Paper 2

COMMUNICATION AND CUSTOMER RELATIONS

This paper is intended to equip the candidate with knowledge, skills and attitudes that will enable him/her to apply business communication, customer relations and personal skills required in the credit management field/profession.

On completion, a candidate should be able to

Communicate effectively using a wide range of media in service delivery
Apply personal skills to building customer relationships and negotiate effectively
Prepare and conduct physical and online meetings
Demonstrate ability to effectively work with teams
Maintain customer relations through technology
Uphold professional standards, ethics and values that credit staff need to exhibit within workplace

Content

1
Introduction to communication
1. 1.1
  Meaning of communication
2. 1.2
  Importance of communication
3. 1.3
  Elements of communication
4. 1.4
  The communication process
5. 1.5
  Principles of effective communication
6. 1.6
  Essential of an effective communication system
7. 1.7
  Methods of communication
8. 1.8
  Internal and external communication
9. 1.9
  Barriers to effective communication
10. 1.10
  Cross-cultural communication
2
Written communication and visual communication
1. 2.1
  Sentence construction and paragraph development
2. 2.2
  Business correspondence
3. 2.3
  Reports and proposals
4. 2.4
  Memorandum
5. 2.5
  Posters and notices
6. 2.6
  Forms and questionnaires
7. 2.7
  Circulars and newsletters
8. 2.8
  Advertisements and publicity materials
9. 2.9
  Documents used in business transactions - letter of enquiry, catalogue, quotation, purchase order, invoice, credit note, debit note, others
10. 2.10
  E-mail
11. 2.11
  Visual communication - graphs/charts/tables/diagrams/pictures
3
Oral communication
1. 3.1
  Meaning of oral communication
2. 3.2
  Importance of oral communication
3. 3.3
  Types of oral communication-face to face and telephone conversations
4. 3.4
  Effective listening
5. 3.5
  Interviews
6. 3.6
  Oral presentations and public speeches (4)
7. 3.7
  Persuasive communication
8. 3.8
  Interpersonal relationships
9. 3.9
  Assertiveness
4
Non-verbal communication
1. 4.1
  Meaning and importance of non-verbal communication
2. 4.2
  Forms of non-verbal communication
3. 4.3
  Effective use of non-verbal communication
4. 4.4
  Gender and nonverbal communication
5. 4.5
  Cultural impact on nonverbal communication
6. 4.6
  Barriers to effective non-verbal communication
7. 4.7
  Strategies for improving nonverbal communication
5
Meetings
1. 5.1
  Purpose of meetings
2. 5.2
  Types of meetings
3. 5.3
  Planning for a meeting
4. 5.4
  Agenda and notice
5. 5.5
  Conduct of meetings
6. 5.6
  Role of chairperson, secretary and participants
7. 5.7
  Minutes
8. 5.8
  Conferences and symposia
9. 5.9
  Teleconferencing and video conferencing
6
Groups and teams’ dynamics
1. 6.1
  Group development
2. 6.2
  Factor that determine the success of a group
3. 6.3
  Functions of groups in an organisation
4. 6.4
  Building effective teams
5. 6.5
  Team roles
6. 6.6
  Characteristics of effective teams
7. 6.7
  Group communication networks
8. 6.8
  Techniques for effective group discussion
9. 6.9
  Skills of an effective team player
10. 6.10
  Virtual groups - group e-mails, WhatsApp groups, social media, corporate blogs
11. 6.11
  Groupware
7
Decision making and problem solving
1. 7.1
  Meaning of decision making
2. 7.2
  Meaning of problem solving
3. 7.3
  Types of decisions
4. 7.4
  The decision making process
5. 7.5
  Techniques of group decision making and problem solving
6. 7.6
  Advantages and disadvantages of group decision making
8
Negotiation in customer relations
1. 8.1
  Meaning of negotiation
2. 8.2
  The negotiation process
3. 8.3
  Role of negotiation in customer relations
4. 8.4
  Principles of effective negotiation
5. 8.5
  Skills required for effective negotiation
6. 8.6
  Success of a negotiation process (5)
7. 8.7
  Making concessions
8. 8.8
  Approaches to negotiation
9. 8.9
  Barriers to effective negotiation
10. 8.10
  Negotiating with debtors
9
Customers’ feedback
1. 9.1
  Meaning of customer feedback
2. 9.2
  Importance of customer feedback
3. 9.3
  Methods of obtaining customer feedback
4. 9.4
  Principles of effective complaints handling
5. 9.5
  Procedure for handling customer feedback and complaints
6. 9.6
  Skills for effective complaints handling
7. 9.7
  Listening to customers
8. 9.8
  Dealing with difficult customers
10
Customer relations
1. 10.1
  Definition and importance of a customer
2. 10.2
  Changing customer behavior and expectations
3. 10.3
  Customer perception
4. 10.4
  Customer attraction and retention strategies
5. 10.5
  Meaning and importance of customer relations
6. 10.6
  Relationship marketing
7. 10.7
  Principles of good customer relations
8. 10.8
  Techniques of building long lasting customer relationships
9. 10.9
  Monitoring and measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty
11
Customer care through technology
1. 11.1
  Definition of customer care
2. 11.2
  Role of customer care in customer relations
3. 11.3
  Employees’ role in customer care
4. 11.4
  Role of technology in customer care
5. 11.5
  Call centers and help desks
6. 11.6
  Customer care through internet-based and mobile technologies
7. 11.7
  Technology etiquette and strategies
8. 11.8
  The telephone in customer care
9. 11.9
  Social media
12
Ethics in customer relations
1. 12.1
  Ethics in customer relations
2. 12.2
  Role of ethics in customer relations
3. 12.3
  Applying ethics in customer relations
4. 12.4
  Professional standards for credit staff
5. 12.5
  Ethical dilemma in customer relations
6. 12.6
  Overcoming ethical dilemma in customer relations