Communication
This domain tests whether you can communicate clearly with customers, colleagues and supervisors, in speech and in writing, and whether you can recognise where communication breaks down.
The communication process
Sender → message → channel → receiver → feedback, with noise (physical, psychological, language) distorting the message at any stage. A message is only complete when feedback confirms it was understood.
The 7 Cs
Clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, courteous. Apply them to a billing query, a stock request or an email to a supplier.
Listening and questioning
Active listening means full attention, no interruption, nodding, paraphrasing ('So the seal was already broken when you opened it') and confirming the action. Open questions explore needs; closed questions confirm details such as size or quantity. Tone, posture, eye contact and personal space carry as much as words.
Workplace etiquette
Greet the customer courteously, use the customer's preferred language where possible, avoid jargon and internal codes, and never discuss other customers. On the telephone: answer within three rings, give the store name, ask permission before placing on hold. In email: specific subject line, correct salutation, short paragraphs, a clear action and deadline, and proofread before sending.
Worked example
A customer writes that a delivered mixie arrived with a cracked jar. Reasoning for the reply: open with an acknowledgement and apology for the experience; state exactly what will happen (replacement dispatched within 48 hours, pickup of the damaged unit); give a reference number and a contact; close courteously. That structure is courteous, complete and concrete, and it commits only to what operations can deliver.
Traps that cost marks
Interrupting a complaining customer; promising a resolution date in writing without checking; blaming the customer ('you broke it'); and using English-only technical jargon with a customer who is more comfortable in Hindi.