Retail Staff
– De-escalation, Personal Safety & OVA Training

Getting into a debate about company policy with someone who is being irrational will not result in the outcome you would like. As a professional, you must work out what matters more, being right, or solving the problem? Learning to de-escalate an issue through Resolution Education training with key skills suited to the retail sector will have employees feeling confident in solving problems.

Logical reasoning with an emotional person will get you nowhere, most times, a customer will calm down only when they feel like they are being heard and being empathised. And yet, in some instances, simple everyday phrases like ‘I know how you feel,’ that seem harmless and even empathetic, may backfire in the worst of ways by being perceived as condescending. Therefore, de-escalation training for retailers is so necessary for all business representatives that have customer interactions.

Retail workers face many customers on a daily basis, with a range of attitudes, communication styles, cultures and needs. When customers become upset with a purchase or with the customer service level of a store, they can sometimes become angry and even aggressive. It is also likely that retail workers will deal with cases of theft, and need to know how to best deal with such incidents to keep themselves safe and not escalate a potentially dangerous situation.

Altercations may be over the phone/email or in person, and can be both physical and verbal. In any case, retail staff deserve to feel safe in their workplace, with the knowledge of how to de-escalate situations before they occur, or know how to deal with them appropriately when they do. Reducing risk is the most important aspect of our training, to give all staff the peace of mind that themselves, their co-workers, and their customers are safe.