Handling Difficult Customers on the Phone

Course details

In today's competitive business world, your customers expect high quality not only in your products, but also in the service that you provide.

On the phone, although you do not intend it, you may be perceived as being rude or insensitive. This is because you cannot rely on your body language or facial expressions to help you convey your message. You can only use words and your tone of voice to convey your meaning.

What do you gain from this workshop?

This workshop focuses on the challenges in dealing with upset or difficult customers on the phone.

It takes you through essential telephone techniques you must possess. Then it takes you through difficult service situations you may face in the course of your work. You will learn how to handle these situations with poise and professionalism, while maintaining the goodwill and preserving the relationship with the customer.

You will also learn how to improve your telephone voice, and how to choose the best words and phrases to use, so that you can handle difficult callers confidently.

Workshop Objectives

• Know how your telephone behaviour can affect the organisation's image.
• Improve your telephone voice and use words and phrases effectively.
• Acquire the correct mindset in handling difficult callers.
• Gain the confidence to speak professionally on the telephone.
• Develop empathy skills for interacting with difficult callers.
• Know the best things to say in difficult or sensitive situations.

Workshop Highlights

Using the Telephone Professionally

• Extending a verbal handshake
• Listening actively
• The sound of service - voice, articulation and speech patterns

Responding to Negative Emotions on the Phone

• Who is serving?
• The caller on a human level
• Acknowledging the cause of unhappiness
• Responding to callers who don't think you can help
• Responding to callers who insult your intelligence
• Responding to angry or aggressive callers
• Transferring calls for angry callers
• Handling the caller who won't quit

Closing the Conversation

• Preparing the caller for what will happen next
• Signing off