Advanced Customer Service Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Customer Service Managers, Senior Customer Service Advisors and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CS-094

Before you join: Participants should have at least one year of customer-facing, service operations, complaints, relationship management or contact centre experience.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Advanced customer service work requires more than polite communication. Service teams must diagnose the real customer need, manage emotion under pressure, make sound decisions within policy, recover trust after failure and coordinate action across channels. Poor handovers, inconsistent exceptions, unresolved complaints and weak root-cause analysis can turn a single interaction into churn, reputational damage or regulatory escalation.

This course develops the methods used by experienced service professionals, team leaders and customer-facing specialists. Participants apply customer journey mapping, SERVQUAL, Kano analysis, customer effort measurement, structured questioning, de-escalation techniques, complaint handling standards and service recovery models. They learn to handle demanding conversations without becoming defensive, distinguish a fix from a root-cause remedy, set expectations clearly and use customer insight to improve processes.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings, realistic service cases, group analysis, role-play simulations and structured peer feedback. Cases can be adapted for banking, government, telecommunications, healthcare, retail, utilities and business-to-business services. Participants leave with a personal service improvement plan, reusable conversation structures, complaint investigation tools and measures for tracking service quality.

The course is suited to experienced customer service staff and professionals who already deal with customers, stakeholders or service partners. It is particularly useful where cases are complex, customer emotions are high, service failures carry material consequences or teams need more consistent judgement across channels.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose customer needs using structured questioning, active listening and customer journey evidence
  • Apply SERVQUAL and Kano analysis to identify priority service quality gaps
  • Handle emotionally charged conversations using de-escalation language and boundary-setting techniques
  • Resolve complaints using ISO 10002 principles, investigation steps and documented remedies
  • Design service recovery responses using the HEARD model and recovery decision criteria
  • Measure service performance using NPS, Customer Effort Score and operational indicators
  • Conduct root-cause analysis using five whys, fishbone diagrams and case data
  • Produce a customer service improvement plan with actions, owners, measures and review dates

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Handle complaints and escalations with greater control and clearer judgement
  • Use repeatable language for tense, emotional and demanding customer conversations
  • Identify the service failure behind the immediate customer complaint
  • Present evidence-based recommendations for service process improvements
  • Build credibility for progression into team leadership or complaints management

For your organisation

  • Reduce repeat contacts through clearer ownership, expectation-setting and follow-through
  • Improve consistency in complaint decisions, remedies and customer communications
  • Identify recurring service defects before they create wider customer harm
  • Strengthen retention after service failures through timely, credible recovery actions
  • Give managers practical measures for monitoring service quality and effort

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can identify the service expectations that matter most and translate them into observable service standards.

  • Customer expectations separated into stated, unstated and emotional requirements
  • SERVQUAL dimensions used to assess reliability, assurance, empathy and responsiveness
  • Kano model distinguishes basic, performance and delighter service attributes
  • Moments of truth mapped across customer journeys and service channels
  • Customer promises tested against operational capability and policy constraints
  • Service standards written as observable behaviours, timings and ownership rules

Participants can uncover customer needs, constraints and desired outcomes through disciplined conversation techniques.

  • SPIN questioning identifies situation, problem, implication and need-payoff evidence
  • Open and closed questions sequenced without interrogating the customer
  • Active listening uses paraphrasing, summarising and purposeful silence
  • Emotional cues distinguished from facts, assumptions and stated requests
  • Jobs to Be Done clarifies the progress customers seek
  • Conversation summaries confirm ownership, next steps and decision boundaries

Participants can de-escalate difficult interactions while protecting customer dignity and organisational boundaries.

  • HEARD model structures hearing, empathising, apologising, resolving and diagnosing
  • Acknowledgement language validates impact without admitting unverified liability
  • Triggers, tone and pacing managed during anger, anxiety and frustration
  • Boundary statements address abusive conduct while maintaining professional service
  • Choice architecture offers realistic options without making false promises
  • Written responses remove ambiguity, defensiveness and accidental escalation

Participants can investigate complaints fairly, communicate decisions clearly and document appropriate remedies.

  • ISO 10002 principles guide visibility, accessibility, responsiveness and accountability
  • Complaint records separate allegation, evidence, finding, decision and remedy
  • Timelines communicated with holding updates and named case ownership
  • Investigation questions test process adherence, records and conflicting accounts
  • Remedy decisions consider impact, policy, precedent and proportionality
  • Decision letters explain findings, actions, review rights and closure

Participants can select and deliver recovery actions that restore trust after service failure.

  • Service recovery distinguishes immediate containment from lasting corrective action
  • Recovery options matched to severity, inconvenience, risk and customer value
  • Apology components include ownership, impact recognition, action and follow-up
  • Recovery paradox examined without assuming compensation guarantees loyalty
  • Escalation thresholds defined for financial loss, vulnerability and reputational risk
  • Follow-up contacts verify resolution rather than merely close tickets

Participants can make consistent service decisions while working within authority, policy and risk controls.

  • Decision rights distinguish adviser discretion, manager approval and specialist referral
  • Policy intent interpreted before applying rules to unusual cases
  • Risk-based triage prioritises harm, urgency, value and regulatory exposure
  • Exception requests documented with rationale, evidence and accountable approval
  • Ethical decision tests examine fairness, consistency, transparency and consequences
  • Handover standards preserve context, commitments and customer confidence

Participants can interpret customer feedback and operational data to identify service quality priorities.

  • NPS separates promoters, passives and detractors for trend analysis
  • Customer Effort Score identifies friction in service tasks and processes
  • First contact resolution measured alongside quality and customer outcome
  • Verbatim feedback coded into themes, drivers and actionable patterns
  • Control charts distinguish common-cause variation from special-cause service failures
  • Quality scorecards combine behavioural observations, accuracy and outcome measures

Participants can identify recurring service failure causes and specify practical corrective actions.

  • Five whys traces repeated contacts beyond the presenting complaint
  • Fishbone diagrams organise people, process, technology, policy and data causes
  • Pareto analysis identifies high-volume failure types worth addressing first
  • Failure demand separated from value demand in service contact volumes
  • Corrective actions assigned owners, due dates, evidence and success measures
  • Process changes tested against unintended customer effort and control risks

Participants can maintain continuity and accountability when customers move between service channels.

  • Channel preferences matched to urgency, complexity, privacy and accessibility needs
  • CRM case notes capture context, commitments, evidence and next actions
  • Warm transfers preserve customer history and prevent repeated explanations
  • Digital messages use plain language, scannable structure and explicit deadlines
  • Accessibility adjustments address communication needs without reducing service standards
  • Case ownership remains clear despite specialist referrals and internal handovers

Participants can use service evidence to coach performance and implement a focused improvement plan.

  • Behavioural observation separates evidence from assumptions during quality reviews
  • SBI feedback frames situation, behaviour and customer impact clearly
  • Coaching questions build adviser ownership of service improvement actions
  • Calibration sessions align quality judgements across reviewers and teams
  • Personal improvement plans specify service behaviours, measures and review dates
  • Thirty-day action commitments connect course methods to workplace priorities

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Customer journey and moments-of-truth mapping template
  2. Structured customer conversation guide
  3. ISO 10002 complaint investigation checklist
  4. Service recovery decision matrix
  5. Customer service quality scorecard
  6. Thirty-day service improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Customer Service Managers — standardise judgement, quality controls and improvement priorities
  • Senior Customer Service Advisors — resolve complex cases and difficult customer conversations
  • Contact Centre Team Leaders — coach advisers using observable service behaviours
  • Complaints and Escalations Officers — investigate cases and deliver fair, timely remedies
  • Relationship Managers — protect customer trust during service failures and sensitive requests
  • Operations Managers — remove recurring service defects revealed through customer feedback

Skills and tools covered

Service recoveryComplaint resolutionCustomer insight analysisDifficult conversationsQuality measurementRoot-cause analysis

Tools and standards

SERVQUAL, Kano Model, ISO 10002, HEARD Model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce service models, followed by case analysis, group exercises, complaint investigations and customer conversation simulations. Participants work with realistic situations involving delayed delivery, billing disputes, account access, vulnerable customers, failed handovers and policy exceptions. Facilitated feedback focuses on wording, judgement, evidence and follow-up actions. Each participant converts course methods into a service improvement plan relevant to their role, team or customer journey.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least one year of customer-facing, service operations, complaints, relationship management or contact centre experience. They should be familiar with their organisation’s products, service channels, customer policies and escalation routes. The course assumes confidence participating in structured discussions and role-play simulations involving realistic service situations. No formal customer service qualification is required. Participants do not need prior knowledge of SERVQUAL, Kano analysis, ISO 10002, NPS or root-cause analysis; these methods are introduced and applied during the course.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should already work in a customer-facing, service operations, relationship management or complaints role. The course builds on practical experience, but no formal qualification or prior study of service frameworks is required.

Bring examples of recurring customer issues, service measures, complaint themes or process problems, where confidentiality permits. A laptop is useful for recording notes and developing the application plan, but is not essential.

It suits experienced advisers, team leaders, customer service managers, complaints officers, relationship managers and operations managers. It is designed for people handling complex cases or improving service performance, rather than staff new to customer contact.

Introductory courses usually focus on courtesy, basic communication and standard service procedures. This course addresses complex complaints, recovery decisions, difficult conversations, service measurement, root causes and performance coaching.

Participants use their own service challenges to shape an action plan, supported by reusable templates and decision tools. The methods can be applied to live complaints, quality reviews, team coaching and process improvement discussions.

The course runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instructor input, case work, group analysis, simulations, feedback and application planning across ten teaching modules.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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