Apex Action Visits Cheshire School to Help Pupils Assess Customer Service
Apex’s Commercial Manager, Debbie Snelson, together with mascot Apex Action Bear joined Helen Pullan & Sarah Marks of Safe Opportunities this month when they visited Greenbank School in Cheshire to deliver some “Exploring Work” sessions.
The Exploring Work programme provided by Safe Opportunities is delivered in SEN schools across Cheshire. It is designed to help pupils make their transition from school to the workplace as easy as possible & fully equipped with the skills they need.
The lesson delivered on 13th March focused on selling skills & customer care. The pupils examined the difference between face to face sales & telesales. They contemplated what they thought was a good way to make a first impression, such as being punctual, looking smart & smiling! They considered the need to prepare for meetings & to learn product knowledge. They also reflected on how they might respond if they didn’t know the answer to a customer’s question, as well as how they might deal with a customer complaint.
In the forthcoming weeks the pupils will be able to put everything they’ve learned to the test when they undertake their work experience. The placements range from working on the shop floor in a supermarket, assisting in a photography studio, selling reptiles & fish in a local aquatic centre to working on the tills & cleaning out animals at a national pet shop chainstore.
Sarah Marks, Student Development Co-ordinator of Safe Opportunities commented;
“It was great to see how well the pupils interacted. They asked Debbie lots of questions about what she did & got her to share some real-life customer experiences. They then used the information to consider what they thought good customer service looked like & to decide what they might do in similar situations.”
“Apex Action” is Apex’s volunteering & funding initiative for school & community projects. They are always up for a challenge & doing something a bit different! If you’d like to see whether they can support your project contact Debbie on debbie.snelson@apexconnected.com or call 01948 302066 to discuss further.
