Use service partnerships for customer service delivery
Overview
This standard is part of the customer service competence area related to Customer Service Management. It includes using service partnerships for customer service delivery. It covers planning, organising and controlling customer service operations. It includes customer service behaviours and processes that have most impact on the customer experience during customer service delivery. Remember that customers include everyone to whom you provide products and services. They may be external to your organisation or they may be internal customers.
Your deliver of customer service relies on teamwork. In many situations, successful delivery of service to end user customers relies on a complete service chain of internal or external customers and internal or external suppliers. You form a series of service partnerships which enable the chain to work efficiently and effectively. You work within the service chain and develop the links that cement key relationships. You communicate with, and understand, the roles of different organisations, departments and individuals for delivery of customer service.
This standard is for customer service professionals on supervisory or managerial levels who use service partnerships for customer service delivery.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- define partners involved in the service chain that supplies your end user customers
- identify the internal and external service partners involved in your organisation's service chain
- explain how your work with individual service partners contributes to an overall service chain
- deliver customer service to internal and external customers following the same principles and practices
- work with internal customers in the service chain to improve service to external customers
- communicate with internal customers to highlight any aspects of your work that might affect them
- work with internal or external suppliers in the service chain to improve service to external customers
- maintain relationships between internal or external suppliers and customers to reinforce how all roles in the service chain contribute to service
- identify where power and authority exist within the service chain
- negotiate with internal customers, and internal or external suppliers, to agree service procedures that contribute to customer service
- develop working relationships with internal customers or suppliers using service level agreements (SLAs)
- work with colleagues to maintain awareness of the need for team collaboration within the service chain
- agree with service partners how your work will be prioritised if there is a conflict of interest between the demands of internal and external customers
- follow the legal, organisational, codes of practice and policies relevant to your role and the activities being carried out
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- the teams, colleagues and external service partners that are involved in supplying your end user customers
- how service partnerships contribute to your customer service role
- the principles and practices of delivering customer service to internal and external customers
- the responsibilities and rights that can be built into an internal customer and supplier relationship
- the advantages and disadvantages of describing a relationship in a service chain as a supplier and customer relationship or a service partnership
- how to establish your priorities when internal customer demands conflict with external customer demands
- how to maintain team identity whilst working collaboratively with other teams to deliver customer service
- how to negotiate successfully with internal customers and external service partners
- the formal and informal structures of your organisation and how they can influence relationships
- the methods used to build and maintain relationships with service partners and how to differ your approach to meet different communication styles
- how to use the available sources of information about external service partners and social media to develop positive working relationships
- the legal, organisational, codes of practice and policies relevant to your role and the activities being carried out