Customer Service Specialist Apprenticeship
A customer service specialist is an advocate of Customer Service who often deals with complex and technical customer requests, complaints, and queries.They are often the point of escalation for ongoing customer problems. They should be an expert in their organisation’s products and/or service knowledge, who can share their knowledge with the wider team.
They will gather and analyse data and customer information that influences change and improvements in service. They will work in many types of environments including contact centres, retail, web-chat, service industry, or any customer service point.
Qualification: Customer Service Specialist Level 3
Duration: The apprenticeship will take approximately 15 months to complete.
Entry Requirements: The apprentice will be required to have achieved either a GCSE at grade 4/C and above in English and maths, or the Functional skills Level 1 English.
What’s covered?
Business Knowledge and Understanding
- Understand what continuous improvement means in a service environment and how your recommendations for change impact your organisation
- Understand the impact your service provision has on the wider organisation and the value it adds
- Understand your organisation’s current business strategy in relation to customers and make recommendations for its future
- Understand the principles and benefits of being able to think about the future when taking action or making service related decisions
- Understand a range of leadership styles and apply them successfully in a customer service environment
Customer Journey Knowledge
- Understand and critically evaluate the possible journeys of your customers, including challenges and the end-to-end experience
- Understand the reasons why customer issues and complex situations sometimes need referral or escalation for specialist attention
- Understand the underpinning business processes that support you in bringing about the best outcome for customers and your organisation
- Understand commercial factors and authority limits for delivering the required customer experience
Knowing Your Customers
- Understand and critically evaluate the possible journeys of your customers, including challenges and the end-to-end experience
- Understand the reasons why customer issues and complex situations sometimes need referral or escalation for specialist attention
- Understand the underpinning business processes that support you in bringing about the best outcome for customers and your organisation
- Understand commercial factors and authority limits for delivering the required customer experience
Customer Service Culture and Environment
- Keep current, knowledge and understanding of regulatory considerations, drivers and impacts in relation to how you deliver for customers
- Understand your business environment and culture and the position of customer service within it
- Understand your organisation structure and what role each department needs to play in delivering Customer Service and what the consequences are should things go wrong
- Understand how to find and use industry best practice to enhance your own knowledge
Business-focused Service Delivery
- Demonstrate a continuous improvement and future focussed approach to customer service delivery including decision making and providing recommendations or advice
- Resolve complex issues by being able to choose from and successfully apply a wide range of approaches
- Find solutions that meet your organisations needs as well as the customer requirements
Providing a Positive Experience
- Through advanced questioning, listening and summarising negotiate mutually beneficial outcomes
- Manage challenging and complicated situations within your level of authority and make recommendations to enable and deliver change to service or strategy
- Use clear explanations, provide options and solutions to influence and help customers make choices and agree next steps
- Explore and interpret the customer experience to inform and influence achieving a positive result for customer satisfaction
- Demonstrate a cost conscious mind-set when meeting customer and the business needs
- Identifying where highs and lows of the customer journey produce a range of emotions in the customer
- Use written and verbal communication to simplify and provide complex information in a way that supports positive customer outcome in the relevant format
Working With Your Customers
- Proactively gather customer feedback, through a variety of methods. Critically analyse, and evaluate the meaning, implication and facts and act upon it
- Analyse your customer types, to identify or anticipate their potential needs and expectations when providing your service
Customer Service Performance
- Maintain a positive relationship even when you are unable to deliver the customer’s expected outcome
- When managing referrals or escalations take into account historical interactions and challenges to determine next steps
Service Improvement
- Analyse the end to end service experience, seeking input from others where required, supporting development of solutions
- Make recommendations based on your findings to enable improvement
- Make recommendations and implement where possible, changes in line with new and relevant legislation, regulations and industry best practice
Workshops
Workshops are mandatory and will be delivered either virtually or face to face in our academy, dependant on the needs and access arrangements for the Learner.
Where access and facility is limited, alternative arrangements will be made for the Learner.
Business Knowledge & Understanding/ Customer Service Culture Part 1
Business Knowledge & Understanding/ Customer Service Culture Part 2
Positive Customer Experience
Communication Skills
Commercial Awareness in Customer Service
Resolving Customer Problems and Issues
Understanding and Evaluating the Customer Journey
Project Management
Customer Service Apprenticeship Assessment Plan
You will need to demonstrate your skills and knowledge, your assessment plans will be split into 2 stages:
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Month 6 – Checkpoint 1
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Month 9 – Checkpoint 2
- Month 12 – Checkpoint 3
End Point Assessment
Apprentices access End Point Assessment following a gateway
discussion with their employer, tutor and Site Assessor where
entry requirements are discussed, checked and recorded
including functional skills at the required level.
The End Point Assessment will include the following types of
assessment:
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Work Based Project
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Practical Observation
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Professional Discussion