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Summary

Role Profile
The role of a customer service practitioner is to deliver high quality products and services to the customers of their organisation. The core responsibility will be to provide a high quality service to customers which will be delivered from the workplace, digitally, or through going out into the customer’s own locality.  These may be one-off or routine contacts and include dealing with orders, payments, offering advice, guidance and support, meet-and-greet, sales, fixing problems, after care, service recovery or gaining insight through measuring customer satisfaction. This role may be the first point of contact and could work in any sector or organisation type.

The customer interactions may cover a wide range of situations and can include; face-to-face, telephone, post, email, text and social media.  The service offered will in line with the organisation’s customer service standards and strategy and within appropriate regulatory requirements. 

Duration
18 months

Resources
Resources will be available through Smart Assessor, the e-portfolio platform used by the college for apprentices.

Programme Delivery
SGS has elected to deliver the on-programme learning using the Level 2 Diploma for Customer Service Practitioners.  Six mandatory units make up this qualification. 

Learners will also be required to select one relevant optional unit for the list below:

• Working in a sales environment
• Working in an administrative environment
• Working in a contact centre environment
• Customer service principles
• Working in a retail environment
• Social media in a work environment
• Fundamentals of marketing

This qualification is delivered on a one-to-one basis in the workplace and there is no requirement to attend college unless English and maths is required.

SGS will work closely with employers to plan and deliver support and training appropriately. This will add value to the employer as it centres on real work competencies demonstrated in a real work environment.

Assessment Overview
The end point assessment is synoptic and takes place at the end of the apprentice’s learning and development, after a minimum of 12 month’s on programme learning.

The employer, in conjunction with SGS, will formally sign-off that the apprentice has met the minimum requirements in regards to knowledge, skills and behaviours within the standard and confirm they are ready to move on to the end assessment.

Our recommended End Point Assessment Organisation is City and Guilds

End Point Assessment
For each of the three assessment methods, all pass criteria (100%) must be achieved to progress and complete the apprenticeship programme, as outlined below.

For a distinction to be awarded, apprentices must also achieve a distinction in each assessment method.

Apprentice Showcase
The apprentice showcase is compiled after 12 months of on-programme learning. The Apprentice Showcase enables apprentices to reflect and present examples of their development over the whole on-programme period. The apprentice will select appropriate evidence from the on programme portfolio to demonstrate the minimum requirements of the standard at the final stage of the programme as an ‘Apprentice Showcase’. This will attest to professional competence at the level.

Practical Observation
The practical observation will be pre-planned and scheduled to when the apprentice will be in their normal place of work and will be carried out by the Independent Assessor. The observation should enable the apprentice to evidence their skills, knowledge and behaviour from across the standard to demonstrate genuine and demanding work objectives. Each situation within the observation will be different, and examples are, handling a general enquiry, dealing with a customer complaint or a need for further information or detail, but it is mandatory that the observation covers as a minimum: presentation, equality, interpersonal skills, communication and personal organisation. Those areas of the standard which are not able to be evidenced during the observation will be discussed subsequently as part of the professional discussion with the Independent Assessor.

Professional Discussion
The professional discussion will be a structured discussion between the apprentice and the Independent Assessor, following the observation, to establish the apprentice’s understanding and application of knowledge, skills and behaviours. The professional discussion will need to take place in a suitable environment and should last for a maximum of one hour.

The purpose of the professional discussion is to:

• clarify any questions the Independent Assessor has from their assessment of the learner journey and practical observation;
• confirm and validate judgements about the quality of work;
• explore aspects of the work, including how it was carried out, in more detail;
• discuss how the apprentice would behave in specific scenarios, should they not have occurred within the practical observation;
• ask questions in relation to personal development and reflection;
• provide a basis for the Independent Assessor to make a decision about the grade to be awarded.

Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours for the Customer Service Practitioner Apprenticeship.

A Standard contains a list of the skills, knowledge and behaviours an apprentice will need to have learned by the end of their apprenticeship. A portfolio will be completed throughout the apprenticeship to reflect this.

Knowledge

• Business Knowledge and Understanding
• Customer Journey Knowledge
• Knowing your customers and their needs/Customer Insight
• Customer service culture and environment awareness

Skills

• Business focused service delivery
• Providing positive customer experience
• Working with your customers/customer insights
• Customer service performance
• Service improvement

Behaviours/Attitude

• Develop self
• Ownership/Responsibility
• Team working
• Equality
• Presentation

20% Off-The-Job Training
“Off-the-job training is a statutory requirement for an apprenticeship. It is training which is received by the apprentice, during the apprentice’s normal working hours, for the purpose of achieving the knowledge, skills and behaviours of the apprenticeship.”

In addition, there will be relevant activities in the workplace which will be discussed and planned with the assessor which will count towards the total hours required.  These could include:

• Job shadowing
• Team building events
• Team meetings
• Systems training
• Workplace induction
  

Maths & English

This apprenticeship requires learners to achieve maths and English at Level 1, and sit the tests for Level 2 in both subjects. Typically, it is realistic for learners to progress up one level during the apprenticeship. At interview, we will carry out an assessment to determine current literacy and numeracy levels. We will take account of any support needs in determining the suitability of learners for this apprenticeship.

What are my career options?

Customer Service Practitioner