On average a newly bereaved person will need to contact 26 different companies to explain about the death and to sort out insurance, pensions, bills, bank accounts.
How does your customer care shine out?
The emotional trauma of becoming a widow can be overwhelming, but the bureaucratic nightmare that often follows is an unexpected extra burden.
Radio 4 woman’s hour ‘the bureaucracy of widowhood’ 1st May 2007
Listen to the article
Many women leave all the financial aspects of the marriage to their husband, so it comes as a great shock to them when they have to sit down and go through all of the household bills and financial affairs.
Merrywidow the guide
When someone dies, the bereaved family is thrown into a bewildering maze of financial administration. A grieving person will be asked to go through a lot of bureaucratic details which enable the company to fill in necessary forms but may trigger painful and difficult feelings for the customer. From the company’s perspective, for example, a date of birth and date of death are simple numbers but for the customer they represent the huge pain of the recent loss of a loved one. The human response they receive from their contact with a financial organisation makes an enormous difference to their whole experience of grief. People will talk to others about both good and bad experiences of a company’s response to their bereavement.
Financial companies rely on their call staff to maintain good relationships with customers to ensure continued custom and good reputation. However, both call staff and managers often feel less than confident in talking with the bereaved. Even the most skilled communicators are affected by the impact of dealing regularly with the distress of grieving customers.
Who is it for?
Lifetime offers training for all staff involved with customer service from call centre workers to senior management.
- Benefits to the company
- Exceed your customer expectations for care and efficiency
- Be ahead of your competitors in recognising the importance of this aspect of customer care
- Enhance your company’s reputation among the financial sector and in the public domain
- Confident leadership of skilled staff teams
- Development and retention of experienced skilled staff
Learning outcomes
Delegates will:
- Understand the needs of newly bereaved people
- Learn a contemporary grief theory model
- Use appropriate language about death, bereavement and grief
- Increase empathic communication skills
- Understand how their own response to grief affects customers
- Be more confident in dealing with bereavement
- Understand how they are impacted by customer distress
- Learn strategies for self-care
- Develop an action plan to put learning into practice
Course aims
‘Care of the Bereaved Customer’ courses aim to increase confidence and skill in dealing with bereaved customers, leading to retention and wellbeing of both staff and customers.
Training style
All courses are practical and experiential, involving delegates in a wide range of learning activities, discussions and group work. The atmosphere is informal and encouraging of involvement. Creative activities are included to inspire individual development and learning.
Group size
Group size is flexible according to the needs of the company. We work on a ratio of one facilitator to 12 delegates and two facilitators for larger groups. Our groups allow for high participation and intensity of input with small group exercises and peer feedback to enhance learning.
Resources
All courses include handouts and resources for further exploration.
For further information and bookings
Please contact Jo McAndrews at Lifetime to discuss your thoughts and requirements. Courses are tailored to the needs of your company and can be designed to address specific learning needs and issues.
