Liaising with customers

Key skills workplace assignment

Liaising with customers

The purpose of this assignment is for you to organise and complete a job to acustomer’s satisfaction. You’ll plan the job, talking it through with your customerand discussing any potential disruptions, and complete the job to the customer’srequirements. You’ll produce a report on how the customer liaison went, includingany problems with the customer or the schedule of work.

Stages May be relevant to

The assignment asks you to:

1 plan the job C2.1a, WO2.1

2 write to the customer about the job C2.3

3 confirm the details of the job with the customer C2.3, WO2.1

4 liaise with the customer during and after the job WO2.2

5 produce a report about the job C2.3

6 evaluate your performance WO2.3

Tips

• Before you start, talk to your manager or supervisor and plan each stage.

• Keep all your notes, drafts and resources, and copies of letters, records ofmeetings and telephone calls.

• Carefully check your work as you go, and proofread all written material to correctpunctuation and spelling. If you are unsure about it, ask someone else to readthrough your work to check for accuracy.

• If possible, get your boss or colleagues to evaluate your performance.

• If in doubt at any time, ask your trainer for guidance.

Suitable for: learners in the gas industry

What you need to do

Stage 1 Plan the job

Talk to your employer and agree on the starting date for the job. Bear in mind thatthe customer will require sufficient notice before work can start. Discuss the likelystages of the job and the proposed finished date.

Stage 2 Write to the customer about the job

Prepare and produce a letter to send to the customer explaining the details of datesand times for the work and probable completion date. Give details of any preparationsthe customer should make, such as removal of carpets, furniture and animals.

Send the letter with a reply slip for the customer to return to confirm thearrangements.

Stage 3 Confirm the details of the job with the customer

Once the customer has replied to your letter and agreed that the dates given areacceptable, prepare a simple description of the key stages of the job and likelymilestones against time. Show this to your employer and confirm the dates with himor her.

Contact the customer with this information about how the job will progress and aboutany potential problems, such as times when the work could cause disruption, orparticularly dirty conditions.

Confirm that the customer understands the timescales and procedures. Check thelocation of the job with the customer, and plan the most suitable route to get there.

Stage 4 Liaise with the customer during and after the job

Liaise with the customer and arrange suitable times for carrying out potentiallydisruptive parts of the job, for example occasions when the electricity or gas willneed to be switched off. When necessary, keep the customer informed about whatyou are doing as you carry out the job.

At the end of the day confirm with the customer what has been completed andanything that remains to be done.

Stage 5 Produce a report about the job

Write a short report for your supervisor about how the customer liaison went.Structure it around the job you did and how you communicated this to the customer.Including any problems you had with the customer or with the schedule of work

Stage 6 Evaluate your performance

Once you’ve written your report, take time to think about how well you tackled thisassignment:

• Did you do anything particularly well?

• What did you enjoy the most?

• What did you find challenging?

• Was there anything you could improve on next time?

Ask your employer and customer to write a testimonial based around the job youcarried out.

Based on an assignment developed by the Gas Industry NTO

Liaising with customers – trainer notesThe Gas Industry NTO’s website is http://www.ginto.co.uk/ , and you can download copies of theirassignments from: http://www.ginto.co.uk/KeySkills/.

Briefing and supporting the learner

• Involve the learner in choosing an appropriate assignment. Consider the business benefit.• Consult with the learner’s employer if necessary.• Think about the learner’s existing skills and knowledge – will they need help before they start?• Decide whether to use the assignment to help the learner develop and practise their key skills or

to gather portfolio evidence.• Decide whether to use all or part of the assignment.• How long will it take the learner to complete the assignment? How and when will you review

progress?• Explain the assignment to the learner so that they know what’s involved and what’s expected.• Identify health and safety implications and make sure the learner is aware of these.

Adapting the assignment

This assignment could be adapted to other contexts.

Extending the assignment

If the learner prepares a presentation around their report, this would be relevant to componentC2.1b.If the learner uses a computer to write the letter to the customer and prepare their report, their workmay be relevant to the ICT key skill.