UPDATED: June 14, 2023

I previously posted a simple training plan that customer service leaders can use to train their teams.

It was called Serving Upset Customers 101. The focus was training customer service reps to respond effectively when serving an angry or upset customer.

This training plan is a sequel. It's called Serving Upset Customers: Eliminating Repeat Service Failures. It focuses on actions you can take after serving an upset customer to ensure the same issue doesn't happen again.

There’s one more training plan after this one, called Serving Upset Customers: Preventing Customer Anger. That plan focused on what you can do to prevent customers from getting angry in the first place.

Give it a try and send me your feedback to let me know how it goes.

Overview: Eliminating Repeat Service Failures

Participants will be able to do the following at the end of this training:

Preserve long-term customer relationships
Identify the root cause of chronic service problems
Share customer feedback with appropriate leaders

This course is the second in a three part series:

Part 1: Serving Upset Customers 101
Part 2: Serving Upset Customers, Eliminating Repeat Service Failures
Part 3: Service Upset Customers, Preventing Customer Anger

Resources Required:

Worksheet: Workshop Planning Tool, cost: $0
Training Video: Working with Upset Customers. You'll need a LinkedIn Learning subscription for each participant.
Exercise Files: The Working with Upset Customers training video comes with a set of downloadable exercise files to help implement concepts from the course.

Time Required: <1 hour per week for 3 weeks.

Pre-Work: Do This Before You Begin

You can boost the impact of any training program by properly preparing. Here are two simple assignments you should do before starting the training.

Assignment #1: Create a training plan. Use the Workshop Planning Tool to create a training plan:

Identify your goal for the training.
Determine what needs to be done to prepare for success.
Decide how the training will be run.
Create a plan to sustain your progress.

Assignment #2: Announce the Training. Tell your team what to expect by announcing the training via a team meeting, one-on-one conversation, email, or some other form of communication. Make sure you address three things:

Tell participants what the training is about.
Explain why the training is important.
Share how you expect participants to use the training in their daily work.

Training Plan: Eliminating Repeat Service Failures

This plan is divided into three lessons that each take place one week apart.

Pre-Work: Ask participants to watch the short training video, Preserving the relationship, before attending the first meeting.

Week 1: Kick-off.

Call a 30 minute team meeting to kick off the training program. Hold it in-person or via Zoom, Teams, or another web conference platform if your team is remote.

Review the purpose and goals for this course.
Re-cap results from Serving Upset Customers 101 (if applicable)
Discuss ways to preserve the relationship with an angry customer.
Assign training videos and activities for the next meeting.

Assignments for next week:

Exercise: Follow-up with an angry customer to preserve the relationship.
Watch video: Conducting an after action review
Exercise: Find the After Action Review worksheet. It’s contained in the downloadable exercise file packet that comes with the course. (You’ll first need to access the course the get the exercise files.) Use it to evaluate a recent experience with an upset customer.

Week 2: After Action Reviews

Call a 30 minute team meeting to check-in on the training program. Hold it in-person or via Zoom, Teams, or another web conference platform if your team is remote.

Discuss the results of the following-up with angry customers exercise.
Discuss the results of the after action review exercise.
Assign training videos and activities for the next meeting.

Assignments for next week:

Watch video: Sharing customer feedback
Exercise: Complete the Common Complaints worksheet from the exercise file packet.

Week 3: Finding Room for Improvement

Call a 30 minute team meeting to check-in on the training program. Hold it in-person or via Zoom, Teams, or another web conference platform if your team is remote.