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Description

Difficult Customers: Staying Calm, Setting Boundaries and Being Assertive Without Conflict

Two days to hold your position with an aggressive customer without giving in or hardening the exchange

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Some customers raise their voice, threaten to take their business elsewhere or attack the person rather than the problem. The instinctive response is either to concede in order to stop the tension or to become defensive. In both cases the exchange leaves a mark and the situation happens again.

These 14 hours of training form the first level of work on assertiveness in customer relations. Participants learn to recognise the behaviours at play, to identify their own reactions and to express a refusal or a disagreement in a way the customer can accept. Practice focuses on the most common tension situations encountered in the field.

Learning objectives

  • Recognise avoidance, aggression and manipulation behaviours as they occur
  • Identify your own reactions when a customer raises their voice
  • Express a reasoned refusal without attacking or over-justifying
  • State a disagreement based on observable facts
  • Set a boundary while protecting the continuation of the relationship

What makes this programme different

An individual diagnosis of your habitual reactions under pressure
Role-play exercises built from cases brought by the participants
Repeated practice in phrasing a refusal until it becomes natural

Programme

1Understanding Tension

What is really at play in a difficult exchange

  • Origins of dissatisfaction and aggression
  • Avoidance, aggression and manipulation behaviours
  • The effect of your own reactions on escalation
  • Situations that should be escalated to a third party

2Knowing Yourself in the Moment

Identifying your automatic reactions

  • Diagnosis of your habitual reactions under pressure
  • Physical signs that precede an impulsive reaction
  • Techniques for staying calm during the exchange
  • Regaining perspective between two difficult contacts

3Saying No and Expressing Disagreement

Speaking up without attacking or conceding

  • Structure of a reasoned refusal
  • Expressing disagreement based on facts
  • Responding to a request outside the agreed scope
  • Handling personal criticism

4Setting a Framework and Closing

Protecting the relationship after the tension

  • Restating the framework and mutual commitments
  • Proposing a solution after a refusal
  • Closing an exchange that drags on
  • Follow-up actions and internal reporting

Who is it for

Sales representatives, customer advisers, technicians and front-desk staff dealing with demanding or aggressive customers.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.