Age Friendly Customer Service

Did you know that older customers have the largest portion of the UK’s spending power, yet they continue to feel that their needs are not catered to? We can help.

Research shows that 1.3m people in the UK aged over 65 have experienced bad customer service, or been treated badly, purely because of their age. We also know that the majority of those who receive poor customer service will tell others, but never make a complaint.

No-one goes out of their way to deliver a poor customer experience. When this happens, it is usually because we didn’t consider the other person’s perspective.

Our CPD accredited Age Friendly Customer Service (AFCS) workshop addresses this disconnect, by illustrating why older customers are so important for business, exploring some of the challenges they may face, and demonstrating areas of potential improvement.

This workshop is designed specifically for customer facing teams, to help them understand how age and generational difference can impact the ability to engage with customer service representatives, and the barriers that older customers may face. The workshop encourages participants to consider factors such as cognitive decline and sensory loss, which can lead to anxiety or other stress reactions. They are also encouraged to empathise with older customers, and to develop appropriate and effective communication strategies. This is achieved through a combination of presentation, discussion, group work, and realistic problem-based case study scenarios.

We have already delivered AFCS to participants from a variety of backgrounds and sectors, and 100% of the attendees we have delivered the training to would recommend the workshops to a colleague. 

It has been described as ‘comprehensive’, ‘thought-provoking’, and ‘engaging’. This workshop will highlight what your organisation is already doing well, demonstrate where improvements could be made, and enable your colleagues to engage effectively and successfully with older customers.

As a result of attending this workshop, attendees will:

• understand the opportunities older customers can bring to organisations
• understand the range of different barriers facing older people and how these could affect a person’s ability to engage positively with customer services staff
• become more aware of appropriate communication skills and other strategies for making face-to-face and telephone interaction more inclusive for older customers
• become more aware of some ways in which organisational systems and processes can be adapted to be more age inclusive.

Developed in partnership with Skills Development Scotland

You can also contact our sales team on sales@agescotland.org.uk or call us on 0131 668 8045