ACT Practice Tests What They Can and Cant Do

ACT Practice Tests What They Can and Can't Do SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips ACT practice tests are invaluable for any level of ACT preparation, from those just beginning their study to those who have studied for months already. There are limits, however, to what ACT practice tests can do. Read on to find out what things ACT practice tests are good for and what they just can’t accomplish. feature image credit: Limited/used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped and resized from original. What ACT Practice Tests Do Well Going through ACT practice tests can help your studying in myriad ways. For one thing, taking practice ACTs orients you towards the test. If you get too caught up in doing practice problem sets, you can forget what your ultimate goal is: doing well on the ACT when you sit down and take it on test day, not just acing problems in isolation. Making it through the full test length (between three and four hours, depending on whether or not you take ACT Plus Writing) requires stamina as well as knowledge, and part of being prepared is making sure that you’re strong in both those arenas. At the very beginning of your studying, you should sit down and take a realistic ACT practice test all the way through. The realistic part is important because by taking practice tests in the morning and all at once (just like the real ACT), you’ll be able to review mistakes that wouldn’t show up if you were just doing practice sets in the afternoon or evening. Practice tests are valuable not just because of what you gain while you’re taking them, but because of what you can gain upon reflection after taking the test. After you've taken your first practice test, note what surprised you most about the experience (both in a good way and in a bad way). It could turn out that you're a lot more focused when you sit down to take the test all at once; on the other hand, you might discover that when you take the ACT at 8am, you're a lot more prone to making careless mistakes on Reading than you would be otherwise. Reviewing wrong answers, or even questions you weren't sure about but guessed correctly on, is key to improvement. Once you identify your problems, you can then come up with solutions (whether it’s making sure to sleep enough the night before the test or continuing to take more practice tests to get used to the time demands). After you've implemented those solutions, you should take a second practice test and see if the changes you've made in your studying have resulted in changes in your score. One final point is that taking practice tests close (but not too close) to the ACT helps you build up your test muscle memory. Like playing a piano concerto all the way through in advance of a concert, or playing through a full-time scrimmage before a big game, taking full-length ACT practice tests gets your mind in shape. Overall, practice tests are a critical (30%+) part of a good ACT study program. It’s imperative that you have high accuracy questions that are representative of what you'll see on test day, and there's no better source of these high-quality questions than official ACT practice tests. Read more about why high-quality materials are important in our guide to the best ACT prep websites out there. What ACT Practice Tests Don’t Do While practice tests are important for all the reasons outlined above, you can't spend 80%+ of your ACT prep time on practice tests and call it a day, because practice tests aren’t the answer to every problem and won’t cure all your issues. For example, if you're 30 hours into your studying, you shouldn't take three practice tests in a row and expect to see positive results. You'll be gaining a little bit of muscle memory, but score increases as a result of muscle memory are very low. You'd be better off investing that time shoring up your weak spots with targeted practice questions. Focused practice outside of taking full-length practice tests is important for improving specific skills, like using quadratic equations or understanding parallelisms. Doing the same type of question over and over again and drilling down on why you're making mistakes is the most effective path to improving your performance in those areas. Seeking Lavender (Provence 2012)/used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Resized from original. As you improve on the ACT overall, doing this kind of narrow practice is more efficient, because the more you study, the fewer areas and types of questions you’ll struggle with. Thus, it’s a better use of your time to focus in on your weak areas rather than taking an entire practice test and wasting time on doing questions that you already can ace. Practice tests also become useless or wasted without enough preparation before taking each one. If you take one, don’t learn any lessons (either by reflecting on wrong answers or reviewing theory and content you didn't know), and take another practice test, the second one will almost certainly be a waste of time and energy. What’s Next? Want to make sure you're mimicking the real test when you take practice tests? Learn about the eight steps to follow to get the most realistic ACT practice test experience here. Have a limited amount of time to study and want to make sure you divide it up wisely? Read our guide to using ACT practice tests over 20 hours of prep. How can you study your way to a perfect ACT score? PrepScholar co-founder and perfect scorer Allen Cheng walks you through his process in his article on how to get a perfect 36 on the ACT. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Argos Was an Important Greek Polis

Argos Was an Important Greek Polis Located by the Gulf of Argolis, Argos is an important polis of Greece in the southern section, the Peloponnese, specifically, in the area called the Argolid. It has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The inhabitants were known as á ¼Ë†Ã ÃŽ ³ÃŽ µÃ¡ ¿â€"ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ¹ (Argives), a term that is sometimes used for all the Greeks. Argos competed with Sparta for prominence in the Peloponnese but lost. The Gods and Heros of Argos Argos was named for an eponymous hero. The more familiar Greek heroes Perseus and Bellerophon are also connected with the city. In the Dorian invasion, when the descendants of Heracles, known as the Heraclidae, invaded the Peloponnese, Temenus received Argos for his lot. Temenos is one of the ancestors of the Macedonian royal house from which came Alexander the Great. Argives worshiped the goddess Hera in particular. They honored her with an Heraion and annual festival. There were also sanctuaries of Apollo Pythaeus, Athena Oxyderces, Athena Polias, and Zeus Larissaeus (located on the Argive acropolis known as Larissa). The Nemean Games were held in Argos from the end of the fifth century to the late fourth because the sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea had been destroyed; then, in 271, Argos became their permanent home. Telesilla of Argos was a female Greek poet who wrote around the turn of the fifth century B.C.  She is best known for rallying the women of Argos against the attacking Spartans under Cleomenes I, in about 494. Alternate Spellings: á ¼Å'Ï ÃŽ ³ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š Argos in Literature In the period of the Trojan War, Diomedes ruled Argos, but Agamemnon was his overlord, and so the whole Peloponnese is sometimes referred to as Argos. The Iliad Book VI mentions Argos in connection with mythological figures Sisyphus and Bellerophon: There is a city in the heart of Argos, pasture land of horses, called Ephyra, where Sisyphus lived, who was the craftiest of all mankind. He was the son of Aeolus, and had a son named Glaucus, who was father to Bellerophon, whom heaven endowed with the most surpassing comeliness and beauty. But Proetus devised his ruin, and being stronger than he, drove him from the land of the Argives, over which Jove had made him ruler. Some Apollodorus references to Argos: 2.1 Ocean and Tethys had a son Inachus, after whom a river in Argos is called Inachus....But Argus received the kingdom and called the Peloponnese after himself Argos; and having married Evadne, daughter of Strymon and Neaera, he begat Ecbasus, Piras, Epidaurus, and Criasus, who also succeeded to the kingdom. Ecbasus had a son Agenor, and Agenor had a son Argus, the one who is called the All-seeing. He had eyes in the whole of his body, and being exceedingly strong he killed the bull that ravaged Arcadia and clad himself in its hide; and when a satyr wronged the Arcadians and robbed them of their cattle, Argus withstood and killed him.Thence [Danaus] came to Argos and the reigning king Gelanor surrendered the kingdom to him; and having made himself master of the country he named the inhabitants Danai after himself. 2.2 Lynceus reigned over Argos after Danaus and begat a son Abas by Hypermnestra; and Abas had twin sons Acrisius and Proetus by Aglaia, daughter of Mantineus.... They divided the whole of the Argive territory between them and settled in it, Acrisius reigning over Argos and Proetus over Tiryns. Sources Argos The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996. Albert Schachter Argos, Cults The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Ed. Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth. Oxford University Press 2009. The Traditional Enmity Between Sparta and Argos: The Birth and Development of a MythThomas KellyThe American Historical Review, Vol. 75, No. 4 (Apr., 1970), pp. 971-1003 Reviving Nemeas Games

Reaction of a certain article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reaction of a certain article - Essay Example The median is a measure of central tendency in that it is a statistic that generalizes the typical values of members of a sample or population. The median as a measure of central tendency and location parameter is robust and resistant to the effects of outliers, compared to the mean and mode. A data set can be symmetric or skewed. When a data set is symmetric, the right and left hand sides of the distribution are to a great extent balanced around the mean (Stuart 62). Typically, a symmetric distribution is one in which the mean, mode and median are equal or almost equal. The left and right tails of the distribution, therefore, have more or less the same length. On the other hand, when a data set is skewed, the right and left hand sides of the distribution are not balanced around the mean (Rider 149). The measures of central tendency associated with the distribution also tend to be unequal. Furthermore, the tails of the distribution tend to be unequal; one longer than the other. Generally, the skewness of a distribution may hint to the presence of outliers or measurement errors. In his article, The Median Isnt the Message, Jay Gould rightly defines median as â€Å"the half-way point† (Gould par. 2). Gould also rightly notes that the median is a measure of central tendency which, like the mean, can be exploited to one’s advantage when generalizing situations (Gould par. 2). In his article, Gould seeks to convince his audience that the median is not a perfect measure of a distribution and may be subject to misinterpretation. The author also seeks to clarify that in as much as the median is a measure of central tendency, its interpretation depends on whether or not the distribution is normal or skewed, and, if skewed, the direction of the skew. In his case for example, he would have assumed that he had just about eight months to live owing to his medical

HowwastheUnited NationshapedbythefailureoftheLeagueofNations Essay

HowwastheUnited NationshapedbythefailureoftheLeagueofNations - Essay Example League of Nations was not a state, it was commonly acknowledged and established entity through the mutual consent of the countries from all over the world. The pioneer of this idea was American President Woodrow Wilson who was famously known for his 14 points gave the idea of an organization of similar magnitude that would set the world on its footings for development and progress (Hakim, 2002, 16). League of Nations was an effective entity on many accounts; however, it failed on numerous fronts and as a result made the countries feel the need of replacing it by a more effective entity. The more effective entity came into existence after the Second World War. That Entity was called United Nations Organization (Conforti, 2005, 6). Briefly put, United Nations Organisation came into existence because of the inability, weaknesses, and silence of League of Nations in many cases (Arp, 2013, 717). The real need and purpose of establishing United Nations organization can be understood by com prehending the overall structure and working of League of Nations and further looking into the areas where League of Nations failed to deliver. Based on that an analysis and observation can be drawn which would allow understanding the establishment of United Nations Organisations. ... g about immediate end to disputes, resolving them through good counsels and establishing global order that would allow overall development and progress of humanity (Johnstone, 2009, 1). Despite the similarity in agenda, the former suffered on account of its structure and weaknesses in its outer formed units. League of Nations lacked several necessary councils and bodies that are part of United Nations and now U.N stands in a much better position than the predecessor global organization. Broadly it was the political failure of League of Nations that invoked the need and realization for an entity that would be far stronger than the predecessor and would guarantee peace across the globe. Achievements of United Nations Organizations: Despite the number of minor weak links of U.N, the organization stands firm and better than its predecessor on multiple accounts. Since its inception nearly six decades ago, the entity has enabled preventing any major war outbreak that might engulf the major states in a war. The world since the establishment of United Nations has seen the complete stoppage of any nuclear attack by any other country unlike the days of League of Nations when United States of America launched a nuclear strike upon Japan’s twin cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Watson, 2010, 33). The fact that every country on the surface of earth is part of the United Nations General Assembly adds to the strength and positives of U.N as an entity. The number has been constantly increasing and it has not seen any withdrawal by any nation in the manner League of Nations did. Socioeconomic facet of U.N: United Nations Organizations has a far more comprehensive and stronger socioeconomic domain. It is a multifaceted entity that aims at eradicating poverty, literacy issues,

Using An Electric Motor Fan Engineering Essay

Using An Electric Motor Fan Engineering Essay The resistance value for experiment 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 calculated and was 93.23 , 101.01 and 100.90 respectively. The effect of voltage increase on temperature was recoded and how power is lost as heart was understood. How electrical current generate magnetic field was observed by using compasses and explained. An experiment was also carried out and explained in to how electromagnetic field is used to control electrical circuits involving more than one circuit in a relay. The change of electrical energy to mechanical was also investigated by using an electric motor-fan. Background Despite the famous experiment Benjamin Franklin, he did not invented electricity. Electricity exists naturally. It has always been around. A good example of electric flow that occurs naturally is lightening. Lightening is a flow of electrons between the ground and clouds. When clouds rub against each other or other objects they become charged. When the potential difference between the clouds and ground reaches a certain level a flow of electrons balances the charge, this exhibits a flash of light or lightening1. Electrical systems and components can be classified into several capabilities and used for many different applications. Electrical components and systems can be used to heat, power, sense, drive, detect, indicate, to transmit and receive data2. Electrical equipment such as light bulbs, batteries and electric generators are not needed for electric city to exist, although designed to use and harness electric city. If potential difference or voltage is maintained across a conductor an electric flow occurs, Figure1. The currents magnitude depends on the voltage. The Ohms law states that the current through a conductor between the two points is directly proportional to the potential difference across the two points. Therefore if the potential difference applied across a conductor is changed the current will also change. If a device follows the Ohms law the graph voltage vs current should have a straight line3. By rearranging the equation 1, voltage can be calculated; in addition the resistance of material can simply calculated by dividing the voltage to the current see equation 1. V R=V/I Figure1. An electric potential across a conductor3 Equation 13 The two types of circuits are series and parallel. Total resistance in series circuit can be determined by adding the individual resistors resistance. To find the resistance of two or more resistors connected in parallel, the sum of the inverse individual resistance is used2, Equation2. Equation 24 In electrical circuit some power is lost as heat. Resistance and heat loss is directly proportional for a given volts. Therefore if the volt is increased the resistance will increase, this will then result in a great deal of heat being lost3. When there is a need to control more than one circuit, a relay is used. Relay is a switch operated by electric. The mechanical movement of a relay is often controlled by magnetic force. The flow of current through the relay coil generates a magnetic field and changes the switch by attracting a lever. Relay aid one circuit to switch to another circuit and operate completely separate from the initial circuit5. Relay coil NO COM NC Figure 2. Relay contact5 Key COM  = Common, always connect to this, it is the moving part of the switch. NC  = Normally Closed, COM is connected to this when the relay coil is  off NO  = Normally Open, COM is connected to this when the relay coil is  on If an electrical current flows through a wire, a magnetic field is created due to the moving charges. Figure 3 demonstrates the magnetic fields in a straight conductor. The magnetic field for a straight conductor circles around the conductor. As illustrated from figure 4, a wire is coiled up to make a solenoid. The flow of the current determines the magnetic field direction. Each loop experiences its own magnetic field and the total magnetic field is the sum of individual loop. In addition the magnitude of the total magnetic field of a solenoid is directly proportional to the number of coils a coiled wire has7. Magnetic Field Around a Wire VRML Model Figure 3. Magnetic fields in Straight conductor7 Magnetic Field of a Solenoid VRML Model Figure 4. Magnetic fields in solenoid7 Electric motor is one of the very useful appliances use electric power to turn in to mechanical energy. To understand how an electric motor work simply imagine a nail wrapped with a wire and connected to a battery Figure 5. If the battery is connected to the wire, the nail would eventually become a magnet and have a south and North Pole. If the nail is suspended in the middle of a horseshoe magnet as in figure 5, the north end of the nail would be repelled away from the horseshoes north end and attract to the south end of the horseshoe. By doing this the nail would half turn and stop at the original place. To maintain a full turn the electromagnetic field of the nail should be flipped at a very precise moment. This is done simply by changing the direction of the electrons flow6. http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/motor-nail-in-horseshoe.gif Figure 5. Electro magnet in a horseshoe magnet6 Experimental Experiment 1.1: Electrical circuit As illustrated in figure 6, a series circuit was set up and one resistor was used across the circuit. Multi-meters were used to record the voltage across the resistor and current. Five different voltages in the range of 2 to 12 volts were applied and the current was recorded for each for each volts. Power R1 V A Figure 6. Series one resistor circuit2 Experiment 1.2 Similar procedure was used to record the voltage and current for the second experiment, this time though two resistors were used. V Power R1 R2 A Figure 7. Series two resistor circuit2 Experiment 1.3 In the third experiment two resistors was set up in a parallel circuit. Similar method to experiment one and two was used to record the voltage and current. Power A R1 R2 V Figure 8. Two resistors in parallel2 Experiment 2: Temperature vs. voltage In the fourth experiment investigates the relationship between voltage and temperature across a resistor. Similar circuit to experiment was, but this time one of the multi-meter was used set to record temperature. A thermocouple as shown in figure 9 was used to detect the temperature change and this was fed to the multi-meter8. http://images.picotech.com/se001-thermocouple.jpg Figure 9. Thermocouple8 Experiment 3: Relay Figure 10 shows the mechanism of the relay. A switch was used to control the relay by switching between the two circuits. Figure 10. Diagram for connection of experiment with relay and LEDs2 Experiment 4: Electric motor Fan An electric motor was used and given a power of 12 volt. Electric current was controlled by a switch and the fan rotated as due to the magnetic field generated by the electric. Experiment 5: Magnetism In these experiment two methods was used to test electro magnetism of electric of the flow of current. A wire used to flow electricity and magnetic compass was placed around the wire. In the second method a coiled wire was used and compasses was placed in the inside and outside of the coiled. Results Table 1. Experiment one and two Single resistor circuit Two resistor in series Two resistors in parallel V Amps Temperature C0 V Amps V Amps 2 0.0198 24 2 0.0099 2 0.0396 4 0.0390 25 4 0.0198 4 0.0793 6 0.0990 26 6 0.0297 6 0.1189 8 0.0792 28 8 0.0396 8 0.1587 10 0.0990 30 10 0.0495 10 0.1981 Note: The value of current highlighted for single resistor at 6 volts is an anomaly. Figure 11. Current vs Voltage Table 2. Resistance calculation Total resistance/ÃŽ © Power in v Series circuit Parallel Circuit with 2 resistors 1 resistors 2 Resistors 2 101.01 202.02 50.50 4 102.56 202.02 50.44 6 60.60 202.02 50.46 8 101.01 202.02 50.40 10 101.01 202.02 50.47 Average 93.23 202.02 50.45 Below is resistance calculation narrated; One resister series circuit = Two resisters Series circuit = Two resistors Parallel Circuit Using equation 2, R = (Assuming R1 = R2) 50.45 = R1 R1 +R2 = 100.90 ÃŽ © Experiment 2: Temperature vs. voltage The graph shows a positive correlation between voltage and temperature increase. Figure 12. Voltage vs Temperature Experiment 3: Relay When the switch was turned on LED one turned on and when the switch turned of LED one light gone out and LED two turned on. Experiment 4: Electric motor Fan The electric motor-fun started to spin only when the electric current started to flow. This was controlled by a switch for convenience. Experiment 5: Magnetism The results of electro magnetism were observed in experiment 5. When a single wire was used the compass needles aligned themselves towards the direction of the current flow. In the coiled wire when the compass was placed inside the coiled wire the compass pointed towards the direction of the electric flow. When the compasses was placed outside the solenoid the compasses experiences a great deal of deflection in comparison with the single wired cable. Discussion Experiment 1.1 1.3 circuit Figure 11 demonstrates an increase in voltage resulted on an increase in current. For the circuits with two resistors in parallel and series the graph was showing a positive correlation between the voltage increase and current increase. For the series circuit with one resister there was an anomaly when the voltage was set to 6 volts. The increase in current at 6 volts was too high, and this resulted on the graph being nonlinear. To make assumptions that the circuit obeys Ohmic law the graph should be linear. Possible source of errors; Human error (error when recording figures) Faulty multi-meter being used Faulty resistors or Faulty power supply reading Experiment 2: Temperature vs voltage As illustrated in figure 12, as the voltage increase the temperature across the resistor also increased. The temperature was directly proportional to the voltage increase. Temperature increase was steady for every additional volts applied for up to 6 volts. Temperature increase was doubled then doubled when 8 volts was applied. Some of the factors that can affect the amount of heat loss in a circuit are; Type of material used for wiring or resistor (some material are good conductors and some are very good insulator) Wire diameter (the smaller the diameter the harder for the electrons to move through) Length of wiring Temperature of the material/conductor (lower temperature result in lower resistance and indeed lower heat loss)3 The sharp increase in temperature was due to possible errors; Faulty thermocouple Leaving a particular voltage slightly longer than the another Breathing near the thermocouple (increase in the overall temperature) Experiment 3 Relay Figure 10 demonstrates the relay experiment. Since the relay mechanism was very small to be observed by the naked eyes LED was used to indicate if the electrical flow was switching in between the two circuits every time the switch was hit. TQ team7 States that the total magnetic field in a loop is the sum of its individual loop. Since moving charged particles generate electromagnetic field many charged particles generate a higher magnetic field. Therefore higher resistance in the wire coiling of a relay could cause the relay not being able to attracting a lever. Higher resistance in relays could be caused by rusting or using materials with low conductivity. Experiment 4 Electric motor-fan The power used in the Electric motor-fan was DC current. The current in DC always goes through one direction. The electric-fan began rotating when the current starts to flow. The current flow was switched over, as the polarity of the volt switched over, it was expected the motor start running the opposite direction instead the motor was stopped. The fan was possibly fitted with a device that only allows a one direction flow of current9. A diode was one of the possibilities that the electric motor-fan was fitted by. A diode is a two terminal device, with features of some systematic transfer of electric city character. A diode have a zero resistance to electric flow in one direction and high resistance (100%) resistance in the other direction, therefore electrical current flow only in one direction. Experiment 5 Magnetism As demonstrated from figure 3 and 4 electric current produces magnetic field. The compass used for the single wire deflected and seen aligning itself with the direction of the electric current. By observing the deflection of the compass needle, the North and South Pole of the magnetic field was deducted10. Conclusion The goal of the experiment was to understand the role of electricity in modern technology. Resistance in series and parallel circuits were tried, electromagnetism and its applications explained. The experiments deduction narrated below; With the exception of one anomaly result the circuits in experiment one obeys Ohmic law, therefore a linear graphs. In series circuit the resistance value doubled when another resistor was added. As it can be observed from table 2 resistance values for the parallel with two resistors was almost half the value for the series circuit with one resistor. Parallel circuit resistance was very small when compared with the resistance value in the series circuit with the same number of resistors. The value for the resistors calculated as 93.23 , 101.01 and 100.90 respectively. In experiment two, power dissipation promotes temperature increase . Relay experiment demonstrates the control of more than one circuit by using magnetic field of electric current. Charged moving particles produce a magnetic field Electric motor-fan converts electrical power in to mechanical by the help on a magnet inside the motor. Compasses used to observe the direction of an electric current. The grater the loop the grater the deflection the compass experience. Figure 3 and 4 demonstrates the magnetic field in a single wire and solenoid.

Ibus Essay

The multiple choice questions will be conceptual, not factual. In other words, I will not be asking country specific questions and details; but will ask you to identify concepts, pick the correct characteristics/dimensions of concepts from alternatives and apply concepts to real life situations. All chapters are almost equally represented in this section. 3 descriptive/conceptual essay questions (8 to 12 points, 30 points total): This section is again conceptual. I might ask you to describe a theory or concept, identify and classify certain dimensions of cultures, or fill a table (that I provided) with missing information. If you cannot remember the terminology, you can define things in your own words (and get partial credit to the least). All chapters are fair game for this section. 1 integrative/comprehensive essay question (15 points): For this question, I will ask you to take a position on a course related issue. Obviously, there is no single right answer. You will be evaluated based on the quality and depth of your argument rather than the position you take. While you are not required to know country/marketplace specific information, don’t hesitate to use examples to support your position. To answer this question, you might need to information from more than one chapter. The exam is closed book, but you can bring a paper dictionary (non electronic). I will not be using an IBM sheet for the multiple-choice section; this means that you can use either a pen or pencil to answer the questions. You won’t be graded for grammar, spelling or your essay skills, so don’t panic about it. There is no optional question at this exam.

Customer service contributes to customer satisfaction Essay

Introduction: In this Assignment I want to describe how consistent and reliable customer service contributes to customer satisfaction, explain why presentation, interpersonal and communication skills are important to customer service. And I will also anticipate and meet the needs of at least three different customers in a range of situations. Task 1 In this task I should describe how consistent and reliable customer service contributes to customer satisfaction. The national consumer council believes that smart businesses should ensure that the same member of staff deals with an individual customer from the beginning to the end what means if you welcome a customer you should try to deal with the customer and help the customer till the customer wants to go or dos not need your help anymore or till he buy something. Whilst this is the ideal, it isn’t always possible. Therefore, most organisations provide special training to staff to ensure that each person has the same approach with external customer. This is likely to focus on the following aspects of the job. * Scope of job role – You should know what you can do and what you can not do as part of your job and the type of issues you must refer to a supervisor. This should not stop you using your initiative to resolve a straightforward problem quickly, for example if you have nothing to do you should use your own initiative to look for something to do till a customer comes or if a customer has a problem by not finding what he wants to buy you can ask them if they need your help and if you can help them you should help by explaining where they can get it from and you should take care that you do not overstep the limits of your job role by making arrangement or promises that is outside your authority. * Type and quality of product or service – That means you should know the range of goods or services that are available, if you are selling consumable items, such as chocolates. Anyone who sells expensive items or complex services should also be able to give good advice on the best buys or most reliable suppliers, based on their own knowledge, feedback from other costumers and press reports. * Accessibility/Availability – There is nothing more irritating for customers that to want something and then find they are not available. This can relate to a product they have seen advertised but which has now sold out for example if you have an appointment with someone who cannot see you for some time or a room in a hotel which is fully booked. In this situation your job is to sympathise with the customer’s disappointment; try to help them if you can and pass on the information to your employer. This is important. If you have received many enquiries for the same thing in a day and disappointed most people, the stock levels for this product should be reviewed. * Staff attitude and behaviour – The importance of all staff having a consistently positive attitude and behaving courteously and professionally to customers cannot be underestimated. This means if your staffs have good attitude and behaviour the customers will feel comfortable and free to talk to the staff and it also makes customers feel valued and respected. * Timing – Approaching people at the wrong time, or if they are stressed, upset or busy can get a bad response. If you do this by accident, simply apologise and say you will contact them later. Being aware of your timing also means not keeping people waiting unduly; arranging appointments, phone calls and deliveries at your customers convenience, not yours; and never failing to call people back exactly as you promised. By this way you appear reliable to the customers. * Meeting specific customer needs – The skills of meeting customer needs involves identifying these by talking to the customer, and then matching them to the range of goods and services that you can offer. Most customers are pleased with this aspect of customer service because it gives them a sense of importance. Task 2 In this task I should explain why presentation, interpersonal and communication skills are important to customer service. Presentation skills – These skills relate to me as a person. What do other people see as I approach? Do I attract them or alarm them? This has nothing to do with good looks but everything to do with a welcoming smile, appropriate clothes and a smart appearance. Presentation skills include: * Body language; Body language is one of the presentations skills. Body language is a term of communication using body movements. One of the basic body language signal is when a person is crossing his arms across the chest this can mean that the person is putting up a barrier between himself and others but it can also mean that a the person is expressing opposition this is specially so, if the person is leaning away from the speaker. But crossing his arms across the chest can also mean that the person is deeply thinking about something. You can show someone that you are interested in what he is telling you if you keep eye contact. * Another presentations skill is also the dress code which means if you work in an office you have to wear a dress or if you are working somewhere else where they have their own uniform you must wear their uniform and it has to be clean. Many people will consider it impolite if your dress is too far above the dress code. Too far means if you are working for example in ASDA and you are wearing a coat to work, many customers will not know that you are one of the staffs. But if you are working in an environment where they don’t have to wear any uniform, then you must have a good sense to dress properly. * Facial expression is also a presentation skill; facial expression is a result from one or more motions of the muscles of the face. This movement convey the emotional state of the individual to observers. Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. Expressions are closely tied to emotion. It can be nearly impossible to avoid expressions for certain emotions because if you see someone that you think he or she is highly unattractive you might show a brief expression of disgust before you will be able to reassume a neutral expression and if you don’t have this skill it may be hard for you to work in an environment with different customers or other staff members. Interpersonal skills are how people relate to one another, in other words it means how you behave when you are dealing with other people. Having positive interpersonal skills increase the productivity in a business. Interpersonal skills include: * First impression; your interpersonal skills are on show from the moment you greet a customer to the time you say goodbye and if your first impression to a customer is good the customer might come again. * Behaviour – This is what you do and why you do it in other words it is the actions or reactions from you, for example if you are a positive person, you will normally behave in a cheerful and friendly way to other peoples. * Attitude – Your attitude is the way you think. For example if you are depressed you will be negative, if you are fed up then you will be bored and if you are happy you will be friendly to other people. Communication skills – communication is a process whereby information is imparted by a sender to a receiver in other words you need to speak to you customer as well and how you do this is important. If you are communicating with a customer you must look after your * Your speech – this means that you should speak loud and clearly because if you are speaking too quietly or miss the endings of words, then the customer might have problems to understand you. * Your language – this means that you should use appropriate language for your customer because it is not appropriate to use slangs and jargons since the customer will not understand what you are talking about. * The pitch of your voice – this means that you should take care of how you sound. For example if you have to talk to a group of people you should raise your head and speak more loudly and clearly but without shouting. And you should know how to pitch your voice to hold the interests of your customer because if you sound monotone the customer will soon lose the interest. Task 3 In this task I should anticipate and meet the needs of at least three different customers in a range of situations. * Accessibility for disable peoples for example those with wheelchairs. The business makes their stores accessible for wheelchair user by having big signs that are clear and easy to read, a ramp as an alternative to steps, the doors should also be wide and easy to open and the widths are allowing wheelchairs and the height of counter areas and shelves also allows wheelchairs. The business should also have toilets that meet the needs of wheelchair users. And the staff should also take time to help peoples in wheelchairs if they need help. * Health and safety – The business makes their store healthy and safe by making sure that all selling environments are assassed for risk so that any hazards are minimised, it means, the business must keep the workplace clean, they must make sure that their floors, steps, stairs, passages and gangways are properly maintained and it is kept from any obstruction and any substance likely to cause a person to slip and fall. If you, as a staff member, see something that can affect the health and safety in the business then you should do something about it before something happened, for example if you see something on the floor that can make someone fall then you should take the thing away from the floor or if the floor is wet you should put a sign there that the floor is wet so that no one can fall. * Email – The business makes sure that they have a email account so that they can send emails to customers and others. If you send a email you should make sure that you chose the right message style and layout and that you follow the recommended business format. And the email should also be written in a courteous and tactful way and also the wording should be appropriate for the situation. But it will be useful if for example you want to send an email to a customer you should mark the email as high priority if it will be important for the customer. And for you as a staff member you should have the skills to send an email which means that you should be a able to apply the appropriate customer service an to make sure that you chose a good tone and degree of formality depending upon the person and your reason for writing and it is important that the business mails should comply with organisational rules and recognised standards.