Complaint handling course

Improve company reputation and client retention with better complaint handling skills.

How an organisation handles customer complaints is crucial in order to maintain a good reputation and to keep client business. Complaint handling training teaches the process and methodology needed to create an effective customer complaints handling procedure to improve customer care, satisfaction and complaint resolution rates.

Target Audience

Our complaint handling courses are designed for those who are responsible for dealing with customer complaints. Participants may handle complaints over the telephone, face to face or in writing.  We will adapt the course to meet the most frequently used method of complaint handling by the participants.

Course Aim

This course will provide participants with the crucial skills and confidence to improve their handling of customer complaints with the goal of reaching a satisfactory solution that increases customer retention and loyalty.

Course Objectives

By the end of this complaint handling training course, participants will have:

• Recognised the key skills and qualities needed to handle customer complaints effectively
• Built skills in building rapport and engaging with the customer
• Demonstrated empathy whilst maintaining control of the conversation
• Established the customer’s needs through questions and listening
• Defused difficult customer emotional responses
• Resolved typical work based complaints effectively

Course Outline

• Key skills and qualities for handling complaints
  • Model for handling complaints
  • Benefits of handling complaints effectively
  • Pairs exercise ‘in your customer’s shoes’ and participant introductions, facilitated group discussion
• Communication, building rapport
  • Breakdown of communication
  • Building customer rapport
  • Impact of telephone and written communication
  • Verbal handshake
  • Communication styles
  • Paired practice, small group exercise, facilitated group discussion, self awareness questionnaire
• Maintaining control and empathy in complaint handling
  • Using positive language
  • Remaining assertive when under pressure
  • Small group written exercise, facilitation and presentation
• Establishing customer needs
  • Asking open questions
  • Introduce questioning funnel
  • Listening and summarising
  • Demonstration, small group practical exercises and facilitated group review
• Defusing difficult customer emotional responses
  • Managing personal response – 6 Step Approach
  • Complaint handling techniques to defuse anger and other emotional responses
  • Presentation, individual and small group exercise, and facilitated group discussion
• Agreeing an appropriate course of action with customers 
  • Achieving a win/win outcome for the customer and the organisation
  • Being clear on the authority/power you have
  • Escalating complaints with a defined complaint management process
  • Making commitments and honouring promises
  • Small group exercise with written scenarios, group feedback and discussion
• Handling work based complaints
  • Tips on applying skills and techniques to written complaints
  • Practising work based complaint scenarios
  • Feedback and review of learning in small groups
  • Review of how to apply in practice
  • Presentation, practice sessions in small groups and facilitated whole group review
• Review and next steps
  • Review of learning and action planning
  • Course feedback

Free Resources
Please read our free article on handling customer complaints.

Written by Kim Larkins

Download the course outline for complaint handling training by clicking the link below:

Download PDF

Training Dates

Complaint Handling Training – Public Course (Only £299 + VAT)
Thursday 20th June 2013,
Reading, Berkshire
Max 8 participants. One day duration
* Places available *

In-House Training

The complaint handling course is also available as “in-house training” – delivered at your business premises anywhere in the UK, or at a venue of your choice.
Contact us for pricing.

Training Locations

Our CIPD qualified trainers can deliver in-house complaints handling training to companies across the UK including the following locations:

Note: KSL’s training courses can also be offered in other UK cities and towns, please contact us to discuss your in-house training requirements.