System Design & Analysis



System Design & Analysis

Task 1 (P5)

Typically initial customer handling process will broadly take on the following format:

Enquiry

Enquiries can come through various routes including:

Telephone- contact via a central number or direct-lines to internal contacts.

Face to face through visitors meeting at your premises.

Post, either through a central enquiry handling point or the most appropriate contact for help[1].

E-mail or on-line via your website.

General information e-mail inboxes should be checked at regular intervals. To support this all staff should be well trained in handling enquiries and have good customer service skills.

Data Collection

As an organisation you really need to know who your customers are and at the point of initial enquiry, your people need to know who they are talking to. You will need to design appropriate documentation, perhaps, an enquiry form template, that ensures that you collect customer information that you need to know, and that should as a minimum include the following details[2]:

Contact name Address (including postcode)

telephone and e-mail details

Business name (where appropriate)

Business activity (where appropriate)

Nature of enquiry

Understanding/Diagnosis

Very often your customers will contact you and have a clear picture of what they need from you, in terms of information and services, whilst others will not. Your staff will need to gather information from the customer, through effective questioning techniques, in order to determine customer needs and the most appropriate actions in response to those needs. An enquiry form could be used to provide prompts to guide questioning. You may also consider suitable diagnostic training of your staff.

Agreed Action and Response

Finally having determined needs, your staff will need to decide how best to respond in terms of action. They will need to then explain proposed actions to the customer and gain their agreement.

Internal Referral

Staff should have a good knowledge of the products and services that your organisation provides and the relevant contact points within your organisation. They should be able to explain to the customer who they are referring them to and why.

External Signposting

Your staff will also need to understand who they can direct enquiries to if your organisation is not able to provide the assistance that the customer needs. Staff will need to have a good understanding of what other services are available within their network and how they may be accessed. Reference information should be available through files, library material or a contact database so that they are able to signpost customers efficiently and accurately to relevant sources[3].

Data Recording and Logging

Your staff will have used your enquiry form template to record customer information. This should also include needs determined as a result of the interaction with the customer and agreed actions taken. Details of any referrals made should also be recorded so that, where appropriate, follow-up action can be completed to ensure that the referral has been effective. Corresponding data input will need to be completed where customer information and records are held on spreadsheets, databases or CRM systems that you may ...