John Deere Limited and its training partner Babcock have announced a new Customer Service Tech qualification to run alongside the established Ag Tech, Parts Tech and Turf Tech service technician training programmes.

This new qualification is aimed at dealers who wish to raise their customer service and satisfaction levels by providing relevant staff with the appropriate training and qualifications. It uses work-based learning and on-the-job assessment to teach the key principles of customer service, while also delivering key skills related to John Deere customer support and systems.

The 12-month work-based course is government funded up to the age of 24, and delivers a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 2 certificate in customer service. The course also includes three blocks at John Deere's Langar training centre, covering customer handling, complaints handling and developing & improving customer service.

"Customer service plays an important role in any organisation where day-to-day contact and relationship building with customers takes place," says John Deere's training centre manager Chris Wiltshire. "Historically it has been the service manager within a dealership that has scheduled workshop jobs as part of his duties, but times are changing.

"Dealers are now selling more PowerGard maintenance contracts and are beginning to introduce an expanding range of FarmSight dealer services. This means someone within the dealership needs to take on specific responsibility for the whole customer service experience. Our new John Deere Customer Service Tech programme is designed to help identify and train that person, with clear benefits for dealer and customer alike."

Applications are now being invited for enrolment in this new programme. Further details are available by calling Babcock on 0870 013 0325, and an online application form is also available on the Babcock website here.