Customer Service
Unit four: Understand customers (F/506/2131)
Unit 4 Assessment
Assessment
You should use this file to complete your Assessment.
 The first thing you need to do is save a copy of this document, either onto your computer or a USB
drive
 Then work through your Assessment, remembering to save your work regularly
 When you’ve finished, print out a copy to keep for reference
 Then, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your completed Assessment to your tutor via your My
Study area – make sure it is clearly marked with your name, the course title and the Unit and
Assessment number.
Please note that this Assessment document has 10 pages and is made up of 2 parts.
Name:
Part 1 – Different types of customers
This section will help you to evidence Learning Outcome 1: Understand different types of
customers.
Learning objective
Place in Assessment
1.1 Explain the distinctions between internal and external
customers
Question 1 Page 1
1.2 Explain how cultural factors can affect customers’
expectations
Question 2 Page 2
1.3 Describe the characteristics of challenging customers
Question 3 Page 2
1.4 Explain how to identify dissatisfied customers
Question 4 Page 4
1. Explain the difference between internal and external customers. Think about an
organisation you know quite well and use it to give examples to help define your answer.
Name the organisation in your answer. [1.1]
The difference between internal and external customers is that internal customers work for
Graham & Brown. These normally receive company discounts External customers are those
outside of the business. These can include customers that we do business with. An
example of an external customer is anyone that purchases from us at full price or at a
reduction if there is an offer on.
2. Explain how factors relating to culture, such as media, traditions, language, behaviours,
moral values and beliefs, can affect a customer’s expectation of an organisation. Provide at
least three examples of this in your answer. [1.2]
Factors relating to culture can affect a customer’s expectation of an organisation in several
ways. How we behave changes with culture. In the Asian culture eye contact should not be
©Creating Careers Ltd 2015. All rights reserved.
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Customer Service
Unit four: Understand customers (F/506/2131)
made as this is a mark of respect. Muslims, Jews don’t like any unneeded contact. A
woman shaking the hand of a muslim would be frowned upon.
In customer service we need to be conscious of how we address others so that we don’t
offend the customer.
The tone of our voice can be the issue in some cultures. Whispering in the African culture is
said to be rude.
3. Name three types of challenging customer. For each type of customer, describe at least
three characteristics that make them challenging. Don’t forget that some customer types
may possess the same characteristics as others! [1.3]
Type of challenging
customer
Customer type 1
Description of 3 characteristics that make them
challenging
Characteristic 1 description
Angry Customer
The customer may start talking loudly and be rude in their
language. The customer that is raising their voice becomes
more challenging when another customer is present. This
will make the other customer nervous or even in danger.
They may be swearing as well so therefore again other
customers uncomfortable. They may be talking through
clenched teeth and noticeable anger with the tone of voice.
Characteristic 2 description
The customer may have an aggressive body language. The
body will present as closed off. They may have their hands
on hips or folded arms. They may have clenched fists. You
need to be watchful as signs they may attack are redness in
the face and showing teeth.
Characteristic 3 description
They may have an angry, stern look. They will be using
direct eye contact and the eyes will be wide open and
staring. They may use the eyes to stare at you for longer
than is comfortable.
Customer type 2
Characteristic 1 description
Age and Disability
A customer may need help due to their mobility. May need
help keeping a door open so they are able to get the
wheelchair in. They may be using a stick or walking frame
so need to move any items in the way. Assistant needs to
be around to help just in case.
Characteristic 2 description
A customer who comes in may be hard of hearing and need
the assistant to speak slowly or show items for sale visually.
If the assistant can sign that is even better. It is good to
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Customer Service
Unit four: Understand customers (F/506/2131)
have the basics of BSL so can help a little. Speaking clearly
and slowly may help the customer.
Characteristic 3 description
Customer type 3
Argumentative Customer
A customer may have bad eye sight and not be able to read
the information about any products. They may be blind and
therefore the assistant may need to read the information to
the customer.
Characteristic 1 description
An argumentative customer may be rude or loud in front of
the customers. In fact could be both. They can make the
customers feel nervous and in danger if they raise their
voice. An assistant needs to try to de-escalate the situation
peacefully away from other customers.
Characteristic 2 description
Argumentative customers sometimes do not want to listen to
rationale and continue to spiral into being more irate. A
need to try and listen to the issue is needed so that if they
have their point across they may allow you time to speak.
Although this may not be the case and they just will not listen
and then may run out of steam and leave.
Characteristic 3 description
Argumentative customers can be very abrupt and not be
happy if you need to ask further questions or not happy with
what you say. With this type of customer you need to be
firm but not aggressive and explain what you are going to do
about the issues to find a solution so this will alleviate the
situation.
4. Explain three different ways to identify dissatisfied customers. [1.4]
1. Lack of Communication.
Once the customer has had enough of complaining and really can’t be bothered
anymore is a sign they have given up and you are more than likely not going to have
a customer anymore. They think that it is useless to continue.
2. Bad Review online.
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Customer Service
Unit four: Understand customers (F/506/2131)
This is another way to identify if a company has a dissatisfied customer. This one
can make a lot of damage to the company very quickly with how many people use
social media and follow the company.
3. Not wanting the product.
When the customer doesn’t want the product sometimes means that they are
unhappy with the product and they feel that they wouldn’t be happy with a
replacement. This too can have a negative impact as they will talk to others and it
will not be good for company image.
Now that you have completed part 1 of your Assessment, remember to save the work
you have done so far – you will need to send your work to your tutor for marking once
you have completed both parts of this Assessment.
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Customer Service
Unit four: Understand customers (F/506/2131)
Part 2: The value of customer loyalty
This section will help you to evidence Learning Outcome 2: Understand the value of
customers and their loyalty.
Learning objective
Place in Assessment
2.1 Explain how the achievement of the customer service offer
contributes to enhancing customer loyalty
Question 1 Page 6
2.2 Explain the relationship between customer satisfaction and
organisational performance.
Question 2 Page 7
2.3 Explain how the reputation and image of an organisation
affects customers’ perceptions of its products and/or services
Question 3 Page 8
2.4 Explain the potential consequences of customers’
dissatisfaction
Question 4 Page 9
2.5 Describe different methods of attracting customers and
retaining their loyalty
Question 5 Page 11
1. Explain how an organisation’s customer service offer contributes to customer loyalty.
Think of types of service offer you have seen or experienced and give at least three
examples to support your answer. [2.1]
Customers like a good offer and a company can promote different loyalty offers to keep the
customer happy and purchasing their products.
Providing a quality product at a fair price will keep the customer happy. They will continue to
purchase from the company while they are being treated well.
Offering a price match is another incentive a customer enjoys. At Graham & Brown we tend
to honour a price if the customer has seen it elsewhere and mentions it. For example, we
supply to B & Q and if a customer wants a roll of wallpaper and it was our paper and
cheaper we will price match it.
By offering Free Delivery to the customer makes the customer happy as more often than not
the customer pays the delivery charge with purchases.
2. Explain the relationship between levels of customer satisfaction and how well an
organisation performs, using at least three examples. [2.2]
Promoting great levels of customer satisfaction means that the company can be profitable.
When a customer is very happy with the organisation it means that the company will
continue to prosper.
A good relationship with customer service and how well the organisation performs means
that the loyal customer base continues to increase.
When the balance is correct it means that the negative word of mouth that comes with bad
customer service doesn’t happen and again the company wins as they continue to have
loyal customers.
When a company has a product that the customer wants and good customer service means
the company will continue to keep customers and make the company money.
©Creating Careers Ltd 2015. All rights reserved.
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Customer Service
Unit four: Understand customers (F/506/2131)
3. The reputation and image of an organisation are powerful tools that can be used to help
promote awareness of the organisation’s products and/or services.
Complete the table below to explain how the reputation and image of an organisation
affects customers’ perceptions of the product or service on offer. Use at least three
examples to contextualise and support your answer. [2.3]
Explain how they can affect customers’ perceptions of the
product or service
When a company has a good reputation it means that the customer will
Reputation want to use again and again. When a customer is treated well in store
and looked after they remember this. They in turn tell their friends.
Friendly helpful staff that will go that extra mile for a customer is
something that will give a company a good reputation. When the sales
assistants know the products and can answer any questions leads to
people knowing this and trust this. Again this leads to good reputation.
Companies need to ensure that their staff do not work with a can’t be
bothered attitude other this would lead to a bad reputation.
Image
The image of a company can be affected if the business it does is seen
to be immoral or unethical. When a customer notices that the
company is not working that fits in with their own beliefs it has a
negative effect on the image. There are several ways in which the
customer may feel that the company is acting immoral. These include
poor staff working conditions, using materials which have bad
environmental issues and using sweatshops to produce the products.
4. Read the scenario below. Then explain the potential consequences of the customer’s
dissatisfaction with the product they have bought or service they have received.
Scenario
Priti would like to book a meeting room in her local library (of which she is a member) to
discuss arrangements for a local food festival. She is assured by a new recruit for the events
team at the library that the room has been booked for 2pm on Thursday. She requests
access to a computer in the meeting room. She pays a small deposit to secure the room.
Priti invites key stakeholders along to the meeting, including representatives from local food
and drink traders and the chair of the community association. The festival is to be held in two
weekends’ time and the meeting will ensure final arrangements are agreed.
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Customer Service
Unit four: Understand customers (F/506/2131)
Priti and the attendees turn up at the library and request access to the meeting room. She is
informed that the room is in use and that no free meeting rooms are available. The customer
service assistant suggests that the group use the canteen facilities at the library, which are
open to the public, as an alternative. Priti refuses this option, saying that the group need to
discuss things in a quiet place in order to get things sorted. The representative who made
the mistake turns up to apologise, but the group are very unhappy as there is nowhere else
they would like to use. Priti demands a refund for her deposit. She leaves a complaint and
also sees the events manager to complain in person.
Explain the potential consequences of the customer’s dissatisfaction. [2.4]
There are several potential consequences of the customers dissatisfaction. First will be the
staff morale that will go down. Constantly having to deal with complaints means that the
customer service provided will eventually suffer and in turn the complaints will grow. It is a
vicious circle that can be hard to break. Unhappy customers are not forced to stay with the
company and will shift their loyalty to a competitor that actually can deliver and then sales
will plummet. Bad reviews online could potentially happen and have a negative effect on the
business. All these factors can harm a company to closure if action is not taken
immediately.
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Customer Service
Unit four: Understand customers (F/506/2131)
5. Organisations use a lot of different methods to attract customers and encourage repeat
business. Describe how each of the following methods can attract customers and retain
them. [2.5]
Method
Description
Loyalty card
scheme
The loyalty card scheme is a good attraction for the regular customer. It
brings the customer back time and time again so they can claim the ‘prize’ at
the end. A coffee shop may say that save ten stamps and claim your free
coffee on the next visit. A beauty salon may say save ten stamps and get
£15 off your next beauty treatment. This is good as it means the customer
needs to come back again to redeem the offer. Then a new card is handed
to the customer and it all starts again.
Buy one get
one free
offers
Everyone love the word ‘free’, so when a customer sees this offer majority of
the time they take the offer. Supermarkets target certain items to put in the
offer. Customers will visit the supermarket just to see what is on offer in the
buy one get one free. The supermarket knows that the customer is more
than likely going to buy other impulse purchases while there. So therefore
this offer has given the supermarket more profit.
Referral
schemes
Referral schemes usually want the potential customer to provide contact
information and in return the company offers rewards or benefits.
Sometimes our friends and family are aware of the offers and send us links
for us to sign up to offers and this allows the person who sent the code extra
offers, say, 15% off next order. This in turn usually allows the new customer
to send out the code to their friends and all the time this is bringing new
customers to the company and keeping the original ones happy.
Once you have completed both parts of this Assessment, go to
www.vision2learn.com and send your work to your tutor for marking. Log in to the
platform and send your Assessment to your tutor via your My Study page for marking.
Good luck!
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