Testimonials from Learners

The customer service course has helped me expand my thoughts in how to deal with patients. It has helped me help the patients to be comfortable and understanding towards them. I have learned how to analyse body language of patients to make them feel comfortable so I don't seem as a threat but be there to help them. I think this has helped my surgery as if all my colleagues use the same mode of practice then we will get good reports back from the patients which will benefit our surgery and working environment.

Rubina Ali Mahmood - Crawley Medical Centre, Crawley - Apprenticeship in Customer Service

Davidson Training has been a great help to me. My trainer Aimee Gibbs has been an excellent tutor. I did not expect an excellent one to one tutorial. I got all my questions, problems and weaknesses sorted efficiently. The NVQ course is really informative and applicable to my daily work. Aimee has got an excellent quality of not just her work but great knowledge as well. A difficult/ tricky question was answered in such a way that one could not think it was difficult any more. I have learnt a great deal from Davidson training and especially from my trainer Aimee and saved a lot of time.

Heena Patel - Imperial Dental Care, Harrow - Advanced Apprenticeship in Administration

I have really enjoyed carrying out my NVQ with Davidson Training. There was a lot of hard work, but the assessor was very supportive and I was able to work at my own pace. It has made me look at my job from a new angle and appreciate the things I do well. It has also encouraged me to develop and improve at the things I don't like so much. I have been inspired to consider my future job prospects and would highly recommend the course to anyone who wants to improve their own job potential.

Nazma Khanom Voyce - Stratford Picture House - Advanced Apprenticeship in Customer Service

Before I started this course my work was very sloppy I was on the verge of losing my job and I did not know how to approach customers and staff in a professional and correct manner. Also I did not follow guide lines to the full, but doing this NVQ course it has helped me improve my work all round. I know now how to approach staff and customers a lot better than when I started this course a year ago. Also this course has taken my mind off all my family issues as I come in early with Nazma and we spend a few hours with our assessor Aimee (who has been fantastic over the last 12 mounts she has been like a big sister). Aimee has helped me learn a lot more about customer service and how to approach issues in the work place by following work guidelines and guidelines within the law. When at school I did not do too well in my GCSE’s, so doing this course I thought I will fail! With the tests I had to do I was very nervous but Aimee calmed me down and kept on telling me I can do it. She would help me all the way in which she knows. I feel immensely proud in completing this course and I thank Davidson Training and especially Aimee for helping me improve my work and attitude in the way I speak to people in general. To top off my year I have just been offered a holiday rep job in France which I accepted. I feel if I did not do this course I would not have had the courage or the bottle to go for the interview. A few days later I got the call from the interviewer saying I got the job and what qualification I have to support this role? I said in a few weeks I will have a NVQ qualification in Customer Service and I feel that telling the employee that at the time was a key factor of them giving me the job. I recommend this course to anybody who had a rough time at school or is walking a slippy tight rope at work, because doing this course gives you a sense of achievement of completing something by yourself without any distraction. It also tells you what you are doing wrong and what rules to follow within the law and the work place. Not only that, most jobs now ask for the interviewee to have a qualification in Customer Service. I hope when I move to France I can do a Business and Administration part of the NVQ but if I can’t it has been the most challenging and worth with experience of my life. I am so proud of what me and Nazma have achieved and also congratulations are in order for my assessor, Aimee, on her promotion! Thank you Aimee for you time and your help over the last year and I will keep in contact with you to let you know how I am doing in France"

Kenny Wilkins - Stratford Picture House, Stratford - Apprenticeship in Customer Service

I would like to write about how the NVQ course has helped, it has helped increase my incompetence, and communication skills with members and my internal colleagues. I am able to communicate with member’s better, by adapting to their body languages and observing them a lot more, this has significantly reduced the number of complaints that I receive at work. My regional manager has also recognised this, also has the Branch Manager Joy. I have not received any complaints about myself over the last six weeks, from any customers which improved my confidence even more. My NVQ trainer Mandy has been very helpful, has I am not the easiest student to deal with and can get easily distracted, she always encouraged me and motivated me to keep up with the course, some of her advice which I received from her during our sessions have helped me enormously. She also gave me regular feedback regarding my communication and identified areas in which I could improve in, and help me improve my communication when dealing with customers face to face and via telephone. This has raised awareness of the speed and tone of my voice, and this has really adapted with my customers now.

Mahbub Choudhury - Tower Hamletts Community Credit Union - Apprenticeship in Customer Service

I have found my course very interesting it has been very helpful with my everyday jobs when dealing with customers. Sam has been a great help and always on hand if you have any problems.

Ashleigh Fiander - Greater London Hire - Advanced Apprenticeship in Customer Service

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your great assistance in helping me complete my course. I have learnt a vast variety of knowledge through this course. It has given me the confidence in dealing with problems at work and mature as a receptionist. I really enjoyed doing the course work and I now would like to be given a chance if available to complete the next level. Once again thank you very much to give me a chance to improve and refresh my abilities.

Shamsa Khan - Crawley Medical Centre - Train to Gain Customer Service NVQ Level 2

I have thoroughly enjoyed doing my level 2 customer service NVQ which I completed earlier in the year and am now on my level 3 with the help of Mary Critcher she is a fantastic coach and always has the time to be on the other end of a phone whenever I need any help and support with any of my work and assignments. I have found it excellent to be able to learn at my own pass and Mary has been kind enough to spare me her time so I could continue my studies whilst on maternity leave as well as sick leave after having a stroke which was brilliant as it gave me something to focus on.

Carla Goodburn - YMCA - Advanced Apprenticeship in Customer Service

I have recently completed my Customer Services NVQ and awaiting my certificates; I found the course very informative and helpful, especially in my current position as a customer services advisor and also helped in refreshing my maths skills & English skills! My assessor Sam was excellent always so helpful and always makes you feel relaxed and at ease and explained certain aspects of course work in full when I asked her questions about something I didn’t quite understand and gives a genuine impression that’s she wants you to do well and pass. I am now going on to do my NVQ in administration and looking forward to that and learning something new and gaining a further qualification that I hope will help me progress further in the future especially with the help of Davidson training.

Anita Cahill - Greater London Hire Limited - Apprenticeship in Customer Service

Over the past year I have been doing my NVQ 2 in Business and Administration with Davidson Training with the help of Aimee to guide and support me. Aimee has advised me in all aspects of this course with suggestions of where to find information that would help me to improve my course work using different web sites. This course has improved my performance at work when dealing with problems that arise at work. It has helped me to sort out patients, arranging weekly rotas, staff holidays, banking and staff end of month wages. It has made me more confident to tackle all these situations and improve the running of the dental practice. It has highlighted all the areas of Health and Safety and to understand Equality and Diversity at work. It has also made me aware of all the employee’s rights and needs in the workplace. I have learnt how to implement different techniques on reception and help it run more efficiently. I feel with Davidson Training encouraging me to push myself and have the belief in me to continue with my qualification, improves my job prospects at work. I also feel more confident in myself and have enjoyed doing this course. Would like to thank Davidson Training for enabling me to do this and a very special ‘Thank you’ to Aimee for making me feel good about myself.

Carolyn Goss - Benfleet Dental Practice - Advanced Apprenticeship in Administration

During my time with Davidson Training I can honestly say I have enjoyed learning new skills and building my confidence. Sam, my assessor, is very patient and gives clear advice and listens to any views you may express. The time goes so quickly during our lessons. What I have found is that I know more than I thought I knew! We use so many skills during the working day and we just take them for granted. By doing the NVQ’s with Sam, it has enabled me to expand my knowledge and helped me to realise I can achieve more in life. This has only happened because of the dedication of Sam. She is very positive in her approach to work, which is indicative of Davidson Training. I will be sad when I finish all my training and I never thought I would ever say that!

Linda Dyer - Accommodate, Dartford - Advanced Apprenticeship in Administration

As it is several years since I left school or undertook any form of formal education, the NVQ course has been a real eye opener. I have learnt a great deal and understood the implications of good customer service – it has allowed me to approach my job in recruitment and liaison more professionally. My assessor, Sam, has been wonderful. She has explained everything in great detail. She has been patient with me and given me the confidence to complete the course. I look forward to continuing working with her on other NVQ courses.

Melvyn Paul Temple - Greater London Hire - Apprenticeship in Customer Service

Melanie Parker completed her Customer Services award and progressed to Apprenticeship Retail. In November 2008, the pub in which Mel worked in closed down and she lost her job. Melanie found it hard to find another job and became depressed. I continued to see Melanie and during one visit I told her about the YMCA Charity Shop and explained how she could volunteer to help her gain retail experience and to assist her to complete her award. Shortly after Melanie began volunteering three days a week and found that she really enjoyed learning and developing new skills while gaining experience. Melanie completed her qualification and decided to apply for a part time position at a new Morrison’s Store. I helped Melanie to complete her application form and on the day of her interview she called me to say that the person interviewing her was very interested in the qualifications she had gained and the voluntary work she had been doing while looking for work. Melanie was successful and was offered a part time position with Morrison’s and so left the YMCA having gained employment.

Melanie Parker - YMCA - Apprenticeship in Retails Skills

Keith Henley had been unemployed for over two years and was a volunteer at the YMCA Charity Shop in Dover. Keith was very shy when I first started working with him towards his Retail qualification but in time he grew more confident. Keith gained his award and was sent on a placement by the Job Centre for six weeks to Farm Foods. During this time Keith explained the qualification and experience he had gained while at the YMCA to his Manager. I also called in to visit Keith to see how he was getting on and he told me he was enjoying the work. Following his six week placement Keith was asked if he would like to apply for a position that was coming up a month later. Keith did apply and gained a full time position with Farm Foods.

Keith Henley - Farm Foods - Train to Gain in Retail Skills

E Track and E Learning has helped me send my work by e-mail by being a fast and fairly efficient way of making sure that my work is processed more quickly. It meant that I simply needed to complete my work, save it on a disc and send it to my tutor via an e-mail. It is especially useful in that my tutor would be able to examine my work before I see her face-to-face. It allowed her time to see if my work was complete. E Track has been a useful tool in completing my work, on the whole.

Kate Matera - RSPCA Gravesend - Apprenticeship in Customer Service

E Track has helped me in so many ways. I am able to work at my own speed and I can easily email over my homework or any queries I have and Sam is always happy to help.

Sarah Burnage - City Pets, Chingford - Apprenticeship in Customer Service

Since starting the customer service course back in September 2009 I have noticed a lot of positive progress within our workplace. The communication between myself and my co-workers has definitely improved. We work as part of a team and are having meetings everyday where we discuss the work and if we have any difficult situations or customers we discuss how to deal with them. The course has helped us to improve the way we deal with angry and difficult clients and I have noticed that we can deal with them ourselves without the help from the directors. Also I have noticed fewer complaints. We maintain a good work performance and always try to go that extra mile to keep the customers satisfied. We understand the importance of meeting the deadlines and how it may affect our work and the customer satisfaction if they are not met. We try to plan our day so that the work is completed on time and all phone calls are returned to customers. However if we can’t deal with it in that moment we will inform the customer that we are unable to do it and ask for more time. The course has taught us that as long as the work gets done even if it’s delayed by us, the customers are happy with our service if they are kept up to date on the progress of the work and know the reason for the delay. I have found the course very helpful in my work environment and our assessor has been also very helpful by explaining the units to us and making clear the tasks that we were to complete. If he gave us the task to do at home and I was struggling with something or did not understand I could always call him up or email him for advice and he would always be helpful.

Iwona Lach - Victoria Knight – Stratford - Apprenticeship in Customer Service

Since taking the course up in September 2009, I have learn a lot about customers service and how going the extras mile helps keep a customer happy even if it is just updating them with the property or if the rent is going to be late and notifying the landlord for the reason why and then it keeps them happy. I have also learnt that if a client is shouting and raising there voice at me then I lower my voice and then they also lower theirs and calm down. I have also learnt how to deal with difficult customers on my own without having to ask a senior member of staff for help. I have seen progress within the team that I work with as we have daily meetings to discuss any problems and also if any unhappy customer call up in the day then we take 5 minutes out to discuss the situation and what we can do to make the customer happy, and we all know the situation so it shows communication between the organisation. The course has taught me that as long as I keep the customer updated and I do not make any mistakes which means taking a little bit more time to do the work then at the end we have a happy customer that would like to use our service again and would recommend us. Our assessor Liam has also been very helpful with the tasks he sets us and if we need help he would be there by the phone or email to guide us through.

Georgia Ruel - Reliance Property Management Services – Stratford - Apprenticeship in Customer Service

Whilst I have been employed by my current Company I have been introduced to Mary Critcher of Davidson Training UK Ltd, with whom I have undertaken a Customer Services Apprenticeship which included a Level 2 NVQ with Technical Certificates in Customer Service and Key Skills in Communication and Application of Numbers. I then embarked upon and completed an Advanced Apprenticeship in Customer Service with a Level 3 NVQ in Customer Service. During my training Mary Critcher has been very supportive and if ever I needed any advice during visits I know I can always email or telephone her. The support that I have received whilst undertaking the courses has enabled me to be totally enthusiastic thus not only towards taking more courses, but always eager to complete all my homework putting 100% effort into it! Mary always attends when she has made an appointment, she is always very well prepared for the session and totally knowledgeable about the particular aspect of the course that I am undertaking at the time. It is obvious that Mary puts much preparation into her visits as I am always asking her about my progress and she always has her tick charts or etrack totally up-to-date and can answer all enquiries. On the current course Mary has encouraged me to use etrack, I was rather reluctant at first, as I am not an enthusiastic computer user, but with her support and encouragement I am now more at ease on the computer and am progressing well. I really appreciate being given the opportunity to undertake these qualifications as I am 55 years old and really did not think that I would be given such a chance again.

Janice Chapman-Curd - Linens Direct, Maidstone - Apprenticeship and Advanced Apprenticeship in Customer Service - Apprenticeship in Administration