• Understand customer needs and know what causes people to be difficult and understand if customers are actually difficult.
• Manage your own negative feelings when dealing with difficult customers.
• Apply effective strategies to manage difficult customer-situations.

1. Demonstrating the “Moments Of Magic” in customer service.
2. Appreciating customer responses and behavioral patterns.
3. Who are the difficult customers and what makes them difficult?
4. Understanding the nature of customer complaints and customers’ needs.
5. Identify their needs, problems and how to solve them.
6. Why are customers angry and what are they unhappy about?
7. Reactions of unhappy customers.
8. How not to take customers’ wrath and negative emotions personally?
9. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem – turning anger into appreciation.
10. Handling angry customers and their emotions – connect and empathise.
11. Techniques of defusing anger and the tense situation.
12. Listening and responding skills in managing anger.
13. Using positive communication and “customer-benefit” statements.
14. Handling complaints skillfully using structured approaches, techniques, effective communication and problem-solving skills.
15. Summary and application back-at-work.

“The knowledge and skills shared were greatly appreciated and I could better equip myself in managing their difficult customers situations more confidently. I believe I can bring service to the next level after attending this course.”
– Customer Service Executive, Loreal

“The case studies, examples and service role playing are very applicable to our line of work. Catherine understands our job nature well and is able to provide practical skills for us to apply in our daily work.”
– Customer Service Manager, Mobile One

Catherine Syn has conducted both public and in-company seminars and workshops in Secretarial & Office Administrative Practices, Business Correspondence, Report, Proposal and Minutes Writing, Customer Service, Handling Complaints & The Difficult Customer, Teambuilding, Time & Stress Management, Communication & Relationship Management. She has been working closely with individual client companies on the development and design of training programmes to their specific organisation’s training and developmental needs. An approved lecturer with the Singapore Ministry of Education, Catherine studied Business in Australia, was a Corporate Member of the Institute Of Administrative Management (U.K.) and a WDA ACTA certified trainer for WSQ courses including Certified Service Professional. She has held the positions of Executive, Manager, Corporate Trainer and Consultant for the past three decades.

Since 1990, she has been training management professionals, managers, executives, secretarial, administrative, front-line sales, engineering, operations and service staff of both public and private sectors in Singapore, ASEAN and China. As an experienced trainer, she has successfully applied service qualities principles and competency assessments in all her communication courses in the areas of business writing, face-to-face communication, customer service, managing difficult customer-situations using effective interpersonal, communication and problem-solving skills. A versatile and bi-lingual trainer, she relates well to all participants and has excellent delivery and presentation skills that meet the motivational needs of each and every participant.

Among the many companies she has provided training for, some of them are: Ritz Carlton, Swiss Hotel Merchant Court, Marina Mandarin, Becton Dickenson, Sony Asia Pacific, NTU, Singapore, Ngee Ann and Nanyang Polytechnics, ZhengHua Primary School, Carrier Transicold, Marsh Brokers, China Taiping Insurance, AIA, Etiqa, Liberty Insurance, SIA, Komatsu, DSO, DFS, NYK, AET Tankers, Du Pont, Senoko Power, John Crane, Hewitt, SembCorp Marine, Nippon Express, Nippon Koa, German Centre, Tanaka Electronics, SOXAL, Speedy Tech, NatSteel, Philips Singapore, Teck Wah, PSA, LTA, HDB, CPF, DSTA, RSAF, MCMD, Ministry Of Education, Traffic Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, GSMB, CSIT, CAAS, CIAS, SATS, LTA, A-Star, Toshiba, AWWA, SingStat, Department of Statistics, Crown Worldwide, Schenker, Keppel Shipyard, Alpine Engineering Services, Sanmina-SCI, Geotronics, ABB Industry, ICPAS, Loreal, Shisedo, Sa Sa Cosmetics, Cummins Diesel, EM Services, Esmaco, M1, Sankyu, Snap-On Tools, Makino, Bureau Serve, PerkinElmer Singapore, ST Aerospace Engineering, Chartered Semiconductors, AGC Flatglass, Hunting Energy, Orange Business, Cristofori, LF Contennial, Wah Yang Production, Malayan Natural Liquidfied Petroleum & Gas in Sarawak, Coca-Cola In Thailand, Maldives International Airport and MNCs in China.