Customer Care Handbook
Welcome to the Customer Care handbook.
It contains:
Our customer care values and examples of how they apply in
our day to day work environment.
Hints and tips to help you deliver good customer service.
Guidelines which include:
o effective use of the telephone
o working on a reception desk
o the use of plain English
o replying to a letter of complaint
o use of e-mail
The University/Student Partnership Statement.
The Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy.
Customer care case studies.
Good customer care is about:
Meeting our customer’s needs.
Knowing how to deal effectively with our customers in all
circumstances.
Building good working relationships with our colleagues.
Managing communication, expectation and perception.
Securing a competitive edge in recruitment and retention.
Who are our customers?
External customers - students, parents, funders, public
agencies, business partners, etc.
Internal customers - our colleagues.
We don't all deal directly with external customers but those
who do cannot provide a good service unless they are well
supported by the rest of us.
Section 1 : Customer Care Values
The University sees customer care as a key element in
improving recruitment and retention. These customer care
values describe how we should relate to our customers.
They help to shape both our own, and our customers’
perceptions of what the University is and does. We use them
as a guide in setting standards and in evaluating whether we
are delivering good customer care. Basing our standards on
shared values we will care for our customers similarly across
the University.
Our Customer Care Values:
• We deal with enquiries and requests promptly, efficiently
and courteously.
• We help you if we can, or put you in touch with the right
person if we can’t.
• We publish clear and helpful information about the services
that we offer.
• We respond to problems and complaints quickly and
courteously.
• We publish service standards for each area of our activity.
• We provide a safe and secure environment.
• We regularly seek and act upon feedback from our
customers.
• We take ownership of all we say and do in the University’s
name.
In addition to these customer care values the Partnership
Statement and the Equal Opportunities Policy should be
consulted when setting standards (See Appendices A and B).
page 1
Let’s look at some examples of how the values have been
put into practice around the University.
We deal with enquiries and requests
promptly, efficiently and courteously.
The Library has introduced an interactive chat line to help
deal with enquiries promptly, efficiently and courteously.
Between 11:00 and 15:00, weekdays during term time,
students and staff can use the chat line to ask the librarians
questions. The librarians expect to reply to an enquiry very
quickly, in fact in less than 2 minutes. However, if the enquiry
is complex the reply may be an acknowledgement. This
gives the librarian chance to collect the information
requested before replying. When the chat line is closed
enquiries can be e-mailed and they guarantee a reply in less
than 2 days. And, although it’s aimed at students and staff
here, if they get an external enquiry they will help if possible.
The summer break is a difficult time to answer complex
queries, as many members of staff are either away on holiday
or preparing for the new intake of student’s. An academic
member of staff in Music and Humanities received a query,
via e-mail, from a colleague in Thailand during this period in
2003. A first year music student at the University of
Chulalongkorn was interested in studying in the UK but was
unsure as to whether he was sufficiently qualified to be
offered a place. Our member of staff clarified the situation
with the Admissions Department and confirmed that the
student should be eligible to apply for a place through
UCAS. In addition to confirming the student’s eligibility he
also included in his reply:
• details of additional evidence the student would have to
supply (recordings of performances or compositions,
references etc).
• the name of the member of staff in the International Office
they would need to contact and her contact details.
• and an offer of further help if required.
His colleague in Thailand confirmed within a day that he had
written to the International Office and would be speaking to
the student and his parents a few days later. This query
arrived and was dealt with in just 7 working days.
In Education and Professional Development students
often ask one member of our academic staff for references
for teacher training. He tries to get them done and sent off,
or posted on the website which has an online reference
facility, within a maximum of one week. He keeps electronic
copies of the references in case the same students want
repeat references in the future.
We help you if we can, or put you in touch
with the right person if we can't.
It’s important that we don’t tell people that we can’t help
them. However we do need to know when we can help and
when we need to pass it over to someone else to deal with.
A young student came to the School Office and asked to
speak to the Assistant School Administrator. She was
obviously very distressed and explained that she didn’t have
sufficient money to manage on and may have to suspend
her studies. This wasn’t an area that the School Office could
help her with so they put her in touch with the correct
person in the Student Finance Office. With help from them
she was able to set a manageable budget and continue to
study.
In Education and Professional Development the School
Office receives a large number of phone calls asking for
information about the PGCE from prospective students. One
of the questions often asked is whether or not the first
degree a student has is suitable for the PGCE. Sometimes
the School Office can answer this but often it needs to be
passed to the admissions tutor.
A support pack is being developed by Student Services to
assist personal tutors refer students, with non-academic
problems, to the people who are best able to help them.
We publish clear and helpful information
about the services that we offer.
Examples of clear and helpful information include:
Art & Design send an induction pack to students prior to
their arrival. It is light hearted, easy to read and contains all
the information the students need for their first week at
University.
Student Services have a compact guide, a more detailed
guide and a web based guide to the services they deliver.
The Student Finance Office has leaflets that cover financial
help available to students, local bursaries and a guide to the
services offered by the Office. Information on student
financial support and the services offered by the SFO can
also be found on their web site.
The Applied Sciences Resource Centre display posters
showing their opening times.
The University Research Committee issues two booklets
containing information and guidance for research students
and their supervisors.
page 2
We respond to problems and complaints
quickly and courteously.
Whilst some of our problems and complaints will come from
external customers there will also be issues raised by our
colleagues that will need to be dealt with quickly and
courteously.
A student at one of the PCET Consortium’s partner colleges
contacted the BA Pathway Leader to say that she couldn’t
access the information she required on the Blackboard
Virtual Learning Environment. He passed this to a colleague
to rectify and the situation was resolved and the student
notified within 2 days.
Painters had splashed paint on the photographs belonging
to a member of staff. They hadn’t let the staff member know
that they would be painting the evening before so she
hadn’t removed them. When she found them she
complained to Estates and Facilities and someone went to
see her the same day. As a result they told her they will pay
for new photographs to replace those that have been
damaged.
A member of the academic staff in Music and Humanities
holds two ‘surgeries’ a week to meet with students on a sign-
up basis to discuss academic and personal problems. But in
the event of an emergency or a pressing problem he is
happy to meet with students at very short notice without
the necessity for them to sign up.
We publish service standards for each area
of our activity.
Standards are one way we have of measuring our
performance on customer care. If we publish clear standards
which we follow we can use them to measure how well we
are performing. What we have to remember when setting
them is that we have to make them specific, measurable,
achievable, realistic and timely (SMART).
Support staff in Art & Design are setting standards for
communication.
The Applied Sciences Resource Centre have set standards
for access and opening hours, for printing and photocopying
and on how to deal with staff and student requests for
information and assistance.
Some examples of standards set include:
• In the University Regulations for Awards, it states that
each approved programme of study should be governed by
written statements, available to students, setting out as a
minimum:
1. the title of the programme of study, if any, and the
award(s) to which it leads;
2. the planned duration and mode of study of the
programme;
3. the aims and learning outcomes of the programme;
4. the curriculum and structure of the programme;
5. regulations on the admission, progression and assessment
of students.
The Applied Sciences Resource Centre standards state that
articles will be catalogued, bar coded and into the system
ready for students to use within 48hours of receiving them.
The Financial Services Secretarial Team standards state
that they will collect the post from the Post Room between
9.00 – 10.00 am.
page 3
We provide a safe and secure environment.
Examples include:
Escorting staff:
There are a number of areas in the University, principally the
Library but also other Schools and Departments where staff
work until the evening time. These staff members
predominantly start work later than usual and have to leave
their vehicles in outlying car parks. Their journeys to retrieve
their vehicles particularly during the autumn and winter
evenings have been identified as traumatic particularly for
some female staff members. After a liaison had been forged
between the relevant Schools etc and Campus Support
Supervisors a scheme has been devised where groups of
staff are escorted to their vehicles.
CCTV and lone working:
Out of hours working is largely controlled by University
Health and Safety regulations and it has been recognised
that the University has a duty of care, particularly relevant
where students are working in sparsely populated areas. Out
of hours lone working by students is not generally allowed
but there are occasions when this is necessary to carry out
certain tasks. On each occasion where a request is received, a
risk assessment is undertaken, usually by Health and Safety
staff. Each assessment is unique and judged on its own
merits. Students may only work outside normal core
working hours of 0730 to 2130 where the area is guarded by
the campus access control system and monitored by CCTV.
This essentially prevents unauthorised access and allows
security staff to monitor and be aware of any untoward
incidents within those areas. At the present time there are
three such 24/7 areas on campus with one other due to
come on line by the summer of 2004
We regularly seek and act upon feedback
from our customers.
We can never have enough feedback. It’s our way of finding
out how we are measuring up to what our customers expect
of us. We can use the feedback we gather to help us decide
what we’re going to deliver and how to improve what we
already deliver. Types of feedback we already seek include:
• Module and course feedback to see if the quality of our
teaching has met the needs of our students
• Comment cards spread throughout the Library to help to
improve the services they already deliver
• Staff and student surveys covering a wide range of issues.
We take ownership of all we say and do in
the University's name.
Taking ownership of all we do and say is a difficult value to
demonstrate. It's easier to tell you what you shouldn't do
rather than what you should. What we do know is that:
• An unhappy customer rarely, if ever, sees bad service as
something that is the result of just one member of staff
failing to deliver. They blame 'the University'.
• How we look, act and talk projects an image that our
customers use to form an opinion of the organisation we
work for.
• We want students to come to us because they have heard
good things about us. What we don't want is to lose
students because we have given them a poor impression of
our organisation and us.
page 4
SECTION 2: Hints and Tips Try not to inflame the situation
Some words and phrases actually inflame a situation rather
Always give a positive first response than diffuse it. How many times have you told someone to
‘calm down’ only to find them reacting badly to the
In response to requests and questions always give a positive comment?
first response.
Some phrases/words to avoid
If your answer is ‘yes’ then it’s easy to give a positive first • You must be mistaken
response: • I can’t help you or I don’t know
• Yes, I can do that • Calm down or don’t shout
• No problem • That’s never happened before

If you’re not sure or your answer is a maybe, then try: Watch your body language and tone of voice. If you show
• Let’s see how I can help you boredom, talk to your associates when dealing with a
• I can look into that for you customer or adopt a patronising tone of voice, then there is
the chance that this will also inflame the situation.
If your answer is ‘no’ then try:
• What I can do is………
Make realistic promises
Always try to help Give your customer a realistic expectation of what you can
deliver.
Don’t ‘dead-end’ a customer by saying -
• I can’t do anything Allow yourself slippage time when telling them how long it
• Not my problem will take to get back to them.
• He/she isn’t here
Think how impressed they’ll be when you exceed
Give solutions, options, or alternatives, always telling your expectations
customers what is possible, not what you can’t do.

Don’t tell yourself that it’s not your problem and there’s
nothing you can do about it.
Don’t say ‘It was them/him/her’.
Look at what needs to be done to correct the problem.
And if it isn’t within your job scope to deal with this problem,
then make sure that it is passed to the person who is able to
deal with it. And then feedback to the customer that this is
what you’ve done.
Remember to follow up
If you have to break a promise to a customer, then feedback
to the customer the reason; be up front and open about why
you’ve failed to deliver.
Do what you've agreed to do, by the time you’ve said and
you’re guaranteed a happy customer.
Having completed the task, check with your customer that
they're happy. Give them a call, send them an e-mail, etc.
Give them the opportunity to feedback.

And if you can’t meet an agreed deadline let them know and
give them the reason why. Agree a new deadline.

Keep your customer up to date as to what is happening and

why.

Remember, feedback is a two way process.

page 5
Actively seek feedback
Actively seek feedback on how we are performing.
Make it easy for our customers to express an opinion.
Don’t presume that if we have no complaints that we're
doing it right.
If we don’t give our customers a chance to complain, they
may walk away without giving us the chance to put things
right. If that happens we won’t know there’s a problem.
And remember feedback isn’t always negative – it’s not only
our way of finding out we're doing it wrong, but also our way
of finding out we are doing it right.
Dealing with complaints
If you are dealing with people who are upset, angry or have a
complaint try this way of handling the situation:.
• “I’m glad that you have brought this to our notice”
• “I’m sure that we can sort it out.”
• And I’m sorry that you have a problem.”
Notice: we haven’t said that we have done anything wrong;
we are acknowledging that the person we are dealing with
feels that they have a problem. If after investigation we find
we’ve made a mistake, we can take responsibility for the
mistake and apologise
Dealing with difficult customers
If you’re dealing with a difficult customer and are in danger
of losing your temper or patience, ask for time-out or involve
another member of staff in the situation.
Always ask for help if you are unsure what the answer is or
what to do in a situation. Don’t make it worse by guessing or
giving incorrect information.And if you’re having a bad day
and finding it difficult to cope, don’t put a brave face on it, let
your colleagues know. They can help.
Dealing with students
Students are not always right
Good customer care is not about saying yes all of the time or
about giving good grades. When dealing with our students
it is about giving them professional advice, even if it may not
be what they want to hear. It is about dealing with them
efficiently, about treating them with respect and about
delivering what we’ve promised.
Make sure you know where or who to refer them to if they
have a problem which you can’t deal with.
Remember that some of our students work during the day
and study part time in the evening so be available at times
convenient to them.
Be available to them when you say you are going to be
available or at least let them know if you aren’t going to be
there.
The cost of getting it wrong
Every student who ‘drops out’ means a loss of income to the
University.
In the academic year 2003-04, this was between £2,937 and
£5,874 per undergraduate student (depending on subject
studied) per year of their course
The cost of getting it wrong doesn’t just apply to getting it
wrong with students. If poor service damages our
relationship with other staff and departments, we run the
risk of:
• trained but unhappy staff leaving – leading to increased
costs in staff recruitment and training
• the time it takes to complete a job increasing as good will
reduces
page 6
You are a key person
All of us have a part to play in providing good customer
service. It’s a team effort and every one’s contribution
counts. Remember, any one of us might be the only contact
a customer has with the University and they will judge the
whole organisation on that one person’s performance.
"XVXN THOUGH MY TYPXWRITXR IS AN OLD MODXL IT
WORKS VXRY WXLL XCXPT FOR ONX KXY. YOU WOULD
THINK THAT WITH ALL THX OTHXR KXYS FUNCTIONING
PROPXRLY, ONX KXY NOT WORKING WOULD HARDLY BX
NOTICXD, BUT JUST ONX KXY OUT OF WHACK SXXMS TO
RUIN THX WHOLX XFFORT."
"YOU MAY SAY TO YOURSXLF – “WXLL, I’M ONLY ONX
PXRSON, NO ONX WILL NOTICX IF I DON’T DO MY BXST.”
BUT IT DOXS MAKX A DIFFXRXNCX BXCAUSX TO BX
XFFXCTIVX, AN ORGANISATION NXXDS ACTIVX
PARTICIPATION BY XVXRYONX TO THX BXST OF HIS OR HXR
ABILITY.
SO THE NXT TIMX YOU THINK YOU ARX NOT IMPORTANT
RXMXMBXR MY OLD TYPXWRITXR – YOU ARX A KXY
PXRSON."
(Source Unknown)
Section 3: Guidelines
Using the Telephone
Answering Calls
Answer the telephone clearly by giving at least two of the
following when you pick up: a greeting, your service, your
section or your name.
Calls should always be answered in a welcoming and friendly
manner. Be polite and efficient at all times. Never show
impatience or boredom.
Inform the switchboard supervisor if you intend to take
extended leave. They can arrange that callers are put
through to the person dealing with your calls in your
absence.
If you are away from your desk for long periods, either divert
your calls to a colleague or make use of the voicemail facility.
If you receive a ‘wrong number call’, make every effort to
transfer the caller to the department or person they want.
Make sure that you tell them the extension you’re
transferring them to.
Never leave the ‘handset’ off the hook to avoid taking calls.
This results in callers receiving the unobtainable tone.
Making calls
Prepare what you want to say in advance of the call.
List all the questions you want to ask.
Introduce yourself to the person or company you are calling
and state the purpose of the call.
Always recap on what has been decided before you ring off.
Close the call in a courteous manner, i.e. by thanking the
person for their time and saying goodbye.
page 7
Using Voicemail How to reply to a complaint letter
Always respond to voicemail messages promptly. Keep it short and to the point.

Create your own personal greeting and get into the habit of
updating it regularly. If you’re going to be away for a while,
include your return date in the greeting.
If you offer an alternative number, make sure that the person
on that extension is going to be available and that they are
able to deal with any queries.
Do not use the voice mail facility to avoid answering calls.
Your customers would rather speak to you than an
answering machine.
Working on Reception
Make eye contact with the customer and smile.
If you're busy and you have to keep them waiting
acknowledge their presence, let them know that you are
aware that they are waiting.
Greet them - Good morning or hello.
Find out the customer's name and use it.
Introduce yourself or at least be identifiable - wear a name
badge or have a name plate on your desk.
Don’t send out a standard letter; make sure it is relevant to
the complaint.
Don’t use jargon; keep it clear, concise and logical.
Write as you talk.
Use short sentences of 15 – 20 words.
Try to only have one main point per sentence.
Use I, we, you
• don’t say ‘It will be sent by us’
• do say ‘We will send it’
Use ‘Glad, Sure, Sorry’ (See ‘Dealing with Complaints’ in the
hints and tips section)
If you can’t resolve the problem quickly then send a holding
or acknowledgement letter. Make sure it:
• refers to the complaint
• lets the customer know that you are taking it seriously and
that you are looking into it.
• lets them know that there is a solution to the problem.

Listen carefully. Make notes if needed.

Watch your body language - it needs to reflect the smile.

Know what services, resources and other staff are available

to help you.

If there are two of you on the reception desk don't talk to

each other while dealing with a customer.

If you can't provide what is asked for, offer the customer an

alternative
Concentrate on your customer.

page 8
Using e-mail Using Plain English
Check your e-mail regularly. Try to:
• use ‘active’ verbs (instead of passive);
Assume that the privacy of e-mail messages is about the • use a good average sentence length (about 15 to 20
same as that of a postcard. words);
• use everyday words;
Limit the use and size of attachments. • give information in a logical order;
• use lists and bullet points;
If you’re going to be away from the office for more than a • think of your audience;
day set your Out of Office flag. If you’re going to be away for • and be personal and polite.
a longer period arrange for someone else to deal with your
e-mails. Try not to:
• print in block capitals;
An unsolicited e-mail, with an attachment, may contain a • underline text;
virus. If in doubt, delete it or contact the sender for • use obliques (/);
information before opening. • use abbreviations;
• use Latin;
Express yourself carefully. Try to avoid using all capital letters • use jargon;
as it may look as if you are shouting. It’s easy to convey the • or be vague
wrong impression.
Be careful with grammar, punctuation and spelling.
Try not to carry out confidential or sensitive tasks via e-mail.
For emphasis use lower-case bold instead of block
Don’t air controversial or inaccurate views via e-mail. capitals.

Avoid poor grammar and spelling.

Keep your e-mails brief and to the point.

Never send e-mails in someone else’s name.

Never send frivolous, abusive, racist or sexist messages; they

are offensive and may break the laws relating to defamation,
copyright, obscenity, fraudulent misrepresentation, freedom
of information, and wrongful discrimination.

Minimise e-mails to large numbers of recipients. Ideally a

distribution list should have no more than 50 members.

Remember - the University can investigate the inappropriate

use of e-mails under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers
Act 2000

page 9
Section 5: Appendices
APPENDIX A - Partnership Statement
This statement sets out the University’s commitments to its students and its expectations from you in return.
We aim to provide you with full, accurate and timely
information on our courses, facilities and services, and our
policies, regulations and procedures in areas such as equal
opportunities and diversity, assessment and examination
arrangements, complaints, health and safety, and the
standard of behaviour we expect from you.
We will:
• help you to gather sufficient information to select your
course.
• reply to all queries patiently, politely and efficiently.
• operate a fair and timely selection procedure for all
applicants.
• send you clear and unambiguous letters setting out the
conditions for admission.
We will:
• invite you, if you have a disability, to visit us to discuss any
special facilities that you may need
• try to provide an effective and flexible learning experience
for all our students
• deliver courses that are well designed, relevant and quality-
assured
• provide appropriate course materials and learning
resources
• carry out fair assessment that is quality-assured
• provide timely feedback on all coursework and inform you
of your progress towards your award
• use external examiners to satisfy ourselves of the quality of
our awards and the fairness and rigour of our assessment
We will:
• offer you information on the range of student services
intended to support your learning experience, such as
welfare, counselling, financial advice, careers advice,
recreational facilities, health care, and spiritual and pastoral
support services
• seek and listen to your comments to improve the courses
we deliver
• deal with complaints and appeals against results fairly and
efficiently, in confidence and without bias
• provide opportunities for you to participate or be
represented in our decision-making processes.
We ask you to make yourself aware of relevant details of our
courses, facilities and services, and observe our policies,
regulations and procedures in areas such as equal
opportunities and diversity, assessment and examination
arrangements, complaints, health and safety, and the
standard of behaviour we expect from you.
We ask you to:
• satisfy yourself that your selected programme meets your
needs and aspirations.
• provide us with accurate information about yourself and, if
you have a disability, any special facilities you need to
support your studies.
• keep appointments for interviews and reply to letters
promptly.
We ask you to:
Make the most of the learning opportunities offered to you
by:
• studying diligently and organising yourself effectively
• always producing your best work
• attending classes punctually and regularly
• taking part in additional activities as required
• meeting commitments and deadlines
• contributing actively to tutorials, seminars, practicals and
fieldwork
• submitting assignments (which must be your own work) on
time
• entering for and attending the relevant examinations
• informing tutors immediately if you are experiencing
difficulties
• acting on feedback given by tutors
We ask you to:
Make the most of the opportunities that exist for you:
• to become involved in the University decision-making
processes
• to take an interest in the affairs of the Students’ Union
• to offer feedback on your learning experience
• to make use of the range of support services and staff
available to you, should you encounter problems or
difficulties
• treat all your fellow students and members of staff with
mutual respect
• be an ambassador for the University.
page 10
APPENDIX B - Equal Opportunities and
Diversity Policy
Our overall goal is to create a fair and inclusive environment
in the University.
Vice-Chancellor's Introduction
An Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy is not only
about ensuring that we meet our legal obligations but also
about making clear our commitment to equality of
opportunity and diversity and about reinforcing our ethos in
respect of encouraging fairness and equality of treatment for
all. A University should be a place where students and staff
hold common values about respect for others and about
respecting the differences between people. These common
values underpin and inform our Policy. The University is
committed to fairness in its practices and in meeting the
needs of our diverse student and staff bodies. Where
appropriate and within our means, the University will take
positive action to meet these commitments.
Preamble
This Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy was drawn up
by the University Equal Opportunities Committee and
approved by Senate and University Council, after
consultation with representatives of students, staff and
management. This policy applies to all students and staff of
the University and to all activities associated with the
University, whether or not on University property.
Discrimination can be unlawful and may render both the
discriminator and the University liable in law for any
unlawful actions. There are several elements in the
promotion of equality and diversity; sometimes these may
be in conflict; the aim of the Equal Opportunities and
Diversity Committee will be to achieve a balanced approach
to the competing claims.
Policy
We want to make the University one in which people are
given the best
possible opportunities to make a success of their lives,
whatever their background. Everybody has a valuable
contribution to make; our challenge is to unlock the talents
and potential of all our staff and students. We celebrate
diversity and tolerance so that different cultures can thrive,
adding to the richness and experience of our community.
This implies that:
1. The University will seek to create an open, trusting
environment, in which there is an absence of prejudice,
discrimination and harassment.
2. The University will promote a positive climate of respect
and co-operation, with open and tolerant discussion of
important issues, expecting its members to respect one
another as fellow human beings and treat one another with
dignity; prejudice will be challenged where it becomes
apparent in behaviour.
3. The University deplores all forms of unlawful or unfair
discrimination and seeks to provide an environment free
from discrimination against students, staff and others on the
grounds of gender, race, sexual orientation, religion/belief or
disability.
4. The University will treat harassment as a form of
discrimination and will seek to eliminate it.
5. The University will promote cross-cultural contact
between different communities at all levels, foster
understanding and respect, and seek to break down barriers.
6. The University will seek diversity of knowledge,
background and experience in recruiting staff and students,
and will value flexibility in working patterns.
7. The University will encourage initiative, creativity and
innovation, helping staff and students to be open to new
ideas, to learn, to share good practice, and to succeed.
8. The Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy will be drawn
to the attention of staff and students regularly, and everyone
will be helped to understand, through induction, training
and development, what it means to celebrate diversity and
will be held accountable for adherence to its values.
9. Relevant policies and procedures will be reviewed
regularly to ensure that they are objective and fair, and all
buildings and facilities will be inspected regularly to ensure
that they are supportive of students and staff with
disabilities.
10. All staff and students have personal responsibility for the
practical application of this Equal Opportunities and
Diversity Policy. The University requires all students and
staff to ensure that their conduct conforms with this policy
(and with any practice or procedure developed to
implement this policy) whilst on University premises or
undertaking University business. This policy applies to all
functions associated with recruitment and admission of
students, teaching and learning, assessment, research, course
development, pastoral care, reach-out, employment,
provision of facilities/ services, procurement, funding,
provision of advice and working in partnership.
page 11
APPENDIX C - Case Studies We help you if we can or put you in touch
with the right person if we can't.
The following examples of poor customer care, described in
‘I’m a mature student, I’m only studying part-time, and I rang
the words of the participants, have been included for you to
the departmental office to ask them if they knew when my
read. They are followed by some questions for you to think
assignment hand-in date was. I don’t know who answered
about in relation to the customer care values the University
the phone but when I asked my question she just retorted
has adopted.
that she had no idea when it was due in. She then said that
it’s nothing to do with this office and hung up.’
We deal with enquiries and requests
promptly, efficiently and courteously. 1. Were the customer care values applied in this situation?
‘We are two overseas students who needed to see our
personal tutor. I know we had been into the office a couple 2. Even if the member of staff couldn’t help the student
of times to ask if he was around but we didn’t understand herself what should she have done?
what we were told. We went in again, probably for the third
time, and both of the members of staff were busy. One lady
We publish clear and helpful information
was talking to a tutor and the other lady busy on her
computer. We waited about 10 minutes before the lady on about the services that we offer.
the computer finally came to speak to us. She didn’t look
‘I applied for a place on a course and was invited along to an
very happy and her voice was very sharp when she spoke to
open day. I received a letter which said that I needed to be in
us. We explained what we wanted and she just looked at us
reception by 11:30 if I wanted to tour the accommodation
and said, quite nastily, that she’d told us last week that he
blocks. It also said that the afternoon session was due to
wasn’t available and that he wouldn’t be until next week.
start at 14:00 and that lunch for me and my parents would
She then went and sat back down and just left us stood
be provided before this. I arrived with my parents at about
there.’
11:20 to find that the tour of the accommodation had
already taken place. Apparently the time had been changed
and we’d been given the old time in our letter. The reception
1. Were these students dealt with in a prompt, efficient and
staff were great and managed to arrange another tour for us
courteous manner?
later in the afternoon. While I was in reception I asked them
where we had to go to get lunch, the letter didn’t say, and
2. Should these students have waited as long as they did?
the reception staff didn’t know. They tried to contact
someone in the department we were visiting but the person
3. What could the member of staff have done to make sure
they needed wasn’t in their office. In the end we decided to
that the students had understood what she was saying?
go into town and have lunch there instead and at least when
we came back the afternoon session started on time.’
4. What effect do you think that the staff member’s tone of
voice and body language would have had on these
students?
1. Who were the recipients of poor customer service in this
example?

2. What sort of impression of a university would you have

formed if you had received the incorrect and incomplete
information that this student received?

page 12
We respond to problems and complaints
quickly and courteously
‘I started out doing a course spread across two schools,
which I knew wasn’t going to be easy but when I found
myself unable to cope with the demands of the course I
didn’t know who to turn to. I thought that I would start by
speaking to the academic staff in the school where I was
having the most problems coping. The trouble is that I
couldn’t find anyone to talk to. I tried calling at their offices,
they weren’t there; I asked the Admin staff how I could get to
speak to them and they didn’t know; I rang their office
numbers, there wasn’t an answer; and I e-mailed them and
still received no response. In the end, I failed the exams and
needed to re-sit them if I wanted to continue on this course.
To be quite honest I couldn’t be bothered and as a mate of
mine was doing an interesting course in another school I
decided to start again. I have to say that it’s much better
where I am now than where I was before, at least the staff are
there when I need them”
1. How could it have been made easier for her to contact the
staff via
a. the telephone
b. e-mail
c. personal visit
2. If you’d been this student would you have stayed or would
you have walked away?
We publish service standards for each area
of our activity.
‘I’m a member of the admin staff and I work in an office with
a couple of other people. We were really busy one day last
week, Lizzy was on holiday and it just left the two of us to
man the office. I was trying to sort out a problem for one of
the lecturers and Mary was talking to one of the technicians
about a problem with her computer. Within a few seconds
both of our phones started to ring. Now I can’t bear to let a
phone ring, it seems really rude, so I just asked the lecturer to
excuse me while I answered the call. It was just a quick
query so I dealt with it and then finished the call. In the
meantime Mary left her call to be picked up by the answer-
phone. When I asked her why, it turns out she feels it’s really
rude to answer the phone when she is dealing with a
customer. What we really need is some sort of guidelines to
tell us what we are supposed to do in situations like this.’
1. Does your department set, publish and measure standards
for your job?
2. How would clear guidelines/standards have helped in a
situation like this?
We take ownership of all we say and do
‘You know I got quite a shock the other day when I
overheard a couple of other members of staff describing this
place as the “luniversity”, criticising colleagues and wishing
they had other jobs. On it’s own it’s pretty bad but when you
add the fact that they had their office door wide open and
there were potential students and their parents in the
corridor its not good for our image.’
1. What type of image do you think that these comments
project?
2. Are they really what we want potential students and their
parents to hear?
page 13