Advanced Diploma In Customer Service Level 3

1

FEEDBACK AND SALES

Unit 6

Advanced Diploma in Customer Service Level 3

2

Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3

Identifying ways to improve ....................................................................................................... 4

Sources of feedback .................................................................................................................. 5

Types of feedback ..................................................................................................................... 7

Informal feedback ...................................................................................................................... 7

Formal feedback ........................................................................................................................ 7

Feedback from customers ......................................................................................................... 8

Feedback from colleagues ......................................................................................................... 8

Feedback from your organisation or line manager .................................................................... 9

Feedback from yourself ........................................................................................................... 10

Dealing with feedback.............................................................................................................. 11

Rejecting feedback .................................................................................................................. 11

Accepting feedback ................................................................................................................. 12

Reflecting on feedback ............................................................................................................ 13

Sharing information with others ............................................................................................... 14

Understand how to work with information that needs attention ................................................ 14

Providing information to customers ......................................................................................... 15

Slow buyers ............................................................................................................................. 15

Fast buyers .............................................................................................................................. 16

Customers who have reservations .......................................................................................... 18

Dealing with seemingly uninterested customers ...................................................................... 18

Overcoming a customer’s reservations ................................................................................... 19

Listen to a reservation ............................................................................................................. 20

Check you have fully understood ............................................................................................. 20

Unit summary .......................................................................................................................... 21


3

Introduction

In this final unit we will be exploring ways of creating a customer- orientated culture within

an organisation as well as generating sales. These are both vitally important in any

organisation and you will need to be able to work closely with consumers looking to

purchase goods and services to give them support whilst buying. This should not take away

from the customer service which you are looking to provide, and you must be able to

carefully balance the two concepts for the benefit of your business.


4

Identifying ways to improve

In the world of business things move at an alarming rate. If you don’t keep up with the

changes that are put in place, then you can soon find that your company falls behind the

competition and you may struggle to compete going into the future. In order to stop this

from happening you must continually be on the lookout for ways to change and improve. As

a customer service representative, you can play your part in this from the frontlines of the

company. By looking for improvements and continually asking ‘how can my service be

improved?’ you will be able to develop and ensure that the service you provide is always of

the highest quality.

One of the best methods to check ways which you can improve on the service you give is

to get feedback from customers, managers and colleagues. Reviewing your own

performance can be very difficult as you will only see things from your own perspective, so

it is a great idea to get reviews from others who will have a different viewpoint.

To be able to find new ways in which you can improve you must clearly understand the

skills and knowledge that you need in order to carry out your role effectively. Being able to

identify these and decide where your strengths and weaknesses lie will make it much

easier for you to improve in the future. Some skills which you could look at include:

Communication

Telephone skills

Complaint handling skills

Flexibility

Time management

Decision-making skills

Knowledge of systems

Knowledge of products and services

Knowing and understanding all of the above will allow you to give quality customer service

and it is a very good idea to routinely check your competence in each area. If ever there is

an area that you feel you are lacking, then you should think of ways to improve which could

take the form of:


5

Gathering more information from colleagues or internal sources

Gathering external information

Completing more training

Gaining additional experience of a problem area

Devising a plan to improve your skills in one specific area of your development

Sources of feedback

It is possible to gain valuable feedback from others so that you can target areas where you

need to improve. Feedback is fairly easy to gather- you simply need to ask people for their

opinion and ensure that they are honest and open. In order to get honest and valuable

feedback you should do your best to show the person giving you advice that it is alright for

them to be negative if required. Getting angry if someone gives you negative feedback will

make the person feel as though they should have lied, and they will be much less likely to

give you any feedback in the future.


6

You can gain feedback from a variety of different sources including:

Customers

Colleagues

Other organisations

Yourself

Your line manager or supervisor

The key to getting feedback is to make sure that it is impartial and honest. Asking someone

face-to-face and being stern will put the individual on the spot- making them far more likely

to say what you want to hear rather than give their actual opinion.

Try to be honest and let the person know that if they do pick up on any bad points you will

not take it personally. The whole point of getting feedback is so that you can improve and

be more professional- so show your professionalism when taking the feedback and use the

information in the best possible way.


7

Types of feedback

There are lots of different types of feedback and each can be gathered in a different way.

Gathering feedback can be done in person, online or through written forms.

Informal feedback

Informal feedback is unplanned and usually spontaneous. You will be able to judge a

person’s reaction to the service you provide, including their body language and behaviour

to judge how you have performed. For example, a customer that acts in a strange or

annoyed way after you do something will usually be displaying signs or bad feedback, or a

client who makes a purchase after you have discussed a product will show positive

feedback on your performance.

By paying close attention to the client you can gain feedback easily and use this to adapt

your approach right away. Informal feedback can be gathered in the following ways:

By yourself- observing customers and how they react when you are working with

them

From colleagues saying things in passing or having conversations with you

From chats and informal discussions with managers

From personal reflection on your own performance

Formal feedback

This type of feedback will be much more structured and will follow a certain layout.

Gathering information for formal feedback will be planned in advance and you must make

sure that you look for feedback into specific areas of a person’s performance. Formal

feedback can be collected using:

Verbally- Either in person or over the phone

In writing- This can be through a feedback form, in thank you letters or in complaints

Questionnaires and feedback surveys

Mystery shoppers or clients

Appraisals and performance reviews from senior members of staff


8

Again, formal feedback can be both positive and negative so it is important that you take on

board what is said and then act upon this without getting disheartened if the feedback is not

exactly what you want to hear.

Feedback from customers

Feedback that is provided by customers can be from complaints, letters of thanks, emails

or conversations. This feedback can be either formal or informal and you will usually get

feedback from customers that is very honest and open. This feedback will tell you where

you can improve and it is very important not to choose customers to get feedback from

based on your own experience. Only choosing happy customers for feedback will give you

very positive reviews but will not give you any information that will help you improve.

This sort of feedback can be difficult to get as customers usually do not have the time to

provide any information. Surveys and questions that are asked should be very short and

usually larger companies will use paper questionnaires or telephone feedback systems

after a call to ask about a client’s experience.

Feedback from colleagues

Getting feedback on your performance from colleagues can again be done both formally

and informally. If you are new to a job then it is best to ask for more feedback to ensure that

you are working in a way that suits the organisation and to help boost your learning curve.

Your appearance, behaviour and call-handling skills are usually the best things to ask for

advice about from colleagues who have experience in these areas.


9

Ask you colleagues questions when they give you feedback and try to learn from each

other’s experiences- this is the best way to ensure that your whole team all learn new skills

from one another. Ask for descriptions of what you did wrong and how you could have

changed your approach to better suit the situation.

Feedback from colleagues is mostly informal and will usually be given while discussing

things at work and this can be on a break or right after dealing with a specific customer.

Make sure that you take things in a professional way even if the feedback is not particularly

nice to hear.

.

Feedback from your organisation or line manager

Feedback that comes from your manager can be formal or informal but will normally take

place through an appraisal or review which is a formal process that is followed. Less formal

feedback will be given on a day-to- day basis by someone with more experience or

authority than you and you may be asked to do things a little differently in order to improve.

This feedback is extremely important as it will not only help you to improve on the job but

could have a large impact on your employment as well. If you managers are not happy then

you need to change this quickly.


10

Feedback from yourself

The only person that will ever know the ins and outs of your working life is you. You will be

there first hand if a customer is happy with the service or if they are annoyed at the lack of

assistance they have had. It is incredibly hard to look at things calmly from your own point

of view as you will be biased. However, you must always do your best to work in a way that

is fair to yourself and allows you to reflect on what has happened in the following areas:

Things that went well

Things that went badly

If you did sufficient checks to ensure that the customer is satisfied

What you could do to improve for next time

Why things went well/badly


11

Dealing with feedback

If you are able to tune into your surroundings and can communicate with various different

people effectively then you will be able to pick up feedback all the time. This can come from

a variety of different people and will normally be picked up in a lot of differing ways. You

must then be able to use this feedback in a way that improves your performance, making

you better on the job.

Rejecting feedback

Sometimes you will get feedback from someone that you feel there is no way for you to

use. It may be that the source is unreliable or the client has made a complaint purely out of

spite. It could also be that a colleague has given you some feedback but they

misunderstood the situation in question- making their advice irrelevant. The colleague may

have only heard one side and could have missed vital pieces of information along the way.

In this case it can be acceptable to reject the feedback that is given. When doing this you

should never tell the person that you are rejecting the feedback (especially if this is a

customer) but it may be that you simply cannot see their point of view. If this is negative

feedback then it can be much more tempting to reject what has been said- so do your best

to be impartial and only reject criticism if it is unfounded.

E


12

Accepting feedback

When accepting feedback you will need to listen and understand what is being said and

then take this on-board for the future. Feedback from manager, whether formal or informal,

should always be accepted as the person giving the information is your boss- so you need

to do as you are told! However, feedback that is used can also come from clients,

colleagues or a variety of other sources.

Feedback should not be automatically accepted if it is positive. It is much harder to reject

feedback that is very good but if this is unfounded then it should be rejected in the same

way as any negative comments that have very little truth behind them.

Feedback should only be accepted if it is genuine and has been obtained from a legitimate

source.


13

�5�H�À�H �F �W�L�Q�J��R�Q��I�H �H �G�E�D�F �N

By far the most important part of feedback is the ability to reflect on the information that is

given and learn from it. When receiving feedback you should never jump to conclusions- try

to read through the feedback a few times and then understand why this feedback has been

given. You should try to do your best to absorb the comments and think carefully about how

the client you were dealing with may have felt in the situation. Try to empathise with the

other party and understand why someone has given the feedback.

Next you need to pick up on the negatives or positives outlined and make a mental note of

these to make sure that you either keep doing the correct thing or stop doing something

which is negative. This can be achieved through:

Attending training courses or workshops

Asking for more feedback at a later stage to test your adjustments

Regular performance reviews and appraisals from your manager

Reading articles or information about the area that you wish to improve

Learning more about the services or products you work with

Learning more about your organisation and its systems

Analysing your mistakes and learning from these


14

Sharing information with others

As well as getting feedback from people you need to know how to share this data with other

people. The information that you get could be about yourself, another member of the team

of the organisation as a whole and you must know how to use this information for the

benefit of the company.

Understand how to work with information that needs attention

Sometimes it could be that you get some feedback which is not very useful or is information

that you would usually reject as unfounded. It is much more difficult to make this decision if

the information does not directly relate to your own practice, so you should ensure that you

are fully aware of what has happened before rejecting any data. Warning signs and

information could be in place that will give an indication of things to come in the future or

things that can be improved. These can be in the form of more complaints, people having

to wait longer to be served or anything else that seems to have changed.

Issues should be noted and then shared with the relevant people so that any potential

problems do not develop into serious situations. Information of this type can be shared with

others in different ways including:

1 on 1 meetings

At team meetings

Informally during a break

On a noticeboard

Through memos and emails on the company intranet

Using formal procedures as set out by the company


15

Providing information to customers

Everyone has their own buying preferences and behaviour. Some people like to gather

information for themselves and then make a purchase without even speaking to a member

of staff, whereas others will only talk to a person and will not want to get information from

anywhere else.

It is your job to recognise the right approach to use with a client and then work in a way that

will make their experience a pleasant one and increase the likelihood of them buying a

product. Part of this is providing information to a customer at just the right level to make

sure they are intrigued and informed sufficiently enough to convert into a buyer. Some

buyers will hate to do their own research and want your opinion, whereas others will not

want you to dive into a sales pitch so will gather their own data about a product. Usually

customers can be partitioned into two segments: fast and slow buyers.

Slow buyers

Someone who needs lots of information and guidance before they make a purchase is

regarded as a slow buyer. They will ask questions, gather their own information and take

careful consideration about what is best for their needs. Slow buyers will shop around and

are also likely to ask complicated questions. You should try to converse with slow buyers

and answer any questions they ask but make sure they are on the front foot at all times.


16

Slow buyers hate pressure situations so you should avoid slick sales pitches or trying to

rush the client as they will react very badly to this approach. This approach is critical as a

slow buyer will have a massive concern about the product and if it is right for them trying to

rush them into a decision will never work and it is best to give advice and information only

when asked, so try to let them browse and gather their own facts but always be on hand

when needed.

Fast buyers

A fast buyer could be in a rush or very busy. Or even just someone who hates shopping

and wants to get it over and done with quickly! They may have already done their own

research and know exactly the product or service they want before talking to you- meaning

they will just want to buy the product with minimal input from you. Other fast byers may

want your opinion and be highly influenced by your opinion- so be prepared to offer

information when required.

Information given to someone who is a fast buyer needs to be short and snappy. Try to

highlight the key areas of the product or service and keep things very simple and easy to

manage. Complicated information or long-winded sales pitches will bore the client and

make them lose confidence in your organisation very quickly.


17

Having the right setup for fast buyers is also important. They will not want to fill in long

forms or give lots of data- so make sure you can give them what they want very quickly.


18

Customers who have reservations

When working in customer services you need to be able to advertise the products and

services that your company offers in a professional manner so that they want to buy. There

are many different things to consider when doing this and one of the most important is

getting the timing right. Being able to offer products and services at exactly the right

moment will dramatically increase the likelihood of a sale and will enable you to work with a

client to give them exactly what is required.

Some clients may come to you with little background information on the industry and need

to ask a lot of questions whereas others will have already made up their mind and simply

want to purchase a product. The trick is to gauge the customer and make sure that you go

at a pace to suit their needs. If the timing is wrong then it is unlikely you will be able to

make a sale. Phrases such as the ones below will tell you when a customer is not ready to

purchase:

I’ve already got one

I’m not interested

My husband/wife/mother/friend needs to see it before I make a decision

I’m only browsing

I can’t afford it

Any of these phrases will show you that the person is not ready to make a purchase. If this

does happen then you should politely say that if the person is interested in the future you

would be very happy to help. If at any time it appears like the person is interested in a

product but cannot make a decision without another party then do your best to speak with

the other person so that you can close the sale and discuss things with the appropriate

person.

Dealing with seemingly uninterested customers

Sometimes you will find that potential customers are very quick to say no. This does not

always mean that they are a lost cause and will not want to do business in the future.

Someone who says ‘no’ may not always be a lost cause. In fact, a person who says they do

not want a product may actually mean any of the following:


19

Not on the terms you have told me about

Not for that price

Not right now- maybe later

Not just yet but if you tell me more I will buy

Not unless you show me the product

Not on your timescale

A client who says no should never just be forgotten about. You should try to determine the

reason why they did not buy the product or want to work with your organisation. If the

answer to this is something from the list above then you will know that a little bit more work

will probably result in a sale. However, if the reason is simply that the client has absolutely

no use or desire for the product then you must do your best not to push the sale as this can

anger the customer and make them feel pressured.

O�Y�H�U�F�R�P�L�Q�J��D��F�X�V�W�R�P�H�U�¶�V ��U�H�V�H �U�Y�D�W�L�R�Q�V

Part of being able to work in customer services is being able to work with a client who is

unsure or needs some help making a decision. They may be reluctant to purchase a

product through fear of this not being right for them, so it is down to you to highlight all of

the benefits and show that your company is the best at what you do.

Customer reservations could be caused by:


20

The customer needing time to think and digest information they have received

A misunderstanding between customer and organisation

Pressurised sales techniques

The customer not being able to afford

The client not having time to learn about the product right now

A customer who does have reservations will usually show a number of different emotions

such as confusion or worry. You must do your best to tackle these emotions and ensure

that the client understands the product fully and can make an informed decision

Listen to a reservation

To be able to address someone’s query or reservations you need to first completely

understand what they are concerned about. Never interrupt the customer when they are

explaining their reservations or disregard them. Stay quiet and listen to the reason why they

are unsure and you will likely be able to explain something about the product that eases the

person’s concern.

Check you have fully understood

If a customer starts to react a little badly then try to stay calm and listen carefully again to

their point of view. If you think you understand the reservation but don’t then a customer will

feel you are trying to sell them something that is not right for their situation and will likely

not be happy about this. Take the right steps to come to a solution. This could be a different

product or a more flexible pricing option. Just don’t try to sell something that the customer

really is not interested in as the client will spot this right away and feel like you are only

speaking to them to get their money.


21

Unit summary

This final unit has introduced the concept of using feedback from customers, colleagues

and managers in a way that is beneficial to you and your organisation. Being able to use

past experiences and feedback in such a way will dramatically improve the customer

service you can provide. We also then moved on to look at sharing information with clients

and how to identify different types of buyers. Knowing how to deal with a variety of different

people in your role will give you the flexibility to drive sales and ensure you meet the

expectations of everyone you deal with.


Advanced Diploma In Customer Service Level 3 · Advanced Diploma in Customer Service Level 3. 3 ......

Documents

Transcript of Advanced Diploma In Customer Service Level 3 · Advanced Diploma in Customer Service Level 3. 3 ......