Customer Service Apprentice

Summary

Castle Colour Packaging Ltd are a leading UK Packaging Manufacturer, supplying market leaders from a range of sectors. We are searching for a Customer Service Apprentice to join our Customer Service team in Norwich. You will learn how to support our customers, provide information and assistance, and process orders.

Annual wage

£12,480 to £22,308 a year

Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

Wage will vary dependant on age but will be above minimum wage.

Training course

Customer service specialist (level 3)

Hours

Monday - Friday, 9.00am - 5.00pm

37 hours a week

Possible start date

Tuesday 1 October

Duration

1 Year 6 Months

Positions available

1

Work

As an apprentice, you’ll work at a company and get hands-on experience. You’ll gain new skills and work alongside experienced staff.

What you’ll do at work

You'll be involved in everything from supplying pricing and proofing to creating a finished Job Bag. Over time, you will be given your own accounts and taught how to develop relationships and provide the high level of Customer Service for which Castle Colour are renowned. This is an opportunity to join a supportive and encouraging team within a fantastic organisation.

You'll learn how to:

Retain and manage existing customer relationships
Receive customer orders/artwork/information
Provide accurate information for estimating, production, reprographics, and technical departments
Create Job bags for production and learn our processes
Distribute accurate information internally and externally to fulfil customer requirements
Liaise with Customers regarding price, lead-time, and delivery
Manage stock
Raise purchase orders

Initially helping with general admin tasks to familiarise themselves with office procedures and learn about the business. Once they are comfortable with the basics, they will spend some time learning about the other departments in the business, as the Customer Service role involves liaison with all of them. More involved tasks will gradually be introduced, such as replying to emails, checking job bags, leading to a start on load job bags for production, with full support.

Once comfortable with this process and all of the associated areas they will be given an account to manage, building a relationship and learning how to support the customer while still considering the requirements of the business - the keystone of all good Customer Service. Eventually they will have their own portfolio of clients to look after.

The Person:

A passion for delivering excellent levels of care
A confident communicator
Self-motivated and enthusiastic focused approach to work
Good IT and Microsoft office skills
Strong attention to detail

Reports To: Customer Services Manager

Where you’ll work

The Castle Colour Press

3-4 Morgan Way

Bowthorpe Employment Area

Norwich

NR5 9JJ

Training

An apprenticeship includes regular training with a college or other training organisation. At least 20% of your working hours will be spent training or studying.

College or training organisation

BPIF TRAINING LIMITED

Your training course

Customer service specialist (level 3)

Equal to A level

Course contents

Business focused service delivery: Demonstrate a continuous improvement and future focussed approach to customer service delivery including decision making and providing recommendations or advice

Business focused service delivery: Resolve complex issues by being able to choose from and successfully apply a wide range of approaches

Business focused service delivery: Find solutions that meet your organisations needs as well as the customer requirements

Providing a positive customer experience: Through advanced questioning, listening and summarising negotiate mutually beneficial outcomes

Providing a positive customer experience: Manage challenging and complicated situations within your level of authority and make recommendations to enable and deliver change to service or strategy

Providing a positive customer experience: Use clear explanations, provide options and solutions to influence and help customers make choices and agree next steps

Providing a positive customer experience: Explore and interpret the customer experience to inform and influence achieving a positive result for customer satisfaction

Providing a positive customer experience: Demonstrate a cost conscious mind-set when meeting customer and the business needs

Providing a positive customer experience: Identifying where highs and lows of the customer journey produce a range of emotions in the customer

Providing a positive customer experience: Use written and verbal communication to simplify and provide complex information in a way that supports positive customer outcome in the relevant format

Working with customers/customer insights: Proactively gather customer feedback, through a variety of methods. Critically analyse, and evaluate the meaning, implication and facts and act upon it

Working with customers/customer insights: Analyse your customer types, to identify or anticipate their potential needs and expectations when providing your service

Customer Service performance: Maintain a positive relationship even when you are unable to deliver the customer’s expected outcome

Customer Service performance: When managing referrals or escalations take into account historical interactions and challenges to determine next steps

Service Improvement: Analyse the end to end service experience, seeking input from others where required, supporting development of solutions

Service Improvement: Make recommendations based on your findings to enable improvement

Service Improvement: Make recommendations and implement where possible, changes in line with new and relevant legislation, regulations and industry best practice

Your training plan

The apprentice will receive on site training in all facets of the Customer Services department and role, including the technical side of the role
Upon successful completion of the apprenticeship, the qualification obtained will be a Level 3 Customer Service Specialist. The apprentice will be given sufficient time to undertake their "off-the-job" requirement of the apprenticeship during their working hours
Throughout your time as an apprentice, you will be supported by both your employer and BPIF Training to achieve the knowledge, skills and behaviours of the apprenticeship through a structured training plan. You will be assigned a training coordinator who will work with you throughout your apprenticeship to ensure that you have the best training and support available
Most training and studying will be a combination of interactive, online group workshops supplemented by regular one-to-one meetings with your training coordinator
Training period will vary depending on many factors but ultimately will result in the candidate being a fully qualified Account Executive in our business
After a year, the successful candidate may be offered, alongside their workplace training, additional training opportunities, but this depends on relevance and aptitude for the role and position

Requirements

Desirable qualifications

GCSE or equivalent in:

English (grade 4)
Maths (grade 4)

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Administrative skills
Analytical skills
Attention to detail
Communication skills
Creative
Customer care skills
Initiative
IT skills
Logical
Non judgemental
Number skills
Organisation skills
Patience
Presentation skills
Problem solving skills

Other requirements

No special skills are required, but an aptitude for organisation would be helpful. Good numeracy, literacy and communication skills are a firm requirement.

About this company

We are family owned company, manufacturing cartons for perfumes, beauty products, drinks, pet food, biscuits, chocolate and yoghurt, to name a few. We have been in business since 1991 and are located on the Bowthorpe Estate in Norwich.

After this apprenticeship

To begin with the candidate will be a fully qualified Account Executive and this may lead into a Senior Management role in the Customer Services department or opportunities in Sales or other areas of the business
At CCP we have a good track record of people developing and progressing through the business

Ask a question

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