2. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

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Dominic Merritt
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BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Customer Service. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Knowing about your organisation s products and services allows you to offer a better standard of service.

Knowing about your organisation s products and services allows you to offer a better standard of service by providing options and alternatives when you can t give customers exactly what they need.

1 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Customer Service. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Knowing about your organisation s products and services allows you to offer a better standard of service. A customer services professional should know the products or services that are offered by their business so they can give their customers the best level of service possible. Knowing about your organisation s products and services allows you to offer a better standard of service by providing options and alternatives when you can t give customers exactly what they need. By developing your knowledge of the products and services offered by your organisation, you can gain an advantage over your competitors. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING The activities in this section will help you identify the services and/ or products offered by your employer. You will also learn where you can find product and service information from the workplace and other sources such as the internet. Organisations and businesses might offer different levels of service or products for different markets. Using examples from your employment, you will describe how products and services meet different customers needs and expectations. Finally, how does your organisation differentiate its products or services from those of other providers in the industry? 4 M0_CUST_SB_BTEC_0307_U0.indd 4 05/05/011 15:08

2 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Customer Service BTEC Unit 4: 4.3 NVQ Unit 1:.1, 3., 3.6 Unit 6: 4.1 Unit 49: 4.1 Task 1 Task 1a List and describe your organisation s services or products. Identify their key features and how they can influence your customer service delivery. For example, for an in-house supplier of copier paper, the key feature may be that they can deliver within 30 minutes of an order being placed. Write your answer here: Customers will often need further information about the products or services your organisation offers. BTEC Unit 4:.3 Unit 3:.4,.5,.6 NVQ Unit 1:.4, 3.1, 3.13 Task 1b Describe the kinds of information you need to have available to give good customer service. Where can you find this information either in-house or from other sources? Kind of information e.g. service leaflet Source of information Provided by the organisation and available from the counter. 43

3 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Customer Service NVQ Unit 6: 1.1 Task 1c As a customer service professional, you need to keep your knowledge of your organisation s services or products up-to-date so you can provide a superior level of service. Explain how you maintain your product and service knowledge. Write your answer here: BTEC Unit 1: 1. NVQ Unit 1: 3.3 Task How would you describe the connection between a customer s expectations and their satisfaction with the service they have received? 44

4 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Customer Service BTEC Unit 3:.5 Task 3 Task 3a Basic information about products and services is often available from an organisation s staff. What sources of information are available that can be used to increase your knowledge of your organisation s products and services? Source of information How the information can be used by you NVQ Unit 6: 3.1 Task 3b Using an example from your own experience, explain how you can check that a product or service meets your customer s needs and expectations. Write your answer here: 45

5 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Customer Service EVIDENCE GATHERING In this activity you will identify an area of your work that will show how you operate as a customer service practitioner. Your assessor will help you to identify suitable items of evidence. You need to gather evidence of activity within areas of your work to demonstrate that you have a good level of knowledge and understanding of your organisation s products and services. You will need to show that you maintain your level of knowledge by learning about new products and services when they are introduced by your organisation. The types of evidence you collect can include leaflets about new products and services. NVQ Unit 6: 1.1 BTEC Unit 3: 1.,.1,.5,.6 An example of a leaflet identifying the products or services provided by the organisation. New product or service briefings are often used by employers to make sure employees are aware of new offerings by the organisation. Many employers expect their employees to keep themselves informed about their products and services. You should show where you have looked for and found information about a product or service that you have used to help a customer. Evidence that you have attended product briefings. An example of a leaflet identifying the products or services provided by the organisation. Evidence of your own research into new products and services. As a customer service professional, you should know what products and services your employer provides. Obtain or compile a list of these. PROFESSIONAL DISCUSSION Your assessor will conduct a professional discussion with you, which will capture evidence necessary to prove your knowledge and understanding of topic areas. Below are some topic areas you will need to consider when preparing for the professional discussion with your assessor. BTEC Unit 3:.6 BTEC Unit 1:.3; Unit 3:.6 NVQ Unit 1:.3, 3.3, 3.1 BTEC Unit 1: 1. If your customer wants more information about a product or service, where, internally and externally, can you find the information? What do you need to know about your organisation s products and services in order to deliver effective customer service? Where can you find this information? How are customer expectations and customer satisfaction linked? 46

6 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Customer Service NVQ Unit 6: 1.1, 3.1 Think of a time when you were dealing with a customer who was not sure about what they wanted. Describe how you helped the customer to identify their needs. How did you check that the service you gave met the customer s needs and expectations? Your assessor will plan the content of your professional discussion and will advise you to help you to prepare beforehand. The professional discussion may cover more than this section of your Assessment Workbook. Discussion process The questioning process will allow you to show that you know and understand the products and services that your organisation offers to your customers. You should make sure you have thought about what makes your products and services different from those of your competitors and how your organisation creates value by providing good customer service. To prepare for your professional discussion, you should think about how you could answer questions such as the following: What makes a customer buy your organisation s products or services? Is there a unique value to them or are they commodity products that are available from many different suppliers? Price is often seen as a major influence on customers but it is not the only one. Find out what your customers see as the major benefit of buying your products or services instead of buying from a competitor. Customers often need information about the product or service they are buying and the main source of that information can be you. You should know about the benefits of the products and services you provide so you can advise customers when required. Where information about a product or service is not readily available, you need to think about alternative sources of information such as the internet. Best practice refers to situations where organisations have excelled in dealing with their customers, resulting in real improvements in service delivery and showing how services can be transformed for customers. Excellent customer service can contribute to the value of an organisation by caring for customers, satisfying their needs and exceeding their expectations. What does your organisation do to promote excellence when providing customer service? 47

7 BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Customer Service Thinking of your own customer service practice, how have you provided excellent customer service to your customers? You should think of incidents where you have found additional information about a service or product or been able to show a customer where more information can be found. How have you checked that the customer has understood what you have said or done? How have you made sure that you have met their needs and expectations through your actions? 48

2. PROVIDING ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level Business & Administration 2. PROVIDING ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES The next activities will help you prepare and gather evidence for your assessment, and cover