CCP Foundation Level
Communication and Customer Relations flashcards
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What are the 7 Cs of effective communication?
Clarity: easy to understand. Conciseness: says only what is necessary. Correctness: accurate and free of errors. Completeness: all the information the receiver needs. Courtesy: respectful and considerate in tone. Consideration: framed with the receiver's viewpoint in mind. Concreteness: specific and supported by facts rather than vague.
What is the difference between a report and a proposal?
Report: a structured written account of findings on a matter, such as a credit appraisal report. Typical structure: title, terms of reference, findings, conclusions and recommendations. Proposal: written to persuade the reader to accept a course of action or approve a request, setting out the problem, the proposed solution and its justification. A report informs; a proposal persuades toward a specific decision.
How does assertive communication differ from passive and aggressive communication?
Assertive: stating one's views, needs or position clearly and confidently while still respecting the other party. Passive: failing to state one's position. Aggressive: stating it without regard for the other party. In a collection call the assertive officer acknowledges the customer's difficulty, restates what is owed and proposes a specific next step, such as a payment plan with dates.
A customer says 'I can pay next week' while avoiding eye contact, arms crossed, in a hesitant tone. How should a credit officer read this?
Eye contact (avoided), kinesics (a closed, defensive posture) and paralanguage (a hesitant tone) all contradict the words. The non-verbal signal often outweighs the spoken words, so treat the commitment with caution and probe further rather than accepting it at face value.
What do the minutes of a meeting record, and who writes them?
The written record of who attended, what was discussed, what was decided and which actions were assigned to whom. They record decisions and actions rather than every exchange: for each item, what was agreed, who will act and by when. The secretary records them. They are an official record and, for governance meetings, evidence of due process.
What are the stages of group development?
Forming: members get to know each other and the group's purpose. Storming: differences and conflict emerge as roles and views are tested. Norming: the group settles on shared norms, roles and ways of working. Performing: the group works productively toward its goal. Adjourning: the group disbands once its purpose is fulfilled. Storming is a normal stage, not a sign of failure.
What is the difference between a programmed and a non-programmed decision?
Programmed: routine and recurring, made by established rules or procedures, such as approving a loan within standard policy limits. Non-programmed: novel and unstructured, with no set procedure, so judgement is needed, such as an unprecedented customer dispute. The test: does policy already answer the question?
Why should a creditor know the best alternative to a negotiated agreement before negotiating a payment plan?
For a creditor the alternative is usually recovery through collection or legal action, with its cost, delay and uncertainty. A plan that returns more, more quickly and more certainly than that alternative is worth accepting even below the full amount; one that returns less is not. Knowing it prevents both accepting too little and refusing a reasonable offer.
What are the steps in handling a customer complaint?
1. Receive and log the complaint. 2. Acknowledge it to the customer. 3. Investigate the facts. 4. Decide and communicate a resolution. 5. Implement the resolution. 6. Follow up to confirm the customer is satisfied. 7. Record and review, to identify any recurring issue.
On which five dimensions do customers commonly judge service quality?
Reliability: delivering what was promised. Responsiveness: willingness to help promptly. Assurance: the knowledge and courtesy that inspire trust. Empathy: individual attention. Tangibles: the appearance of premises, staff and communication materials. Reliability usually matters most: customers forgive an unimpressive setting far more readily than a broken promise.
What are the elements of communication?
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What is the difference between internal and external communication?
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What are the main barriers to communication?
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Which barrier does most damage in credit work, and how does a collector get past it?
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In what order are the parts of a business letter set out?
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What should a demand letter state, and what must it avoid?
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What is the difference between a credit note and a debit note?
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What are the letter of enquiry, quotation, purchase order and invoice in a business transaction?
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What is a memorandum, and how does it differ from a letter?
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What is the difference between a circular and a newsletter?
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When is a table better than a graph or chart?
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What is good email practice, and why does it matter in credit work?
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What are the three classical elements of persuasive communication?
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What does effective listening involve, and what does it tell a credit officer?
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Why does a telephone conversation depend more on tone than a face-to-face one?
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What is an interview, and how is it used in credit work?
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What makes an oral presentation effective?
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What do kinesics, proxemics, paralanguage, chronemics and haptics mean?
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Why must a credit officer be careful reading non-verbal cues across cultures?
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What is the difference between the notice and the agenda of a meeting?
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What are the roles of the chairperson, the secretary and the participants in a meeting?
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What are statutory, board, committee, ad hoc and virtual meetings?
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What are the four group communication networks?
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Why does a team need a balance of roles?
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What is groupware?
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What are the steps in the decision-making process?
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What are brainstorming, the nominal group technique, the Delphi technique and consensus?
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What are the advantages and disadvantages of group decision making?
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What are the stages of negotiation?
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What is the difference between distributive and integrative negotiation?
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How should concessions be made in a negotiation?
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Why are customer complaints valuable to an organisation?
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How should a difficult customer be handled?
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What determines customer satisfaction, and how can an organisation raise it?
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What is relationship marketing?
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What is the difference between a call centre and a help desk, and how do customers judge both?
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Which internet and mobile channels support customer care, and which one works without internet access?
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Why does a complaint on social media need extra care?
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What professional standards are expected of credit staff?
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What is an ethical dilemma, and how should a credit officer resolve one?
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What gets in the way of non-verbal communication?
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How can a credit officer improve their own non-verbal communication?
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By what methods can an organisation obtain customer feedback?
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Which skills does a staff member need to handle complaints well?
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A lender meets its own service standard, yet a customer finds the service slow and impersonal. Why does that still matter?
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How can an organisation measure customer satisfaction and loyalty?
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What does good technology etiquette in customer care require?
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What is good telephone practice in customer care, and what should follow a call that ends in a repayment plan?
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Why does ethical treatment of customers serve the organisation, not only the customer?
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What does ethical practice toward customers look like for a lender?
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What must a credit officer be honest with a customer about, even where it makes a sale less likely?
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How to revise with these cards
- Answer out loud or on paper before you turn the card: recalling is what fixes it.
- Go through the deck in short sessions of ten to fifteen minutes, every day.
- Shuffle once you know the order, so you are not answering from memory of the sequence.
- When a card catches you out, read the chapter it links to, then try the topic in a past paper.