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Question 1

If you are thinking of opening up a business, you will need to have a good
working knowledge of the legislation involved with your business. This is
important because it will ensure that you are abiding and complying with the law
rather than breaking it and facing possibly harsh consequences.

Laws are put into place to protect everyone - the customer, the employee and the
company. You are not expected to be a lawyer, but being aware of the relevant
legislations will help your organisation run more smoothly and avoid
complications in the future, such as getting tied up in lengthy legal battles for
unfair staff dismissal etc.

Businesses are also expected to provide their staff with a fair employee scheme.
Wrongful dismissal of staff through not following the proper dismissal procedure
as cited in the contract will mean the dismissed employee is eligible to take his
case to a tribunal and in many instances, sue the company for their illegal actions.
However, in some cases of gross misconduct, such as fighting or theft, companies
are able to issue an automatic dismissal without giving any notice. Also, customer
also needs legislation to protect themselves.

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

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Question 2

Complaints happen every day. When a customer complains, it is usually for a

good reason or genuine concern. They usually have made a purchase that did not
meet their expectation—a product, service, or maybe a combination of the two.
In the customer service industry, we cannot avoid complaints. We must take care
of the customer by listening to the complaint, and resolving it, to ensure a happy
customer.

Fewer than half of unhappy customers will bring a complaint to your attention.
Those who never say anything will tell an average of 11 other people about their
bad experience. It is important that we recognize complaints as opportunities, so
we can sway these averages, one resolved complaint at a time.

Customers want to know someone is listening and they are understood, and they
are hoping you are willing to take care of the problem to their satisfaction. No
matter what the situation is, when a customer brings a complaint to your
attention—even if they do it in a less-than-desirable way—be thankful. As the old
saying goes, “We can’t fix it, if we don’t know it’s broken.” Moreover, we must
realize that improper handling of a customer complaint can be costly to the
business.

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

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Question 3

The problem solving model has six steps:

 Identify problem. Define problem-symptoms and root causes.
 Define the desire situation.
 Gather and analyse data.
 Generate alternatives. Consider potential impact/risks.
 Choose an alternative. Make decision. Plan and implement.
 Monitor and evaluate. Adjust plan.

Step one and two involve identifying and defining the problem. They start with a
definition of the desired situation which is matched against the current situation.
Gaps between the current and desired situation enable identification of problems
or potential problems.
Step three in the process entails gathering data which can be anlaysed to give
reliable, relevant, valid and timely information, related to the problem and
possible solutions. Any decision based on valid, incorrect or unreliable data is,
necessarily, an unsound decision.
Step four in the problem solving process is to generate solutions. To make the
most effective decision, generate so many alternative solutions as possible.
Step five and six in the problem solving process are to analyse alternatives and
make a choice. It will be necessary to make decision that will overcome problems
so it is possible to adapt customer service, products and service delivery to meet
customer needs.

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

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Question 4

Delivering products and services in line with customer specifications and the
organization’s business plan depends on:
 Identifying customer specifications
 Building business plans that will enable the organization to meet customer
needs and expectations
 Developing, within the organization, strategies to manage effective systems
that will support delivery of products or services

The business and strategic plans for an organization have an external focus. They
relate to the intentions and aspirations for the organsation as a whole and should
show real potential for innovation and continuance. Within those external plans
are the internal planning devices used to inform production and management, so
that the outputs of the organization and all of its sections meet customer needs
and expectations, thereby supporting the organisation’s business goals.

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

Activity 5

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Customer and their needs need to be identified before plans are made and before
products or services are designed. Consumers are more aware, better educated
and better informed than ever before. They know that if you cannot or will not
meet their needs, you competitors will. It is no longer possible to design and
develop products. Customer needs need to be properly identified, assessed,
planned for and catered for. This means that when developing business, strategic
and operation plans the focus needs to be on the customer and meeting customer
needs. If the organization is able to develop a true customer focus, then
organizational business goals can be achieved.

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

Activity 6

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 Identify what customers are buying and what benefits they purchase:
customers insist on a level of quality appropriate to their needs, reliable
delivery, safe operation and durability commensurate with the price paid.
They purchase product benefits –the things that a product or service will do
for them.

 Understand why customers will or do purchase: most buying decision are

multi-causal and sometimes the decisions seem trivial. Pay attention to
details which could be very important to the customer. Market research,
both formal and informal, and customer feedback will supply valuable
information about customer’s purchasing decisions and this information
will enable you to supply what customer wants-not what you want or what
you think customers might want.

 Know when customers are likely to buy: customers buy when they want to,
no necessarily when you want them to. Analyzing customers and their
purchase can sometimes allow you to determine buying patterns that you
can use to provide opportunities for sales.

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

Activity 7

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Customers will ask themselves:

1. what’s in it for me?
2. What will this product do for me?
3. How will I benefit?

Whatever the quality level, price point or delivery time of products, you need to
ensure that once you agree to a sale with customers that all agreements are
upheld. If you say you will provide and service for a particular price, you should
make sure customer is charged that price. The customer should not be hit with
additional or hidden costs when they go to pay for the product or service.
If you tell a customer that you will sell them top of the range product, this is the
product that they should receive. If you tell a customer that they can expect to
receive the product within a week, you should make sure this happens and that
customers are not waiting two or three weeks for the products. Customers will
fast become disgruntled if you do not hold up your end of the bargain once sales
terms have been agreed, this is poor customer service.

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

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Activity 8

Tem will set goals and objectives that contribute to the achievement of
organizational goal. When setting goals it is also necessary to set and agree on
the performance standards expected of the team and of the individual team
members. KPI’s are listed and agreed criteria against which performance can be
measured. Each team members needs to know the work standards expected of
them and should agree that the KPI’s selected are reasonable and relevant. the
measurement criteria would be based on gathered and analysed data that is
relevant to customer needs, wants and expectation.

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

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Activity 9

Encourage self-monitoring and self-management of quality customer service by

employees. Make sure that employees receive the proper training, support and
resources they need to do their jobs well, then let them do their jobs. Empower
them to make decisions at the front line, to resolve problems and to use their
own initiative appropriately. In this way customers will have problems resolved
without the need to wait, while minor issues are passed through the various
echelons of the organization. Both employees and customers will be happy.

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

Activity 10

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Asking the customer to provide feedback is vital. You can collect customer
feedback from:
 Mystery shoppers
 Benchmarking against competitors and best practice organizations- this
provides a basis for setting standards of excellence
 Product testing- to provide feedback on quality and variation
 Focus groups
 Government statistics
 Market research

Reference: BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service (Participant Guide)

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