The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) has launched two new apprenticeship standards which have been designed to upskill those people working in car dealerships’ customer service, parts and sales roles.

Customer Service Practitioner Level 2 and Customer Service Specialist Level 3 both aim to enable staff to become experts in the products and/or services they are delivering and assert the importance of presentation and improving their face-to-face, telephone, digital and written communication.

Mark Armitage, head of external quality and assessment services at the IMI, said: “Being closely linked and requiring many of the same attributes, the industry group working with the IMI felt it was beneficial to employers and training providers to utilise these new standards to increase customer service skills across multiple job roles.

“Upskilling staff on a frequent basis is vital to the success of any business, and with automotive products and services changing at a record pace its important staff are given the tools to stay ahead of the game.”

Armitage said that the IMI had dedicated resource to help automotive businesses be clear on how the Government’s enforced a deadline of August 2020 for all apprenticeship frameworks in England to transition into new standards will affect them.

Helping the IMI in its development of the Customer Service Level 2 and 3 Apprenticeship Standards, Dave Andrews, Kwik-Fit learning and development manager, said: “Customers in our industry are now more knowledgeable and demanding than ever before, so providing a great customer experience is vital when ensuring future success.

“As a vehicle is generally the 2nd largest purchase our customers will make, they have every right to be more discerning when choosing a company to carry out routine maintenance or repairs.

“The Customer Service Apprenticeship Standard will be invaluable to our sector as it will help to not only meet but exceed their expectations, which can only raise the standards across the board and therefore increase customer confidence.”