Services Wholesale and Retail

Customer Relations in Operational Units Training

SAQA US 258156 | NQF 3 | Credits 10 | Duration 7 Days
From $1,523 per delegate

Description

This course equips learners with the skills to build and maintain positive customer relations within an operational unit. Participants will learn to apply principles of customer service, handle complaints effectively, and contribute to a customer-focused culture. The course aligns with the SAQA unit standard 258156, ensuring that learners can demonstrate competence in building customer relations in a real-world operational context.

Learning Outcomes

  • Apply principles of customer relations to enhance service delivery within an operational unit.
  • Analyse customer needs and expectations to tailor service responses effectively.
  • Evaluate the impact of customer relations on organisational performance and reputation.
  • Demonstrate effective communication techniques to build rapport with customers.
  • Implement strategies to resolve customer complaints and manage difficult situations.
  • Design a customer service improvement plan for an operational unit.

Target Audience

This course is designed for team leaders, supervisors, and operational staff who interact with customers directly or indirectly. It is ideal for individuals working in service-oriented environments within corporate, retail, or public sector organisations.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment.

Course Outline

Day 1: Understanding Customer Relations in Operational Contexts

Objectives:
• Define customer relations and its importance in operational units
• Identify key stakeholders in operational customer interactions
• Explain the role of customer service in achieving organisational goals
• Recognise the impact of customer relations on operational efficiency

Topics:
• Introduction to customer relations in operational units
• The customer service value chain
• Stakeholder mapping: internal and external customers
• Aligning customer relations with operational objectives
• Legal and ethical considerations in customer interactions
• Overview of unit standard 258156 requirements

Day 2: Communication Skills for Customer Relations

Objectives:
• Apply effective verbal and non-verbal communication techniques
• Demonstrate active listening and questioning skills
• Adapt communication style to different customer types
• Handle communication barriers in operational settings

Topics:
• Principles of effective communication
• Verbal and non-verbal cues
• Active listening and empathy
• Questioning techniques for needs analysis
• Managing difficult conversations
• Cross-cultural communication in diverse workplaces

Day 3: Customer Needs Analysis and Service Delivery

Objectives:
• Analyse customer needs and expectations in operational units
• Develop service delivery strategies to meet identified needs
• Prioritise customer requests based on operational capacity
• Monitor service delivery performance

Topics:
• Techniques for gathering customer feedback
• Needs assessment tools and methods
• Service level agreements (SLAs) in operations
• Balancing customer expectations with operational constraints
• Continuous improvement in service delivery
• Case studies on needs analysis

Day 4: Handling Customer Complaints and Conflict Resolution

Objectives:
• Apply a structured complaint handling process
• Resolve customer conflicts professionally
• Use negotiation skills to achieve win-win outcomes
• Document and escalate complaints appropriately

Topics:
• The complaint handling lifecycle
• Conflict resolution models (e.g., Thomas-Kilmann)
• Negotiation techniques for customer relations
• Emotional intelligence in conflict situations
• Escalation procedures and reporting
• Role-play scenarios

Day 5: Building Customer Loyalty and Retention

Objectives:
• Identify strategies to build customer loyalty
• Implement retention programmes in operational units
• Measure customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Use feedback to enhance customer experience

Topics:
• The loyalty ladder: from satisfaction to advocacy
• Customer retention strategies and tactics
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) and other metrics
• Personalisation and relationship building
• Managing customer expectations for long-term relationships
• Case studies on successful loyalty programmes

Day 6: Team Collaboration and Customer Relations

Objectives:
• Collaborate with team members to enhance customer service
• Coordinate cross-functional responses to customer needs
• Apply teamwork principles in operational customer interactions
• Support colleagues in delivering consistent service

Topics:
• Team dynamics in customer service
• Cross-functional communication and handoffs
• Shared accountability for customer outcomes
• Peer coaching and feedback
• Managing internal customer relationships
• Practical team exercise

Day 7: Integration, Assessment, and Action Planning

Objectives:
• Integrate all learning into a comprehensive customer relations approach
• Develop a personal action plan for continuous improvement
• Complete summative assessments for unit standard 258156
• Reflect on learning and application to own work context

Topics:
• Review of key concepts and skills
• Integration activity: customer relations simulation
• Action planning template and goal setting
• Summative assessment preparation
• Assessment: written test and practical demonstration
• Course evaluation and feedback

Practicals

20 hours of practicals To be conducted online or on-campus or in-house
Overview

Practicals are essential to apply communication, conflict resolution, and service delivery skills in realistic operational scenarios. Learners will role-play customer interactions, handle complaints, and collaborate in teams to reinforce theoretical concepts.

Practical Activities
  • Communication Role-Play — Learners pair up to simulate customer interactions, practising active listening, questioning, and empathy in operational contexts. (5h)
  • Complaint Handling Simulation — Learners handle simulated customer complaints using a structured process, including documentation and escalation. (5h)
  • Team Collaboration Exercise — Teams work together to coordinate a response to a complex customer request, demonstrating cross-functional communication. (5h)
  • Customer Needs Analysis Workshop — Learners analyse case studies to identify customer needs and develop service delivery plans, then present their findings. (5h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total
Component Out of Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored) 100% 30%
Daily Average (multiple choice) 100% 20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice) 100% 50%
Final Total 100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

Certificate of Completion

Awarded to delegates who achieve an overall mark of 50% or higher on the Final Total (Practicals 30% + Daily Average 20% + Final Test 50%).

How it works
  • Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
  • Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
  • You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
  • If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.
Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates Discount
5 3% off
10 6% off
15 9% off
20 12% off
25 15% off
30 18% off
50 30% off
75 35% off
100 40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.

Upcoming Training Sessions
Online training — attend live sessions from anywhere via our virtual classroom.
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Thu 10 Sep 2026 Fri 18 Sep 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,523 Register
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On-Campus training — face-to-face sessions at our training venues across Africa and beyond.
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In-House training — we bring the trainer to your organisation, tailored to your team.
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Wed 15 Dec 2027 Thu 23 Dec 2027 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,982 Register
Tue 04 Jan 2028 Wed 12 Jan 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,982 Register
Mon 24 Jan 2028 Tue 01 Feb 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,982 Register
Training Discounts
Delegates Discount
5 3% off
10 6% off
15 9% off
20 12% off
25 15% off
30 18% off
50 30% off
75 35% off
100 40% off

3% off per 5 delegates, up to 40% for 100+

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