and be sure to let them know that you will provide them with information on the outcome of the focus group. Make them feel like they made a difference, because they certainly will have.

Identify Opportunities to Enhance the Quality of Service and Products, and Pursue

Within Organisational and Legislative Requirements

Monitor Procedural Aspects of Service Delivery for Effectiveness and Suitability to

Customer Requirements

Regularly Seek Customer Feedback and Use to Improve the Provision of Products and

Services

Ensure Reports are Clear, Detailed and Contain Recommendations Focused on

Critical Aspects of Service Delivery



What to Ask?

Like all research processes, customer service research has four broad stages. These are:

• Define the problem to be resolved and set objectives for the research • Develop a plan to undertake the research • Implement the plan that you developed • Undertake an analysis of the information gathered and make recommendations based on those findings

For the feedback that you receive from your customers to be useful, you must do more than simply gather the information. You need to gather the information, analyse it, and store it so that it can be used for the purpose of planning customer service improvement in the future.

This will involve the use of solid record keeping practices and the development and use of specialised database systems that can allow you to store and retrieve appropriate data quickly and efficiently. More importantly, this electronic storage and retrieval of data will enable you to compare data from different time periods in order to track the progress of your projects in the future.

Key Points

• Evidence should be collected from customers that determine the level of customer satisfaction attained from your delivery of service.

• Once you have obtained the data, your analysis should set about trying to determine where opportunities for improvement of service exist.

• Whenever you look to improve your service or product offerings, it is important that you use evidence from customer surveys to back up any statements you make.

• Ensure that your reports based on customer satisfaction are clear, detailed, and contain recommendations focused on the critical areas of service delivery

Summary

Customer service is crucial to almost all organisations. We all have customers, whether they are students, retail customers, other businesses, the general public, or the government. Because of the wide range of customers that a typical organisation may have, it is important that you are able to provide service that meets their specific needs.

Customer service involves three major steps:

1. Identify the needs of the customer – Determine exactly what it is that they want

https://www.keyinstitute.com.au/topic/bsbcus301-identify-customer-needs-3/



2. Deliver the service – Using the expectations that you determined in stage one, deliver a service that meets with (or better yet exceeds) those needs

3. Monitor the service delivery

Good customer service not only allows you to ensure that your current customers are kept happy, but it also allows you to grow your business – a happy customer will tell others!

https://www.keyinstitute.com.au/topic/bsbcus301-deliver-a-service-to-customers/

https://www.keyinstitute.com.au/topic/bsbcus301-deliver-a-service-to-customers/

https://www.keyinstitute.com.au/topic/bsbcus301-monitor-and-report-on-service-delivery-4/

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