Introduction
As service providers, we sometime find ourselves facing or handling "difficult customers". When we have to deliver "bad news", say "no" to customers or to people in power, we're often tempted to placate with a "yes". It is indeed a challenge trying to balance the need to be service-oriented and the need to deliver difficult messages to our customers. This one-day course teaches service providers how to manage difficult customer situations more effectively that work towards joint problem-solving/agreement.
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
- Identify what causes customers to be demanding or difficult and the consequences
- Recognise and manage your own responses
- Develop strategies for managing different types of difficult customers
- Gain confidence in handling customers appropriately
- Develop communication skills on empathetic listening, defusing conflict/anger, speaking assertively
Course Outline
Course Outline
The Problem Tree Activity: Defining Difficult Customers
- Who are Difficult?
- What makes your Customers Difficult?
- Differentiating between Upset Customers and Difficult Customers
Understanding Different Communication Channels and Their Effect
- Face-to-face Interaction
- On the Telephone
Assertive Communication
- Ways of relating to others: being passive, assertive and aggressive
- Goal of Assertive Communication
- Benefits of Assertive Communication
- Assertive Self-Assessment
- Types of Assertion
- Assertive Communication Skills
Strategies for Handling Dissatisfaction
- Understanding the nature of Customers’ Problems and Emotions
- Managing Our Own Responses
Communicating confidently and calmly, under pressure and saying things in the right way
- Listening and Responding with Empathy
- Avoiding certain Triggering Words
- Defusing Phrases & The Art of Saying No
Managing the Extremes
- When and how to address what is unacceptable
Who Should Attend
Who Should Attend
This highly participative course is designed for anyone who has regular customer contact (face to face or over the telephone) and wants to develop their skills in delivering great customer service.
The Trainer
Trainer's Profile
Samantha Sim brings with her a solid background in modern learning concepts and techniques. She has over 25 years of experience working with business professionals, corporations and government agencies in various industries. Her strengths lie in customer service, teambuilding, personal effectiveness and image management. She has partnered corporations like Raffles Hotel, Banyan Tree, Frasers Hospitality, IATA, SIA, Far East Organization, Aspire, Bosch, Unilever, Union Bank, Starbucks, Performance Motors, BMS (China), Union Bank (Manila), International SOS, Russian Railways, Pat’s School House, PSA, Raffles Medical Group, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singhealth, ST Engineering group and others, effectively improving their performance in targeted areas ST Engineering group, Busybees Asia, Seager Inc. For all her workshops, she prides herself in customizing the learning activities to unlock potential & grow learning individuals. She knows there is a big difference between training and learning: Learning requires repeat practice, spread over time, to transform the learned concepts into skills that enable the learner to use the new knowledge smoothly in one’s own work environment. With that strong belief, she often injects on-the-spot practical, relevant activities that not only makes learning fun and exciting but also for easy transfer of learning. In her previous appointment with Singapore Airlines (SIA), Samantha was responsible for professionalizing a team of 800 cabin crew members committed to SIA Cabin Crew Training Vision of developing service professionals of distinction within a learning culture. Drawing upon 10 years of multicultural experience in the airline industry, she continues to innovate and improve, offering training & consultancy services. She has helped many organizations facilitate operational projects, collaborating with internal key stakeholders to assess & fine-tune workflow efficiency to trouble-shoot potential issues and provide feasible solutions and/or recommend targeted improvements. Her years of consultancy and training experiences have provided her with an unusual sensitivity to the learning needs of different levels of working professionals in various industries. Her passion in learning also leads her to build bite-size concept videos & story-telling situational scenarios that incorporate her participants’ work situations to further captivate her online learners. And she runs selective workshops in Mandarin.
Workshops for Customer Service include
- Managing Difficult Customers Professionally
- Mastering Service Recovery with Confidence
- Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: The Human Moment
- The White-Glove Service
- Engaging the Public Professionally (for events such as NDP, Open House etc.)
- Service Innovation
- Service Leadership
- Writing to Customers with Empathy & Tact
Workshops for Personal Effectiveness & Others include
- Transformational Leadership
- The Emotionally Intelligent Leader
- Enhancing Performance through Effective Supervision
- Growing Others through Coaching
- Conflict Management
- Effective Facilitation Skills
- Presenting with Impact
- Presentation Slides Essentials
- Behavioral Interviewing Skills
- Business Etiquette & Corporate Image
- Personality Analysis
Educational & professional qualifications
- Certified Behavioral Consultant (DiSC & MBTI)
- Certified Six Seconds EQ Practitioner
- ACTA-certified trainer
- SQC (Singapore Quality Class) Assessor certification
- Master of Arts, National University of Singapore
- Bachelor of Arts, National University of Singapore
