Commonwealth Exam Paper

1. Answer all the questions in the spaces provided.
1 You are working as a Customer Service Officer in Galaxy Internet Services. Your job scope
includes handling calls and queries from current as well as potential new customers.
(a) At your workplace, you communicate with your colleagues, supervisors and subordinates.
Classify the types of internal communication flow in the scenarios given below as
downward, upward or horizontal.
Scenario Communication Flow
(i) You inform one of your fellow Customer Service
Officers that he has a customer waiting on line 2.
(ii) You get a memo from your manager that there is a
meeting at 2pm next Monday.
(iii) You submit survey findings of customer preferences
to your team leader.
(iv) Your colleague updates you on the new rates and
charges for the new internet subscription package.
(v) You are congratulated for good service by the
Managing Director.
[5]
(b) You learnt through training, the various ways of communication that are available. Place the
listed examples below in the appropriate group.
reading behaviour observation speaking
listening writing facial expression
Select from the words given above, what each of the scenario relate to:
VERBAL NON-VERBAL WRITTEN
[7]
(c) Fill in the blanks with appropriate words. The first letter of every word has been provided
for you.
In your line of work, it is important that you are able to c……………….. effectively with
customers. If the message is not clearly put across, m……………….. occurs. This can lead
to misunderstandings which may turn a……………….. customers or cause strained working
r……………….. among colleagues.
[4]
[Total: 16]
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2. 2 (a) Below are some sentences that you come across in your work. Make them more courteous or
positive.
(i) You should call the Finance Department, not this number.
(ii) Wait ah. I busy now.
(iii) We cannot go to your house today to troubleshoot your connection problems today.
(iv) Kim, give me the file I was working on yesterday.
(v) Mr Tan, that’s not the way you should fill in the form.
[10]
(b) As part of good listening skills which you practise, you often have to ask questions. Give
two reasons why you need to ask questions.
(i)
(ii)
[2]
(c) (i) You receive a phone call but were unable to help the caller with his queries. However,
you know a colleague who may be able to help. How could you deal with the
situation?
[2]
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3. (ii) Having a notepad and a pen or pencil near the telephone to take down messages is a
good practice. What could you use the stationery for?
[1]
(d) At times you have to deal with customers face-to-face and try to understand their non-verbal
signals. Match a customer’s non-verbal signals to their correct meanings.
Non-Verbal Signal Meaning
Crossing of arms • • He is deep in thought.
Frowning of face • • He is bored. He wants to take control of the situation.
He is worried about what the other person is saying or
Stroking of chin • • thinking.
[3]
[Total: 18]
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4. 3 Juliana works as a retail assistant in a shop specialising in Japanese fashion and accessories.
(a) She has been trained by her manager to approach customers in three ways. One of the ways
is the service approach. Name the other two approaches she can use.
(i) (ii)
[2]
(iii) Give an example of what she will say to a customer who enters the shop using the
service approach.
[1]
(iv) Juliana sees another customer entering the shop while she is still serving the first
customer. How can she react?
[1]
(b) Mrs Chan walks into the shop looking for something to buy for her 16 year-old daughter.
(i) Give an example of a close-ended question Juliana can ask Mrs Chan.
•
[1]
(ii) Give two different examples of open ended questions that Juliana can ask Mrs Chan.
•
•
[2]
(iii) Mrs Chan noticed a bag in the display window and asks for it. Juliana proceeds to
encourage Mrs Chan to try on the bag. Write at least three more ideas on how you can
help Mrs Chan learn more about the product features and benefits.
•
•
•
[3]
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5. (iv) Mrs Chan likes the bag but she is concerned about the price, saying that it is a bit too
expensive. What could Juliana say in response to this?
[2]
(v) After some consideration, Mrs Chan decides that she will not be getting the bag. What
could be Juliana’s response?
[2]
(c) Below are some situations which Juliana comes across at work. In the list of options below,
tick ( ) the ones that she is able to handle on her own, without asking help from her
colleagues or manager. Place a dash ( - ) if she requires assistance from her manager or
colleagues.
Situations Able to handle on her own
(i) A customer asks for a different size for a shirt he has
tried on. You are busy with another customer.
(ii) A potential supplier contacts the shop and wants to
promote a new line of clothes in the shop.
(iii) A customer’s child runs around in the shop and spills
his drink on the floor.
(iv) A regular customer calls to ask if her reserved item is
ready for collection.
(v) A furious customer wants to see the manager for a
damaged product.
(vi) A customer comes to the shop for a product return. The
shop has a product return policy of seven days. The
product was bought two days ago. It is in its original
condition and with official receipt.
[6]
[Total: 20]
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6. 4 Below is an image of Premier Hotel’s lobby where Adam works as a hotel manager. He is
responsible for the day-to-day management of the hotel and its staff.
(a) Adam instructs his front-of-house manager to brief his team every morning.
(i) Name two different types of occupations that are in the front-of-house team.
• •
[2]
(ii) Why is the front-of-house team so important to any hotel?
[2]
(iii) A quality essential in a front-of-house staff is friendliness. State three other qualities.
[3]
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7. (b) Adam tasks his Marketing Manager, Rose, to promote and upgrade the hotel and its services.
She decides to conduct a market survey to find out the preferences of hotel guests.
(i) For the survey, decide for her who she should approach to do the survey for the
following situations.
• The opening hours for the hotel’s café is from 7 am to 10 pm everyday. Rose plans
to open the café till 1 am on weekends.
• The hotel currently has a gymnasium. Rose plans to set up a sauna next to it.
[2]
(ii) Besides using personal and internet surveys, list two other survey methods Rose could
use.
• •
[2]
(iii) After conducting the survey, Rose presented the following chart to Adam.
Guests preferences on tea sold in Premier Hotel Cafe
Iced Tea
Excellent
Types of tea
Chinese Tea
Good
Average
Chai Tea
Poor
English Tea
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
No. of responses
From the chart, the guests liked ……………….. tea the most.
From the chart, the guests liked ……………….. tea the least.
[2]
(iv) Adam found out that the reason his Chai(Turkish) Tea is not doing so well is because
there is a coffee shop opposite the hotel selling chai tea as well. What type of
competition is the coffee shop providing with relation to the hotel’s chai tea?
……………….. competition
[1]
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8. (v) To cater for a wider variety of guests’ food preferences, Adam is considering opening
up two more food and beverage operations in the hotel. Identify the type of food outlet
he is considering below.
Outlet description Type of food and beverage outlet
Food outlet does not require a lot of wait staff.
Food and beverages varies widely and is served
on a long table or several table. Guests are
charged one price for all that they can eat.
Food outlet specialises in Mediterranean cuisine.
Interior decorations, setting and furnishing are
grand and stylish. The wait staff provides
attentive table service to guests and have a good
knowledge of the food served by the restaurant.
[2]
[Total: 16]
5 Adam works closely with Premier Travel to arrange tours for his hotel guests.
(a) Due to the location of Premier Hotel, which is near a quality hospital, a large proportion of
the hotel guests are ……………….. tourists. These tourists go to the hospital for treatment
of various illnesses and conditions. Some guests in the hotel are also staying there to make
use of the conference rooms and facilities available. These tourists are known as
……………….. tourists.
[2]
(b) Premier Travel occupies a small portion of the lobby in the form of a desk which is manned
by a travel agent from 9 am to 9pm.
(i) Siti, the travel agent on duty, is approached by a foreign couple in their 60s. They
want to go on a day tour which brings them through the racial and cultural districts in
Singapore. List four places in the itinerary which Siti can plan for them.
• •
• •
[4]
(ii) Siti receives an overseas call from Steven, an Australian. He is interested in sports and
entertainment events. Name two major sports events Siti can inform Steven of and two
places where he can go to for entertainment.
• •
• •
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9. [4]
(iii) Premier Travel works very closely with their suppliers to ensure that their customers
enjoy a good stay in Singapore. Name two such different types of suppliers other than
accommodation or lodging operators such as hotels etc.
• •
[2]
(iv) Mr Rajoo, from India, stays at Premier Hotel. He goes down to Premier Travel’s booth
at the hotel lobby at 10pm but finds it empty. He takes a brochure he found at the
booth. List three types of information you can find on a brochure.
•
•
•
[3]
[Total: 15]
6 Jack works as a Marketing Executive at IKAI Furniture and Fittings. He is put in charge of a
campaign to promote his company’s products.
(a) As a Marketing Executive, Jack must always remember the 4Ps of marketing. What are
they?
• •
• •
[4]
(b) Jack knows that in order to promote his company’s products, their services need to be looked
into as well. State one characteristic of a product that is different from a service.
Product:
Service:
[2]
(c) Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words.
A few customers believe that IKAI’s products are of good quality and value for
……………….. . They keep buying IKAI’s products even though they have to pay a slightly
higher price than similar products. These customers are said to have brand ………………..
[2]
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10. (d) Jack told his supervisor that the packaging for their products would need some
improvements. One of the reason is that by doing so, it saves space and easier to handle for
both their staff as well as the customers.
What two other reasons could Jack have told his supervisor to improve packaging?
•
•
[2]
(e) Product-line Optional- Product-bundle Promotional Odd-even pricing
pricing product pricing pricing pricing
Select from the words given above, the pricing technique that Jack is intending to use. Use
each pricing technique only once.
Example Pricing Technique
With the purchase of a sofa set, customers
are able to get a coffee table at a special
price.
For the month of June only, customers are
able to enjoy 40% off kids’ beds and
furniture.
Customers pay reduced prices for a
purchasing a whole bedroom set instead of
the same individual items.
LOIKA office tables, chairs and cupboards
are offered to customers at a fixed price of
$99, $59 and $79 respectively.
A line of kitchen furniture is set at different
prices for different versions of the same
product.
[5]
[Total: 15]
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