Course length

1 day

Why come on this course?

Do you have to make difficult telephone calls at work? Do you have to handle aggressive and emotional callers? Do you need to communicate complex information over the phone?

This course will help you plan calls and provide you with a range of strategies to adopt when dealing with difficult telephone conversations.  The course makes use of telephone training handsets which enable you to make calls and then listen back.

Who is it for?

You’ll benefit from this course if you want to enhance your communication skills when dealing with difficult calls.

What will I learn?

If you apply what you have learnt on this course you will be able to: 

• Plan and structure calls to ensure a successful outcome
• Quickly create rapport with clients and know how to demonstrate empathy on the telephone
• Make use of questioning and listening skills to keep the call on track.
• Use a range of techniques to deal with different types of callers e.g. non-stop talkers, hesitant callers
• Deal with emotion in a professional way (yours and the callers).
• Vary your tone and use of words to fit the caller.
• Be familiar with your organisation’s guidelines for telephone calls, particularly when to end an aggressive call.

Course contents

• Personal objectives for the course
• Call structure and preparation
• Creating rapport - understanding the call from a different viewpoint
• Questioning and listening
• The impact of tone
• Handling difficult behaviour in an assertive and professional way
• Skills practice using telephone equipment with playback.
• Personal action planning against objectives.

Equipment required

This course requires telephone equipment.  A portable phone coaching kit can be hired from phonecoach.com. The daily cost for the equipment is around £300 + VAT for 12 participants and £200 + VAT for 6 participants.