Certificate in Introduction to Customer Service Session One The Importance of Customer Service

Aim of the Programme The aim of this programme is to develop your customer service skills and gain a qualification to reflect your achievement. The qualification you will achieve is City & Guilds EL3 Certificate in Introduction to Customer Service.

Session 1 - Learning Objectives By the end of this session you will be able to: 1.understand your learning needs and goals by completing an initial assessment and diagnostic. 2.know five regularly used customer service terms. 3.identify customer service roles and duties. 4.identify the skills needed to do a customer service role. 5.list the information needed to do a customer service role. 6.identify good and bad customer service experiences. 7.research the role of porter.

Why is Customer Service so Important? Good customer service helps you to keep existing customers, which is cheaper, quicker and easier than finding new ones. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool, a happy customer is likely to tell their friends and relatives about a company that they have had a good experience with. They will probably also be loyal and keep coming back.

Why is Customer Service so important? Poor customer service may lead to customers going to a competitor. Research shows that an unhappy customer will tell a minimum of nine other people about their experience. Customer service can affect how much a customer will spend.

John Lewis and Customer Service “We are committed to attracting, retaining and deepening relationships with our customers. We want to build their confidence in our reputation for quality, price and service.”

John Lewis and Customer Service John Lewis was named the UK's best retailer at the Verdict Customer Satisfaction Awards 2013, coming first in three retail categories, while Waitrose took the top spot in the Food and Grocery sector. John Lewis previously topped this survey for four consecutive years from 2008 to 2011.

External Customer An external customer is: located outside of the organisation essential to the success of any business as they spend the money needed for an organisation to grow.

Internal Customer An internal customer is: any member of the organisation who relies on help from another employee to fulfil his/her job duties.

Customer Expectations What a person thinks should happen while they are a customer. The level of service they hope to receive and how they hope to be treated. All customers will have different expectations, based on their opinions and previous customer service experiences.

Customer Expectations Expectations about a product or a service are based on: advertising and marketing word of mouth from friends or family reputation of the organisation and its staff past experiences with the organisation, product or service.

Customer Satisfaction The positive feeling customers get when their expectations have been met. They are happy with the product or service they have received. Companies often ask for feedback or ask customers to fill out surveys so that they can find out the level of customer satisfaction.

Customer Service Terms Promotion Methods of advertising products, services or offers. Example An advert for a specific product in a magazine.

John Lewis Specific Terms Partners. Brand Ambassador. Enhanced Services.

Partners All staff directly contracted by John Lewis are called partners because they are all active co-owners in the business. This means they share in the profits and have a real say in determining company future. How do you think this impacts on the company’s customer service?

Brand Ambassador Everyone who works for John Lewis is a Brand Ambassador. This means that they should take on the company’s values, ethics and identify with the company at all times. When a John Lewis employee is dealing with a customer, or is wearing their uniform outside of the working hours, they are still representing the company.

Enhanced Services These are extra services that John Lewis offer to go the extra mile and make life easier for their customers. These services include computer and TV installation on delivery, disposal of washing machines, etc.

Certificate in Introduction to Customer Service Session One The Importance of Customer Service Goodbye