Customer Service NVQs/Apprenticeships are designed for people who are in job roles where they deliver service to customers. These qualifications will help employers and employees achieve and demonstrate total quality as part of a continuous customer-service improvement programme.

NVQ Level 2

Suitable for those that can work with others to solve problems and support customer service improvements. A candidate must complete seven units in total.

Mandatory units:

• Prepare yourself to deliver good customer service
• Provide customer service within the rules

Optional units (choose one unit from each theme):

Theme: Impression and image

• Give customers a positive impression of yourself and your organisation
• Promote additional products and services to customers
• Process customers service information
• Live up to the customer service promise
• Make customer service personal
• Go the extra mile in customer service
• Deal with customers in writing or using ICT
• Deal with customers face to face
• Deal with customers by telephone

Theme: Delivery

• Deliver reliable customer service
• Deliver customer service on your customer’s premises
• Recognised diversity when delivering customer service

Theme: Handling problems

• Recognise an deal with customer queries, requests and problems
• Resolve customer service problems

Theme: Development and improvement

• Develop customer relationships
• Support customer service improvements
• Develop personal performance through delivering customer service

In order to achieve an Apprenticeship, Key Skills (Communication Level 1 and Application of Level 1) and a Technical Certificate (Certificate in Customer Service Level 2) are required to be added to this NVQ.

NVQ Level 3

Suitable for those who work in a designated customer service department and/or have a particular customer service job title (such as customer service advisors). A candidate must complete eight units in total.

• Understand customer service to improve service delivery
• Know the rules to follow when developing customer service

Optional units (choose one unit from each theme):

Theme: Impression and image

• Make customer service personal
• Go the extra mile in customer service
• Deal with customer using ICT
• Use customer service as a competitive tool
• Organise the promotion of services or products to customers

Theme: Delivery

• Deliver customer service on your customer’s premises
• Recognise diversity when delivering customer service
• Delivery customer service using service partnerships
• Organise the delivery of reliable customer service
• Improve the customer relationship

Theme: Handling problems

• Monitor and solve customer service problems
• Apply risk assessment to customer service
• Process customer service relationship

Theme: Development and improvement

• Work with others to improve customer service
• Promote continuous improvement in customer service
• Develop your own and other’s customer service skills
• Lead a team to improve customer service
• Gather, analyse and interpret customer feedback

In order to achieve an Advanced Apprenticeship, Key Skills (Communication Level 2 and Application of Level 2) and a Technical Certificate (Certificate in Customer Service Level 3) are required to be added to this NVQ.

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Retail NVQs/Apprenticeships focus on the skills you need your employees to have – customer service, problem-solving, teamwork, communication and retail law. They are designed for people who are in job roles where they deliver service to customers. 

These qualifications will help employers and employees achieve and demonstrate total quality as part of a continuous customer service improvement programme.

NVQ Level 2

This NVQ is suitable for someone working at Sales Assistant level within any kind of retail store. It can be tailored to the job role of the individual learner within food retail, clothing, beauty, merchandising and sales etc.

The Retail Level 2 qualification is achieved by assessing the knowledge and skills of the candidate within their working environment. NVQ is a work-oriented qualification which can be achieved by candidates of any age. The candidate must demonstrate that they have the retail skills such as: processing payments, merchandising and creating a positive impression of themselves and their organisation.

NVQ Level 3

Retail Level 3 qualification is achieved by assessing the candidate in the workplace and covers the retail sector in more depth. Retail Level 3 has three main routes and one of the following must be chosen for the candidate to follow:

1. Sales Professional
2. Visual Merchandising
3. Management

Ideally the candidate should be an experienced member of staff within an organisation and be able to organise their colleagues to achieve tasks and evaluate their progress as well as providing training and development and looking at their own learning needs.

For the Management route the candidate ideally needs to be in a management position and thereofore able to complete tasks such as: allocate and check work, organise staff to deal with deliveries and deal with customer complaints to ensure the smooth running of the organisation.

Visual Merchandising is the route base for candidates who solely deal with the visual merchandising of the organisation and complete tasks such as: ordering the visual merchandising equipment, setting up displays and evaluating them.

The Sales Professional route is for an experienced team member who carries out day to day tasks within the organisation and helps the manager with the running of the store by organising staff to deal with displays, helping customers to choose products and providing information and advice to customers.

Each is designed with department, section and team leaders, as well as specialist sales advisors, in mind.  A candidate must complete six units in total.

Sales Professional Pathway

To achieve a full certificate in Retail at Level 3, you are required to complete a total of six units as outlined below:

Mandatory unit (learners must complete Unit 1):

Unit 1 Work effectively in your retail organisation

Optional units:

Learners must achieve a further five units and at least four of these must be chosen from the following units at Level 3

Sales

Unit 2 Process part exchange sales transactions in a retail environment
Unit 3 Provide specialist support in helping customers to make purchases in a retail environment
Unit 4 Develop Individual retail service opportunities
Unit 5 Provide a personalised sales and after-sales service to retail clients

Stock management

Unit 6 Organise the receipt and storage of goods in a retail environment
Unit 7 Audit stock levels and stock inventories in a retail environment

Product expertise

Unit 8 Monitor and help improve food safety in a retail environment
Unit 9 Assist customers to obtain appropriate insurance

Sourcing

Unit 10 Source required goods and services in a retail environment

Merchandising

Unit 11 Maintain the availability of goods for sale to customers in a retail environment

Management and leadership

Unit 12 Help to manage a retail team
Unit 13 Plan, monitor and adjust staffing levels
Finance and administration
Unit 14 Enable customers to apply for credit and hire purchase facilities

Customer service

Unit 15 Monitor and evaluate the quality of service provided by external suppliers to your customers

Only one unit can count towards the qualification when chosen from units 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.

Unit 16 Organise the delivery of reliable customer service
Unit 17 Improve customer relationships
Unit 18 Work with others to improve customer service
Unit 19 Monitor and solve customer service problems
Unit 20 Promote continuous improvement in customer service

Organisational effectiveness

Unit 21 Help to monitor and maintain the security of the retail unit

A maximum of one unit can be chosen from the following units at Level 2 (provided on CD)

Unit 11 Process bake-off products for sale in a retail environment
Unit 12 Process fish and shellfish for sale in a retail environment
Unit 13 Process greengrocery products for sale in a retail environment
Unit 14 Finish meat products by hand in a retail environment
Unit 15 Contribute to dough production control and efficiency
Unit 16 Select weigh and measure dough ingredients
Unit 17 Hand divide, mould and shape fermented doughs
Unit 20 Provide the lingerie fitting service in a retail environment
Unit 21 Promote beauty products to retail customers

Visual Merchandising Pathway

To achieve a full certificate in Retail at Level 3 you are required to complete a total of six units as outlined below:

Mandatory unit (learners must complete Unit 1):

Unit 1 Work effectively in your retail organisation

Optional units:

Learners must achieve a further five units and at least four of these must be chosen from the following units at Level 3:

Stock Management

Unit 6 Organise the receipt and storage of goods in a retail environment

Visual Merchandising

Unit 22 choose merchandise to feature in visual merchandising displays
Unit 23 Plan, monitor and control how graphics are used in visual merchandising displays
Monitor the effect of visual merchandising displays and layouts
Allocate, monitor and control visual merchandising project resources against budgets
Contribute to developing and putting into practice the company’s visual merchandising policy
Create plans, elevations and drawings to realise visual merchandising ideas

Management and Leadership

Unit 12 Help to manage a retail team
Unit 28 Contribute to the continuous improvement of retail operation

A maximum of one unit can be chosen from the following units at Level 2 (provided on CD)

Visual Merchandising

Unit 25 Follow guidelines for planning and preparing visual merchandising displays
Unit 26 Follow guidelines for dressing visual merchandising displays
Unit 27 Order graphic materials for visual merchandising displays
Unit 28 Dismantle and store visual merchandising displays
Unit 29 Make props for visual merchandising displays
Unit 30 Put visual merchandising displays together

Management Pathway

To achieve a full certificate in Retail at Level 3, you are required to complete a total of six units as outlined below:

Mandatory unit (learners must complete Unit 1):

Unit 1 Work effectively in your retail organisation

Optional units:

Learners must achieve a further five units and at least four of these must be chosen from:

Unit 29 Recruit, select and keep colleagues
Unit 30 Provide learning opportunities for colleagues
Unit 31 Develop productive working relationships with colleagues
Unit 32 Allocate and check work in your team
Unit 28 Contribute to the continuous improvement of retail opportunities

The remaining three units must be chosen from the following at Level 3:

Stock Management

Unit 6 Organise the receipt and storage of goods in a retail environment
Unit 7 Audit stock levels and stock inventories in a retail environment

Product expertise

Unit 8 Monitor and help improve food safety in a retail environment

Sourcing

Unit 10 Source required goods and services in a retail environment

Merchandising

Unit 11 Maintain the availability of goods for sale to customers in a retail environment

Management and Leadership

Unit 13 Plan, monitor and adjust staffing levels and schedules in a retail environment
Unit 28 Contribute to the continuous improvement of retail operations
Unit 29 Recruit, select and keep colleagues
Unit 32 Allocate and check work in your team

Developing People

Unit 30 Provide learning opportunities for colleagues
Unit 31 Develop productive working relationships with colleagues

Finance and Administration

Unit 33 Evaluate the receipt of payments from customers

Customer Service

Unit 15 Monitor and evaluate the quality of service provided by external suppliers to your customers

Only one unit can count towards the qualification when chosen from units 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.

Unit 16 Organise the delivery of reliable customer service
Unit 17 Improve the customer relationship
Unit 18: Work with others to improve customer service
Unit 19: Monitor and solve customer service problems
Unit 20: Promote continuous improvement in customer service

Organisational Effectiveness

Unit 21 Help to monitor and maintain the security of the retail unit
Unit 34 Monitor and maintain health and safety in a retail environment 

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