Home / Non-Accredited / Sales, Marketing & Customer Care / Handling a Difficult Customer Course (1 day)
Quick Look Course Summary:Handling a Difficult Customer Course (1 day)
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Length: 1 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 5,654 EX VAT 3 Person R 3,982 EX VAT 10 Person R 2,954 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
Handling a Difficult Customer – self-paced online, 6 months’ access: R750 per learner (ex VAT); teams of 10 or more pay less.
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Handling a Difficult Customer Course (1 day)
Staff who stay calm under pressure, defuse angry or rude customers and turn a tense exchange into a customer you keep.
Angry callers, rude walk-ins and customers who cannot be satisfied are part of the job in many front-line roles. Without a method, staff either argue, give in or carry the tension into the next interaction – and good people burn out and leave. This one-day course on handling difficult customers gives your team a repeatable way to stay calm, read the situation and turn a tense exchange into a retained customer.
The day starts with the employee, not the customer. Delegates look at the attitude and the internal and external stress triggers that shape how they react, then use Transactional Analysis (Parent, Adult and Child) to stay in a calm, problem-solving mode when the customer is not. They work through why customers become difficult, the different techniques for the telephone and face to face, and cultural sensitivity, then play out four set scenarios: the angry, the rude, the culturally different and the impossible-to-please customer.
The day ends with follow-up after the complaint is resolved, because a complaint handled well is one of the best chances a business has to keep a customer for good.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Fewer complaints escalated to supervisors and managers
- Customers retained after a bad experience
- Less stress-related absence and turnover in front-line teams
- A consistent, professional response to rude and abusive behaviour
For your delegates
- A clear sequence to follow in any tense interaction
- Ways to manage your own stress before and after a hard call
- Practice on angry, rude and impossible-to-please scenarios
- Words and body language that calm rather than inflame
What delegates will be able to do
- Recognise how your own attitude and stress levels affect a difficult interaction
- Identify internal and external stress triggers and reduce their effect
- Use Transactional Analysis to keep a conversation in Adult mode
- Explain why customers become difficult and what each type needs
- Listen, build rapport and offer a clear solution to an upset caller
- Use positive words and body language with an upset customer face to face
- Respond with sensitivity to angry, rude and culturally diverse customers
- Follow up after a complaint in a way that keeps the customer
Who should attend
Customer service and contact centre staff, receptionists, counter and branch staff, collections and accounts staff, and anyone who regularly deals with upset, demanding or rude customers – in person or on the telephone. Supervisors who handle escalated complaints benefit too.
Course outline
Day 1 – Staying in control and resolving the problem
The right attitude starts with you
- Why dealing with difficult people is an advanced communication skill
- Gratitude, health and positive thinking as daily habits
- Finding calm before you pick up the next call
- Pre-course reflection: your hardest customer this month
Managing stress from inside and outside
- Internal triggers: irritability, fatigue and feeling underappreciated
- External triggers: noise, poor ergonomics, friction with colleagues and demanding supervisors
- Resetting between interactions
- Why organisations that look after staff get better customer service
Transactional Analysis for customer service
- The Parent, Adult and Child ego states
- Spotting crossed transactions in a customer exchange
- Moving a conversation back into Adult mode
- Practice with sample dialogues
Why customers become difficult
- Customers who need to vent
- Customers who want someone held accountable
- Customers who want a resolution
- Customers who are unhappy in general
- Acknowledge the emotion, then address the issue
On the telephone and face to face
- Listening and verbal acknowledgement on the telephone
- Controlling pace and tone to slow an escalating caller
- Avoiding dead-end phrases such as 'that's our policy'
- Open posture, eye contact and reading non-verbal cues in person
- Offering a concrete next step and a timeline
Scenarios, follow-up and action plan
- Role-plays: the angry, rude, culturally different and impossible-to-please customer
- Cultural sensitivity with a diverse South African customer base
- Following up by telephone, email or letter after the complaint
- Personal action plan and evaluation
How it is delivered
One day, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to 20. Workbook, scenario cards and a personal action plan included. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“…the general feedback received was that the course was very informative and participative. The training and the facilitator was of a high quality. We highly recommend BOTI for training services.”
“The sessions … were exceptionally well-organized and seamlessly integrated into our schedule. We were highly impressed by the calibre of the training and the deep expertise demonstrated by the facilitator.”
“The facilitator was excellent and took time to ensure that the employee understood the content and was able to apply the learning in order to develop the portfolio of evidence.”
Frequently asked questions
Can you run this course at our offices?
Yes. Most groups are trained at the client's premises anywhere in South Africa; we can also host it at a BOTI venue or deliver it live online.
How many people can attend?
From one delegate to groups of 20. The price per delegate drops as the group grows – see the price table, or ask us for a quote.
Is it accredited?
No – it is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Can we use our own difficult-customer situations?
Yes. Share a few real cases beforehand (with personal details removed) and the facilitator turns them into the role-play scenarios.
How does this differ from the customer service courses?
The one-day Customer Service Excellence course covers everyday service skills. This course goes deeper into difficult customers and your own stress. The two-day Customer Service Excellence course combines service standards with a day on complaints and service recovery.
Can you run this course in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban?
Yes. We train on site at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and across South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online so a team spread over several offices can attend together.
Related courses
Get your price – the more delegates, the less each pays
Change the options to see your price per person, then email yourself the quote and course outline.
Contact us now – we reply within 15 minutes during office hours
Monday to Friday, 08:00–17:00. After hours, we reply on the next working day – or call 011 882 8853.