Sales and Customer Service Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Sales Executives, Account Managers 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-S-027

Before you join: Participants should have some experience speaking with customers, prospects, suppliers or internal service users.

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

Sales results and customer service quality are often treated as separate concerns, yet customers experience one relationship. Poor discovery produces unsuitable recommendations; unclear promises create service failures; weak follow-up leaves revenue and retention at risk. Sales and service professionals need a consistent way to understand customer needs, qualify opportunities, explain value accurately, handle concerns and maintain confidence after the initial transaction.

This course develops practical methods for consultative selling and reliable customer service. Participants map customer journeys, use SPIN questioning, identify decision-makers, qualify opportunities, create value statements and structure persuasive recommendations. They also practise responding to objections, discussing price, negotiating terms, setting expectations, managing complaints and identifying retention opportunities. Attention is given to accurate product representation, privacy, service ownership and escalation decisions.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with sector-based cases, group analysis, sales conversations, customer service simulations and peer feedback. Participants apply methods to realistic situations such as a bank customer disputing charges, a public-sector buyer seeking approval, an account renewal at risk and a delayed service request. Each participant leaves with a customer conversation plan, opportunity qualification model, objection-response guide, service recovery checklist, account review template and 90-day application plan. The five-day course is available in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online, runs from 08:30 to 16:30, and includes a certificate of completion.

The course suits professionals who already deal with customers, prospects, accounts or service requests and need stronger commercial judgement alongside dependable service behaviour.

What you will be able to do

  • Map customer journeys and identify moments of truth, friction and service handovers
  • Conduct SPIN discovery conversations that reveal needs, implications and buying criteria
  • Qualify sales opportunities using BANT and MEDDICC evidence
  • Construct value statements and recommendations linked to verified customer priorities
  • Present proposals, demonstrations and next steps with clear commercial logic
  • Resolve objections and complaints using LAER, de-escalation language and documented follow-up
  • Negotiate price, scope and concessions while protecting margin and service commitments
  • Create account review and action plans for retention, renewal and relationship growth

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence leading structured customer and prospect conversations
  • Clearer judgement about which opportunities merit time and follow-up
  • Stronger responses to price objections, delays and customer complaints
  • Better proposals linked to customer priorities rather than product features
  • Reusable plans for account reviews, renewals and personal performance improvement

For your organisation

  • Higher-quality opportunities entering the sales pipeline
  • More consistent customer communication across sales and service teams
  • Fewer unsuitable promises creating avoidable delivery problems
  • Improved complaint handling, documentation and escalation decisions
  • Stronger retention through planned account reviews and renewal conversations

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can connect sales activity, service delivery and customer expectations across the full relationship.

  • Sales funnel stages linked to customer decisions and service handovers
  • Customer journey maps identifying moments of truth and preventable friction
  • Service-quality dimensions translated into observable customer expectations
  • Service promises tested against delivery capacity, policy and channel constraints
  • Segmentation using needs, value potential and buying-role criteria
  • Ethical selling boundaries, consent, privacy and accurate product representation

Participants can establish rapport and conduct focused conversations that uncover customer needs.

  • Active listening using paraphrasing, summarising and targeted follow-up questions
  • Open, probing and closed questions sequenced through SPIN discovery
  • Buyer roles mapped with the buying centre and stakeholder influence
  • Verbal and non-verbal cues interpreted without assumption or stereotyping
  • Rapport established through pacing, relevance and agreed conversation purpose
  • Call openings establish purpose, agenda, permission and expected duration

Participants can assess opportunity quality and plan evidence-based next steps.

  • BANT qualification adapted for budget, authority, need and timing evidence
  • MEDDICC elements used to test deal quality and stakeholder access
  • Opportunity records distinguish confirmed facts, assumptions, risks and next actions
  • Fit criteria separate viable prospects from poor-value sales pursuits
  • Lead-scoring rules combine need, urgency, potential value and access
  • Mutual action plans assign milestones, owners, dependencies and decision dates

Participants can explain value in terms that match verified customer priorities.

  • Value statements connect offer features with stated customer priorities
  • Value hypothesis quantifies cost, risk, revenue or time implications
  • Proof points selected from evidence, demonstrations, references and service records
  • Plain-language explanations replace product jargon and unsupported claims
  • Tailored proposals address decision criteria, objections and implementation concerns
  • Recommendation summaries distinguish essential requirements from optional enhancements

Participants can present recommendations clearly and gain specific customer commitments.

  • Meeting agendas align objectives, participant roles, timings and decision requests
  • Consultative presentations follow problem, implication, value and next-step logic
  • Demonstrations use scenario, task, outcome and confirmation sequence
  • Commercial proposals structure scope, price, assumptions, terms and options
  • Check-back questions confirm understanding before advancing the conversation
  • Next-step commitments specify owner, action, deadline and communication channel

Participants can respond to resistance and concerns without pressure or defensiveness.

  • Objections classified as price, value, risk, timing, authority or fit
  • LAER responses use listening, acknowledgement, exploration and appropriate resolution
  • Clarifying questions expose the concern beneath stated resistance
  • Evidence-based responses address claims without defensiveness or pressure
  • Price conversations distinguish affordability, value, budget process and approval
  • Trial closes test readiness without forcing premature commitment
  • Follow-up messages document answers, concessions and agreed conditions

Participants can prepare and conduct negotiations that protect value and commitments.

  • Negotiation preparation identifies interests, limits, alternatives and tradable variables
  • Alternatives and reservation points set before commercial discussions
  • Give-get trades protect margin while meeting legitimate customer needs
  • Concession logs record value exchanged, approvals and expiry dates
  • Procurement tactics recognised: anchoring, bundling, delay and competitive pressure
  • Written agreements confirm scope, pricing, service levels and responsibilities

Participants can manage service interactions with clear ownership and realistic expectations.

  • Service standards define response times, ownership, accuracy and communication frequency
  • First-contact resolution assessed against authority, knowledge and system access
  • Channel choice matched to complexity, urgency, sensitivity and customer preference
  • Case notes capture issue history, commitments, escalation triggers and outcomes
  • Expectation-setting explains process, timescales, dependencies and possible outcomes
  • Service recovery principles restore confidence after errors or delays

Participants can investigate complaints, communicate remedies and prevent repeat failures.

  • Complaint records separate facts, impact, emotion, remedy and accountability
  • De-escalation language acknowledges impact without admitting unverified liability
  • Root-cause analysis uses five whys and process evidence
  • Escalation decisions follow authority limits, risk thresholds and complaint procedures
  • Written responses state findings, remedy, rationale and review route
  • Closed-loop follow-up confirms resolution and identifies recurring failure patterns

Participants can plan account actions that strengthen retention, growth and service consistency.

  • Account reviews compare promised outcomes, usage, satisfaction and renewal risks
  • Customer health indicators combine engagement, service issues, adoption and value
  • Cross-sell recommendations emerge from verified needs, not sales targets
  • Win-back conversations diagnose departure reasons and credible corrective actions
  • Personal action plans schedule pipeline, service and relationship-management habits
  • Manager check-ins track behavioural measures, deal quality and service outcomes

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 map
  2. SPIN discovery question planner
  3. BANT and MEDDICC opportunity qualification sheet
  4. Value statement and proposal structure template
  5. LAER objection and complaint response guide
  6. 90-day sales and service action plan

Who should attend

  • Sales Executives — need structured discovery, qualification and proposal conversations
  • Account Managers — need to retain customers while identifying credible growth opportunities
  • Customer Service Representatives — need to resolve requests and complaints with confidence
  • Business Development Managers — need stronger prospect qualification and stakeholder engagement
  • Relationship Managers — need to balance commercial conversations with trusted service
  • Sales and Service Team Leaders — need consistent methods for coaching customer-facing teams

Skills and tools covered

Consultative sellingCustomer needs analysisOpportunity qualificationObjection handlingService recoveryAccount retention

Tools and standards

SPIN Selling, BANT, MEDDICC, LAER

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce each method, followed by case analysis, group exercises, sales simulations and customer service scenarios. Participants practise discovery conversations, opportunity reviews, proposal discussions, objection responses, complaint handling and negotiation planning. Cases can reflect banking, government, corporate services, retail, NGO programmes or business-to-business sales. Instructor feedback focuses on questioning, listening, clarity, evidence, customer commitments and next actions. Participants finish by converting course methods into a practical 90-day application plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have some experience speaking with customers, prospects, suppliers or internal service users. They should be familiar with the products, services or policies they support and able to discuss a typical customer interaction from their role. Prior sales training is not required, and no formal qualification is assumed. The course does not require advanced negotiation expertise, CRM administration skills or financial modelling knowledge. Participants will gain more from the course if they can bring examples of common objections, service issues or account challenges.

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

You should have some experience communicating with customers, prospects or service users. No previous formal sales qualification is required, but familiarity with your organisation's products or services will help.

Bring examples of common customer questions, objections, service failures or account challenges from your role. If permitted by your employer, you may also bring a current proposal, service standard or account plan to adapt during application planning.

The course is suited to sales executives, account managers, relationship managers, customer service staff and team leaders. It is particularly useful where employees both sell and remain responsible for the customer relationship after purchase.

Sales-only courses often focus on prospecting, pitching and closing, while service-only courses focus on requests and complaints. This course connects both responsibilities, from discovery and qualification through expectation-setting, service recovery and retention.

Participants leave with reusable conversation plans, qualification criteria, response guides and account review tools. These can be applied to customer calls, meetings, proposal reviews, complaint cases and renewal discussions immediately after the course.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instructor input, cases, group work, simulations, feedback and individual application planning.

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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