Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

Manage and develop the

team
Submission details

Student’s name Anna Maria Abate Student CRIO100540

no.

Assessor’s name Swapna

Assessment site 499 Kent Street,

Assessment date/s 30 May 2017

The assessment task is due on the date told to you by your assessor. Any changes
to this arrangement must be approved by your assessor in writing.

Submit this document with any required evidence attached. See

specifications below for details.

Performance objective
The student will demonstrate/show the ability/skill to ensure delivery of quality
service through handling customer complaints, monitoring/checking team
performance, and intervening/taking action to develop team abilities to overcome
difficulties in providing quality customer service.

Assessment description
You will use scenario information (provided) to address customer service issues
through:
● monitoring customer service team performance to identify causes of customer
service shortfalls/losses
● addressing a complex /difficult customer complaint
● coaching an underperforming customer service employee in a role-play1

1
Role Play - the acting out or performance of a particular role, either consciously (in training)
or unconsciously.
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 Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

Procedure

Part A
1. Review the information about Innovative Widgets that you gathered in Assessment
Task 1.
2. Read the scenario provided in Appendix 1 of this task.
3. Review the customer service call data in Appendix 2 and analyse/review data to
identify possible causes of customer service shortfalls/losses.

4. Write a brief report (no more than 1 page) to the board of Innovative Widgets to:
a. Summarise/list customer service team performance
b. Identify/show possible causes of customer service shortfalls
c. Identify/show options/choices to address the problem/s.
5. Follow the customer complaints policy and procedures provided in Appendix 3 of
this task to draft an email to Yore Mine Co. to clear up the misunderstanding and address
their concerns. Ensure that your support of the customer provided is consistent/regular with
principles/values of customer service set out in the Innovative Widgets business plan and
the customer service plan you develop in Assessment Task 1.

Part B
1. Prepare to participate in a role-play with Mary (your assessor) to address her
performance issues. You need to prepare to:
a. run structured coaching session
b. ask questions to understand and clarify/make clear Mary’s perspecti`ve/angle
c. describe the policy and procedures for handling customer complaints
d. outline techniques for dealing with different types of customers according to
their needs(e.g. dealing with small customers compared to dealing with significant customers
such as Yore Mine Co.)

e. explain techniques for solving customer complaints

f. document the coaching session and its outcomes in accordance with the
recordkeeping policy and procedures developed in Assessment Task 1.

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2. Arrange a time with the assessor to complete the coaching role-play and complete
the role-play.
3. Submit the required documents for assessment as per the specifications below. Be
sure to keep a copy for your records.

Specifications
You must:
● submit a customer service report
● submit an email to resolve a customer complaint
● participate in a coaching role-play observed by the assessor
● submit coaching documentation, e.g. coaching plan, notes, etc.

Your assessor will be looking for you to demonstrate:

● reading skills to interpret/understand Innovative Widgets information
● writing skills to match your style of writing to the documents’ purpose and
audience/interested people
● communication skills to:
○ articulate/explain-express organisational systems and policies
○ use listening and questioning techniques to understand performance issues
● numeracy/mathematical skills to interpret customer service data
● work skills to:
○ apply Innovative Widgets organisational protocols to complaint
resolution/fixing up and coaching
○ recognise and account for strengths and experience of others to achieve
outcomes
○ provide support to team member
○ address complex/complicated difficulties using problem-solving techniques
● technology skills to prepare and present documents
● knowledge of organisational (Innovative Widgets) policy and procedures for
handling customer complaints
● knowledge of techniques for dealing with customers with specific needs

● knowledge of techniques for solving complaints.

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 Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

Appendix 1:Innovative Widgets scenario

You are a customer service manager. It is currently December, and over the last
few months, you have been receiving feedback from customers that customer
service is just ‘not what it used to be’. The board of Innovative Widgets has been
made aware of the decrease in customer service quality and wants to know what
you’re going to do to fix the problem.

Mary is a member of your customer service team at Innovative Widgets.

Her role is to receive telephone enquiries and complaints.
You have observed the following:
● Mary has been rude to customers on several occasions. This behaviour
contravenes company policy on the knowledge of the importance of friendly service to
customers of Innovative Widgets.
● Mary has recently developed a habit of letting the phone ring and then placing
customers on hold. This behaviour contravenes company policy on the knowledge of the
importance of prompt service to customers of Innovative Widgets.
● Yesterday Mary received a complaint from a customer:

‘I work as a buyer for the state’s largest supplier of mining equipment, Yore
Mine Co. We provide a lot of business to Innovative Widgets.

I ordered 1,000 x 7mm widgets for delivery last Friday.I was promised that
the delivery would arrive within three days. It’s now a week later and they still
haven’t arrived. My production manager just telephoned me to say he might
fail to deliver a major order unless the widgets arrive in the next four days.

A few weeks ago a consignment of widgets arrived from Innovative Widgets,

but they were 6mm widgets rather than the 7mm I had ordered on that
occasion.
I am considering going to another supplier for your widgets even though
Innovative Widgets are the only Australian supplier.I could get them
cheaper from China, but the saving isn’t great when you add in the extra
shipping costs.
I’m going to begin legal action if the widgets don’t arrive today. I might
order the widgets from China from now on.'

● Mary misunderstood and thought that the customer had ordered the products
yesterday and argued with him. She accused the customer

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of being unreasonable as Innovative Widgets is an industry leader in

guaranteeing three day delivery.
When the misunderstanding was eventually cleared up, Mary wasn’t sure
how to track orders or reorder the products. She said there was nothing she
could do as Innovative Widgets’ procedures didn’t seem to cover this issue.

As the customer service manager, you will need to write an email to Yore Mine Co.
to clear up the misunderstanding and address their concerns.
You will also need to demonstrate your knowledge of how to develop team members
and coach Mary to improve the quality of her customer service.
Use the Innovative Widgets Complaints policy and procedures document in Appendix
3 of this task to assist you.
The following is an excerpt from Innovative Widgets’ business plan.

Business plan excerpt

Vision statement
To keep every Australian business running smoothly using safe, quality widgets.

Mission statement
● Innovate/ Create new ways of manufacturing and testing widgets
● Deliver consistently/regulalry high-quality customer service internally and externally
● Keep Australian businesses buying Australian widgets through quality products
and second-to-none customer service
● Have the best safety record of any widget company.

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Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

Appendix 2: Customer service data

Call Frequency per month

Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Number of calls 1200 1150 1320 1300 1260 1320 1380 1350 1400 1480 1560 -

Variation in number –2% –2% +3.5 –1.5% –0.5% +4% +4.5 +3.5 +7% +10% +12
of calls from % % % %
previous year

Customer service staf

Employee Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Supervisor John John John John John John John John John (Annu (Annu John
al al
leave leave
) )

Customer service Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia
officer

Customer service Nitin Nitin Nitin Nitin Nitin Nitin Nitin Nitin Nitin Nitin
officer (quit)

Customer service Jonas Jonas Jonas Jonas Jonas Jonas Jonas Jonas Jonas Jonas Jonas Jonas
officer

Customer service Taya Taya Taya

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officer (new)
Customer service Mary Mary Mary
officer (new)

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Appendix 3:Complaints policy and

procedures
Innovative Widgets
Complaints Policy and Procedure

Purpose The purpose of this policy is to ensure the management of

complaints is carried out consistently/ regularly and reliably fairly
and transparently and in accordance with organisational
requirements.
Scope The scope of this policy covers the management of customer
complaints by employees and contractors of Innovative
Widgets.
Resources The purpose of this policy is to ensure the management of
complaints is carried out consistently/ regularly and reliably fairly
and transparently and in accordance with organisational
requirements.
Responsibili Responsibility for the implementation of this policy rests with
ty employees and management of Innovative Widgets with
responsibility for managing customer complaints.
Relevant ● Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth)
legislation ● Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic)
etc.
● Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cwlth).

Updated/ 10/2011 – John Doe CFO

authorised

To manage complaints – customer service representatives

1. Greet the customer courteously/politely and give them your name.
2. Listen fully to what the customer is saying. Try to gather all the facts about the
complaint and jot/write them down. Ask questions and summarise what they are saying.
3. Never argue with the customer.
4. Apologise for any product fault or poor service. Be sympathetic/understanding. Ask
if the customer will allow us to send the faulty item to our quality department for testing.
5. When you have all the details about the complaint, ask the customer how they
would like it to be resolved/sorted out.

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 Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

6. No product replacements are within all staff members’ authority.

7. All staff members can use their professional judgement and refund an additional
10% of the value of the faulty product up to a maximum value of $25.

8. Complaints involving damage to other property are covered by our insurance. Help
the customer to complete the Claims Form and ask if the customer can obtain quotes for
repairs.
9. All complaints involving injury must be referred to the Customer Service Manager.
Agree a suitable time for the Customer Service Manager to call the customer.
10. Any complaint that is not covered in the above procedures must be directed to the
Customer Service Manager. Agree a time for the Customer Service Manager to call the
customer.

To manage complex complaints – customer service manager

1. Once you are alerted to a complex customer complaint, gather all the available
details about the customer, and the problem being addressed.

2. Before contacting the customer, decide on what actions need to be taken to

address the problem:
a. At a system level (create systems/processes), to prevent similar problems
occurring in the future
b. For the specific/exact type customer who has made the complaint
3. Once you have identified actions to be taken, contact the customer as soon as
possible.
4. In your customer contact:
a. Summarise/brief the facts and the problem as you understand it and make an
apology for the mistakes Innovative Widgets is responsible for.

b. describe what Innovative Widgets is going to do at a systems level to prevent

or minimise these types of mistakes for all customers in the future.
c. Describe what Innovative widgets is going to do to solve the customer’s
specific problem immediately
d. Describe when you will follow-up with the customer to see if their problem
has been resolved
e. Ask if there is anything else the customer needs to resolve the situation or
repair the relationship.

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 Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

Part A
Innovative widgets: Review and analysis of
customer service call data
1. Review the customer service call data in Appendix 2 and analyse/review data
to identify possible causes of customer service shortfalls/losses.

As you can see from the Call Frequency report, per month from January
– November the number of calls increase from August 1350 until November to 1560
meaning a percentage increase of over 86% and there is a variation in the number
of calls from the previous year. We can see different figures from January – May but
for June – November there are significant variations in the number of calls from
previous years and this is increasing. This needs to be considered by the board as
part of our ongoing expansion and we need to recognise that adding our two new
team members (Taya and Mary) will relieve the call volume work-load, at the same
time both new team members are still going through their learning curve.

2.Write a brief report (no more than 1 page) to the board of

Innovative Widgets to:
Summarise/list customer service team performance Dear
Board,
As you are probably aware we are experiencing significant growth, which I am sure
you, the board and our shareholders are happy about. This said we need to consider
the volume of customer service calls we are receiving at the back end of this growth
in business. The facts being we have now grown to dealing with 1,560 customer
service calls in November alone.
With the prior team of four and the addition of Taya and Mary starting with us in
October. Although both of them are great assets they clearly need to learn our
business to be optimal performers in their role.
I have personally take charge of training and mentoring both Mary and Taya. With
full disclosure to our customers we now record all calls with the

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Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

customer service department and I review a selection of these recordings for

training and coaching purposes. Additionally, over the next 30 days I will personally
conduct 30 minutes per day of customer service calls with both Mary and Taya
(joint calls) allowing then to learn from me.

Follow the customer complaints policy and procedures provided in

Appendix 3 of this task to draft an email to Yore Mine Co. to clear up the
misunderstanding and address their concerns. Ensure that your support of
the customer provided is consistent/regular with principles/values of
customer service set out in the Innovative Widgets business plan and the
customer service plan you develop in Assessment Task 1.

New Message
To: YoreMine@BY.com.au
_______________________________________________________
Subject: Resolve the issue Customer Service
_______________________________________________________

Dear Yore Mine Co Buyer,

I am the Customer Service Manager for Innovative Widgets and am writing to assure you we
will do all we can to resolve the issue you recently experienced with the wrong sized widgets
being received and the delayed shipment dates. Mary your recent contact and a member of
our customer service team has now been with us for 3 months and is still learning our
processes and procedures. I accept full responsibility for her supervision and your complaint
has highlighted the need for me to work with Mary directly to ensure this issue does not
happen again to you or other customers.

Today we dispatched the correct order for immediate expedited delivery and are offering
free shipping on your next three orders as a good will gesture to try

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Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

winning back you trust and future business. My email address is CM-service@innovative-
widgets.com.au and my mobile number is 4040-312-312 please feel free to contact me directly
if I can be of any further assistance

Yours truly,

Customer Service Manager

Innovative Widgets

Part B
Role Play Manager and Mary
Mary: May I come in?
Manager : Yes good afternoon Mary, have a seat.
Mary: Good afternoon and thank you Manager.
Manager : Mary, you have caused quite a big problem for us with one of
our most trusted clients. Can you tell me what the cause of this problem
was? I want to get your perspective on this.
Mary: I thought they had ordered the products yesterday. Maybe I
misunderstood but when they ordered, I clearly wrote down that the product
was to be delivered only yesterday. What was I supposed to do?

Manager : Well don’t be frustrated. But don’t be so quick to judge the

situation as well. I know that you’ve been putting customers on hold so that
you can talk to your friends from work. Several of the other employees have
noticed your behavior and think that you are not doing well for the company,
Mary.
Mary: I did try my best to handle the situation.
Manager: The client mentioned that we are the only Australian supplier for
quality widgets. Just by that you can tell how much is at stake here. If one of
our biggest buyers leave our services then it’ll

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Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

be the first of many. Our reputation will plummet and this is bad for business
from any point-of-view. Do you understand what I’m saying?

Mary: Yes I do. I will make sure this won’t happen again.
Manager: That is what I hope for as well. But let me provide some advice to
you. Keep your private matters outside of the working hours. It is against the
company policy to be taking personal calls and ignoring all the clients. This
could very well cost you your job. I want you to take this as a verbal warning of
your actions. I cannot support you if the problem persists. I have known you
for a few years and you have always worked hard to keep up with the
numerous changing policies throughout the years and helped the company.
However, this is a major incident. The other supervisor and I will need to
personally visit the operations manager of the mining company so that they
remain in good rapport with us. Do you understand the gravity of this
situation?

Mary: Yes I understand. I didn’t at first realize what kind of consequences we

would face. We are the largest and the most famous in the widgets field and I
thought I didn’t make any mistakes when I made the notes regarding the
orders. I was wrong. I should have paid more attention.

Manager: You are starting to see the full depth of it. You are right, we are the
largest and the most famous in the widgets field in the country. But business
is a slippery thing. One wrong move and some wrong press and lawsuits
could be the downfall of an empire propelled by social media and the internet.
They did mention taking legal action if the widgets didn’t arrive on time. Do
you see how one wrong communication error by one customer service agent
could make such a big problem for the whole company? You are the voice of
the company to the customers. So I feel it’s only right that you should take
coaching classes regarding proper phone etiquette as well as a once a week
class for functioning under the company policy. A supervisor will be making
your performance report and send it to me once a week. This will continue
until we are sure that you are comfortable and fully cooperating with how we
do work here.

Mary: I see. Isn’t there any way to make this shorter?

Manager: Until we know that there is a definite improvement, no there isn’t.
This coaching session will not only help you in this job but it’s going to teach
you how to deal with personal and professional matters as well. See it as an
opportunity to take one step ahead of the other customer service agents
who’re not getting

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Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

this training. We look after our own and make sure that everyone gets a
chance to improve. Are we clear about this Mary?
Mary: Yes we are. After listening to this, I can only say thank you for giving
me this opportunity and will make sure that it is worth the effort sir.

Manager: Good. Alright have a wonderful rest of the day. I’ll be hearing
from you soon.
Mary: Good day to you too sir.

Customer Service
Coaching session

Date : 30 May 2017

Time: 2 PM
Coachee : Mary (Customer service)
Coach : David (Manager)

The follow topics were coached in a one-to-one coaching session :

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Assessment Task 2 BSBCUS501 Manage quality customer service

1.Customer Service Policy

2.Active listening
3.Communicate type and process
4.Service versus care concepts
5.The Important of customer retention
6.Handling complaints and difficult customers
7.First impressions /critical service moments
8.Service standard and professionalism

The coaching session ended at 5 pm

Signed
Manager Customer Service
Date 30 May 2017

Signed
Customer Service Officer
Date 30 May 2017

© 2015 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd