Customer Service and Sales Officer - Teaching Centre at British Council

The British Council builds connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language.

We work in two ways – directly with individuals to transform their lives, and with governments and partners to make a bigger difference for the longer term, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world. We help young people to gain the skills, confidence and connections they are looking for to realise their potential and to participate in strong and inclusive communities. We support them to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications. Our work in arts and culture stimulates creative expression and exchange and nurtures creative enterprise. We connect the best of the UK with the world and the best of the world with the UK.

These connections lead to an understanding of each other's strengths and of the challenges and values that we share. This builds trust between people in the UK and other nations which endures even when official relations may be strained. We work on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2019-20 we connected with 80 million people directly and with 791 million overall, including online and through our broadcasts and publications.

Role Purpose

The overall objective of a Teaching Centre Customer Service and Sales Officer is to secure excellent sales results (from new and existing students) to assist the Teaching Centre to meet or exceed its sales targets. The post holder will act as British Council’s ambassador, providing a seamless customer experience to customers and students in handling enquiries about British Council English language services, meeting agreed targets, objectives, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Main Accountabilities

• Day to Day Customer service delivery
• Provide a consistent and positive customer experience in line with the Global Customer Service Strategy and relevant corporate standards and polices
• Handle first-level enquiries received in person, via email, social media, chat or telephone on relevant aspects of the British Council’s activities / products, in a friendly and professional manner, in line with Customer Service standards, and forward all 2nd level enquiries to relevant colleagues, ensuring they are attended to within specified timelines
• Deliver accurate information to customers and manage their expectations to ensure a smooth customer journey
• Ensure the standard response bank is regularly refreshed to respond to customer queries
• Carry out all reception and registration duties in line with relevant corporate standards and policies. All physical spaces accessible to customers should reflect the British Council brand
• As the frontline of the British Council, to ensure that dress sense and tone of voice is representative of the organisational brand values and standards
• Participate in British Council activities as and when they occur, providing an effective presence, and ensuring that corporate requirements are met whenever activity takes place
• Record all forms of customer data and records accurately via agreed online and offline tools
• Contribute to the Voice of the Customer programme by regularly sharing weekly insights and comments gathered from customers through formal and informal channels
• Maintain an up-to-date contact database of all our customers, in relevant segments, within agreed CRM procedures
• Ensure that at all times, interactions are as per Teaching Centre standards and Corporate Child protection and Safe-Guarding policies
• Sales
• Conduct Teaching Centre sales consultations which involves but not limited to providing speaking assessment to evaluate customer’s final language level according to agreed assessment guidelines.
• Be accountable for agreed individual income and conversion targets on a monthly basis
• Build rapport with prospective customers to gain understanding and information to respond to their specific needs and requirements
• Be the single point of contact for assigned opportunities, guiding them through the journey from first enquiry to final sale
• Make outbound calls to support customers dropping out at different stages of the customer journey and track conversions.
• Capture all opportunities on CRM and send proactive communication to candidates to nurture leads as per process agreed with business
• Maximise conversion rates of enquiries to sales figures by communicating features and benefits of British Council offers, convincing and influencing prospects to enrol/ register
• Closely monitor and track conversion rates and achieve daily and monthly targets defined at centre level. Strive to improve conversion rate by keeping abreast of all changes to offering, observing classes , sharing insight with business teams regarding reasons for drop off and handling objections effectively
• Maximise opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling
• Proactively follow up customers who do not register after enquiry / consultation and gather information which can be used for future marketing purposes and/or service improvements
• Contact lapsed students via phone to reintroduce them to our products (warm calling)
• Responsible for building own product knowledge through interaction with product managers and using learning portal
• Support to Teaching Centre
• To provide energy and purpose in following the Marketing Action Plan and Academic Quality Plan in agreement with the CSM and Teaching Centre Manager with a view to achieving student and test-taker numbers and income targets
• Register / reserve / waitlist students in appropriate classes, entering details accurately on TCMS, in a professional and friendly manner
• Distribute, collect and collate satisfaction surveys for all regular public courses into the agreed documentary scorecard management system to agreed timings and standards
• Collect and report money collected from customers for placement tests / courses / books / examination registrations and other products / services daily according to FCCF and audit requirements, through cash desks and by issuing receipts for all income received; reconciliation and, accepting refund requests. Cash desks must be balanced and closed accurately with actual received income
• Record all corporate clients, sponsored students and all Regular Public Course students on TCMS
• Any other administrative duties that may be assigned by Management which may include but are not limited to creating POs, counting cash, sending SMS and email communications to customers, processing bank transfers, etc.

Essential Requirements

• Higher Diploma and/or equivalent 1 year professional experience in sales and customer services.
• Comprehensive, proven experience as a customer service and sales executive
• Thorough experience of marketing and negotiating techniques
• Fast learner and passion for customer service and sales
• Self-motivated with a results-driven approach
• English at Proficiency Level B2

Desirable Requirements

• Customer Service Professional Qualification
• Relevant qualification or training undertaken in Sales
• Hands-on experience with CRM software is a plus