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January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers training course
Encountering difficult customer situations is an intrinsic part of dealing with customers & clients – whether they are internal or external to your business.
And with the ongoing frustrations and increasing pressures with the rising cost of living, stock shortages, employee shortages and so on, there has been a noticeable increase in the stress levels of both customers and staff who are all learning to navigate in a new world filled with restrictions and mental health challenges that we’ve never experienced before.
So it’s inevitable that this is manifesting in more complaints by customers and employees feeling under more pressure than ever.
But how many of your employees are truly equipped and have been trained to handle those situations?
Managing angry or upset customers effectively takes a lot of confidence and skill, yet most people have never been taught the skills. They are left to learn by trial and error, which often results in a poor outcome for your employee, the customer and ultimately, your business.
It’s also not uncommon for staff to fall back on their own internal viewpoints and belief systems and take things personally, which leads to a poor outcome for all stakeholders.
Whilst equipping your employees with the right skills to handle these situations and taking care of their mental health has always been important, there has never been a more critical time to provide your staff with the skills and confidence they need to handle a range of difficult customer situations.
The January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers course does just that – empowering your employees with the skills and confidence to handle any difficult customer situation with proven strategies that have been refined over decades.
The BEST course I've ever done!
In all my years of customer service, and we are now in the 4th decade of customer service, I have never done a course that answered so many questions I didn’t know I even needed an answer to.
Without a shadow of doubt, hands down, dead set – this was the BEST course I have ever taken about how to do my job. EVER.
Meeting Daniel and drinking up his enthusiasm for his work has re-sparked my desire for my job. I now have the tools and the understanding that I never had before, or if I had been given the tools, they were not explained very well, because now I get it. I get it, I never did before.
The TED talk, which I watched a couple of times over already, was perfection and I think everyone should watch it. Brilliant. I could go on.
The four of us from Dulux think this was amazing and to quote one of us, “Daniel is in the right profession.” Thank you.
Learn more about the course (video)
We recorded a short video with the CEO of CX Skills, Justin Tippett and course facilitator Daniel Ord providing some additional insight about the course and to enable you to hear and learn directly from the person who will be conducting the training for your employees.
Learn how to handle any difficult customer situation
The January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers training course teaches staff how to identify the different types of difficult customers and situations and then how to confidently identify and apply the correct solutions.
This course isn’t just a few words and phrases to use or some basic concepts scraped off Google. It’s a comprehensive, high-quality program that has been developed and refined over decades and is delivered over 2 x 4-hour sessions by an industry expert that will make a lasting lifetime impact on your employees.
From learning how to negotiate or how to say NO! effectively and with professionalism, the Managing Difficult Customers Training Course is the ideal program to help you or your team members handle difficult situations with grace, style and confidence.
As with all our CX Skills courses, this online course involves workshop exercises, quizzes, role-plays, videos, examples and more to make the course both enjoyable and, of course, to enable the learnings to be applied and with an average rating of 4.8/5, it’s easy to understand why this is one of our most popular courses.
This particular course is run publicly, meaning there will be others on the course in similar roles and situations, providing a great opportunity to share stories and ideas and make your employees feel that they are not alone in their challenges.
If you need to train larger groups or need more flexibility in the timing and would like to keep all the discussions ‘in-house’, please contact us for private training options.
January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers Course Quick Highlights
Who should do this course?
The January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers training course is designed to equip employees with the skills and confidence to manage any difficult situation when dealing with customers or colleagues, regardless of the industries, products or services.
As such, it’s suitable for anyone who deals with internal or external customers on a regular basis either over the phone or in-person with typical roles including:
- Contact Centre agents (sales or service)
- Customer service staff
- Retail/counter staff
- Administration/Office staff
- Hospitality staff
- Receptionists/personal assistants
- Education/Teachers
- Small Business owners
- Sales/Account Management
- Complaints teams
- Team Leaders
- Managers
Please note this entire course is specifically focused on dealing with difficult customers and situations. If you also need to learn more generic customer service skills, check out our customer service training programs and if you need to help your employees build their resilience skills, please refer to our Workplace Resilience courses.
Made me excited about my least favourite responsibility in my role at work
Dan was so friendly, informative, knowledgeable and engaging as an instructor and very funny to boot. He made a scary and daunting part of my role at work interesting & funny.
I’m excited to put his suggested approaches into action and see what kind of results I get with customers. And I have a heightened enthusiasm for trying to help our customers as best I can.
Very appreciative that my employer enrolled me in the course and would love the opportunity to do another and maybe even get to meet Dan in person!
Cannot recommend this course any more highly for any professionals who deal with customers.
Optimised for online training!
Whilst we’d been teaching this course for over 20 years face to face in a classroom setting (in a pre-COVID world!) we have now fully adapted this course to be delivered online and have been successfully doing so for the past two years so don’t worry, it’s still just as effective as you can read in the customer testimonials.
Our January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers course teaches course participants how to identify and manage difficult customers and situations with confidence.
This isn’t just boring textbook and video training – this course is delivered over 2 x 4-hour comprehensive sessions with a total of 8 hours of live training by world-renowned customer experience trainer Daniel Ord.
Short breaks are included to ensure our training is delivered effectively.
Four Powerful Customer Complaint Handling Modules
The January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers course comprises of four key modules delivered over two 4-hour sessions on separate days.
Session 1
Module 1. Considering Human Behaviour
- Using Transactional Analysis to understand Customer behaviour and our own behaviour
- The issue of changing someone else’s character
- The issue of ‘satisfying’ an Unhappy Customer
Module 2. Classifying the Classic Types of Difficult Situations
Learn the differences between them all the different types of difficult customers and how to handle them including:
- The Abusive Customer
- The Irritating Customer
- The Unhappy Customer
Module 3. Service Skills Requirements
The Classic use of Listening:
- Deciding whether to use Empathy or Affirmation
- What are the 5 levels of Empathy?
- What you must do when interacting with someone who is upset
Session 2
Module 4. Understanding your solution options
We’ll teach our proprietary UNER (R) model that will guide you on:
- How to Say YES
- How to say NO
- How to explain WHY
- How to provide a Conditional or Creative YES
- How and when to Escalate
Module 4. Understanding your solution options
We’ll teach our proprietary UNER (R) model that will guide you on:
- How to Say YES
- How to say NO
- How to explain WHY
- How to provide a Conditional or Creative YES
- How and when to Escalate
Looking for other suitable training courses?
We have a range of other courses suitable for customer service employees including Customer Service Essentials, Customer Service Phone Professional and the Workplace Resilience Essentials course.
Managing Difficult Situations Workshop - Exceptional!
I recently had the privilege of attending Daniel Ord’s workshop on “Managing Difficult Situations”, and it was nothing short of outstanding. Daniel’s expertise and passion for the subject matter truly shine through in his teaching style, making it a transformative experience for all participants.
From the moment the workshop began, Daniel’s enthusiasm was infectious. He has an exceptional ability to convey complex concepts in an understandable and relatable way. I left the workshop with a profound understanding of how to navigate challenging scenarios, both in my professional and personal life.
What truly sets Daniel apart is his commitment to engagement. Throughout the session, he encouraged active participation and created an inclusive atmosphere where questions and discussions were not just welcome but encouraged. It’s evident that he genuinely cares about each participant’s learning journey.
The real-world examples and practical strategies shared during the workshop were invaluable. Daniel’s ability to connect theory to practical application made the content highly relevant and actionable.
The workshop was impeccably organized, and Daniel’s presentation skills were top-notch. He kept the audience engaged and motivated throughout, making the entire experience enjoyable and enlightening.
In conclusion, I cannot recommend Daniel Ord’s workshops enough. If you’re looking to enhance your skills in managing difficult situations, he is the go-to expert. Thank you, Daniel, for an enriching and eye-opening workshop. I eagerly look forward to attending more of your sessions in the future.
If you’re considering attending one of Daniel’s workshops, don’t hesitate – you won’t be disappointed!
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Trisha, what a wonderful review! We’re super lucky to have Daniel run a number of courses for us, and with over 30 years of experience, it’s easy to see why he is genuinely regarded as one of the best trainers in the world!
About Your Trainer, Daniel Ord
The trainer for the January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers training course is Daniel Ord from OmniTouch International – recognised as one of the leading customer experience and contact centre trainers in the world.
Daniel has trained over 50,000 participants across over 40 countries and is regularly featured in leading customer management publications and presenting keynote speeches across the world.
Credentials-wise, Dan is a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP), an International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) Certified Associate, a Call Centre Industry Advisory Council Training Partner (CIAC) and is Net Promoter Certified.
Daniel is consistently regarded as the best trainer in the industry with his incredible subject matter expertise, excellent storytelling with real-world examples, a great sense of humour and a clear passion for the industry and helping people achieve success.
So it's not surprising to note that despite all the numerous industry accolades and recognition, it's the Customer Testimonials Daniel is most proud of and you can read a selection of his recent testimonials below.
Course Testimonials
A great course
Daniel was fantastic! The course gave me a fresh perspective of how to deal with difficult interactions with customers as well as different techniques when having those tough conversations. I highly recommend this course!
Response from CX Skills
Thank you Saul, love hearing that it provided you with a fresh perspective and equipped you with some techniques you can put to use straight away!
This training session was awesome!
Daniel did an excellent job sharing tips and tricks for handling conversations with difficult customers. I will definitely use the tools he provided! Thank you Daniel & Marcus
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Sonja – thrilled to hear you loved the course!
Friendly, Insightful, Professional
Daniel’s course was a very pleasant experience. His friendly and open approach creates wholesome environments where all participants can engage and ask questions. His course material is also easy to understand, easy to remember, insightful and helpful.
You can really see how applicable his course material is to your work and how teaching this course has evolved based on the feedback he has received while teaching it.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Sabrina, appreciate you taking the time to leave a review and glad to hear you enjoyed the course!
Great Trainer!
I felt Daniel was a wonderfully positive and communicative presenter.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Lauren, indeed – he’s terrefic and we’re thrilled to work with him on a regular basis!
Your words are so important!
This was some enlightening information regarding words and phrases that matter, and how we can better deliver negative news to our customers.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Jacqueline, so true! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
Highly recommend!
My Team Leads and I got so much practical knowledge out of this course that we can take back to our team.
It really made us rethink the way in which we communicate with our customers and how we can make some small adjustments that can make a big difference.
The course is very interactive and engaging – Daniel is a great trainer and I loved his energy.
Response from CX Skills
Thanks Michelle; 8 hours seems like a lot for a course on Managing Difficult Customers on the surface, but I’m glad you found the course so interactive and engaging and that it’s going to make a big difference in how you communicate with your customers!
More Customer Testimonials
“This course was really engaging and very well organised. Daniel was amazing, and I didn’t ‘zone out’ once, a sign of an excellent trainer. Really enjoyed the course and learnt lots, particularly liked the examples of situations where certain vocabulary is acceptable. Made the course sink in.”
“I just wanted to email you in thanks as I have found your recent training session very helpful! I have been able to use UNER(R) very effectively, where previously I had problems saying ‘no’, generally going into far too much detail on my explanation. This has helped stop at least two complaints and I‘ve also been using the Human Touch in more of my emails ? .”
“Hi Daniel, just wanted to say thanks for the brilliant workshop. Was lovely to meet you and it’s always a pleasure to learn new techniques, perspectives and ways of working.”
“It was a really fun and exciting training course and I will be able to apply all these methods now and in my future career. Loved the tips on how to deal with the especially fussy guests!”.
“Very good and interactive – fun but full of knowledge.”
“The training was really fun but more importantly I learned a lot of techniques that I’ve been able to use on lots of my calls which has made my job a lot easier – thanks!”
Why Businesses Trust CX Skills
At CX Skills, we focus on what we do best - delivering expert-led training in customer service, customer experience (CX), contact centres, workforce optimisation (WFM/WFO), and workplace wellness. Unlike generic training providers, our courses are developed and facilitated by industry professionals with real-world experience who know what it takes to succeed.
We’re the official training partner of the Australian Customer Experience Professionals Association (ACXPA), and we’re a small business, proudly Australian-owned and operated.
Trusted by hundreds of businesses and backed by outstanding customer testimonials, CX Skills ensures your team receives training that is practical, engaging, and designed for real-world success.
Customer Reviews & Testimonials
Our customers love what we do! Here’s a sample of what they have to say, or you can read all our customer reviews here >
Some of the Organisations We've Trained
We’re proud to have worked with a diverse range of organisations across multiple industries, sizes, and sectors. 👉 See the full list of our customers here >
Are your employees feeling under pressure?
We also have a 3-hour course specifically designed to help improve the resilience of your employees. Learn more about our Workplace Resilience Essentials course >
How and when this course is delivered
The January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers course is delivered via Zoom Teleconferencing and users will be sent an electronic workbook (PDF) and Zoom link prior to the course commencing. This is a public course meaning it is available for anyone to book and the dates and times are fixed to enable you to plan ahead.
If you have large numbers to train or would like to have more flexibility on the dates and times please refer to our private options.
The January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers Course will be conducted on:
- Session 1 – Thursday 18th January 2024, 12:30 to 16:30 AEDT
- Session 2 – Friday 19th January 2024, 12:30 to 16:30 AEDT
Dates don’t suit? Search for other available dates >
Most valuable training I have attended
Daniel is an excellent trainer, the training was engaging, informative and provided practical skills to put into place. The course was run at a great pace and for the first time, I did not feel brain drained at the end of the training (like has been my experience with other organisations). It wasn’t information overload, it was thought provoking, practical and down to earth.
This was the most valuable training I have ever done. I have 31 years in customer service and was not sure how much value I would get out of the course. From the first session the information was powerful, thought provoking and It created a huge paradigm shift in how I view ‘abusive customers’.
While a lot of the skills I already have gained over the years, I have still walked away with some new, some refined skills.
Would highly recommend this to anyone dealing with customers or considering a career in customer service.
Thank you so much.
Pricing and Payment Options
The January 2024 Managing Difficult Customers Training course is $497 per person ex GST for 8 hours of facilitated learning (2 x 4-hour sessions) delivered by global CX training expert Daniel Ord as well as a course workbook (delivered electronically).
Available Discounts
- Save 15% when booking for 3 or more employees in the same transaction (note: the discount will be applied on the final checkout page).
- Need to train more than 8 people? Contact us about a private course just for your team(s).
Tickets can be purchased via credit card or invoice – just select your preferred option on the checkout page.
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As a member of the Australian Customer Experience Professionals Association (ACXPA), you’ll unlock exclusive discounts, expert resources, and professional development opportunities to enhance customer interactions and service quality.
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