Delivering Bad News To Customers: Sales And Customer Service

Name: Delivering Bad News To Customers: Sales And Customer Service
Rating: 4.5 (1430 reviews)

How to professionally deliver bad news to customers if you work a sales, customer success, or a customer service role

Role Play

Highest Rated

Created byAlex Genadinik

Last updated 3/2026

English

English [Auto],Korean [Auto],

What you'll learn

Learn to say no in a professional way
Learn to offer well-explained alternatives that keep customers happy
Handle yourself with class and grace at all times
Have your business brand associated with class and grace
Impress customers with your transparency, sincerity, and honestly
Learn to gracefully deliver bad news if you did something wrong
PERSONALIZED HELP from the instructor: Join OFFICE HOURS Zoom call with the instructor and students to ask questions directly
WORLD-CLASS student support: I answer 99% of student questions within 24 hours

Course content

7 sections • 16 lectures • 46m total length

Introduction and warm welcome1:14
Learn practical, humane strategies for delivering bad news to customers in sales and service, say no gracefully, offer alternatives, and strengthen relationships with respectful language.
Mindset of yes - always, even when saying no2:18
Cultivate a yes mindset and go the extra mile for customers, delivering bad news only as a last resort after fully exploring possible solutions.

Saying "no" in a positive way that sounds like a "yes" - great customer service5:55
Learn to say no to clients with confidence by offering a standard process and thoughtful options like bulk pricing, 5–10% discounts, and basic models to preserve profitability.
Examples of negative words not to use and how to rephrase1:56
Identify common negative words to eliminate in customer support and rephrase them with yes and alternatives, compassionate phrasing, and more positive guarantees to improve conversations.
Bad cop, good cop - blame the policy or manager3:28
Explore the bad cop, good cop tactic to say no professionally by citing policy or a manager concession, then offer alternatives and a polite yes.
Evoke fairness to others: why you can't bend the rules for an individual2:15
Emphasize fairness by explaining that bending the rules would be unfair for the rest of the customers, and highlight that the current deal is the best discount.
Instead of "I don't know" - I will research and get back to you1:40
admit when you don't know and research promptly to get back to customer. follow up with a timeframe and aim to over promise under deliver for sales and customer service.
Make sure you understand exactly what's being asked2:04
Clarify customer requests by paraphrasing and confirming understanding before acting, preventing misinterpretation and incorrect responses. Ask, 'Am I understanding correctly?' to align next steps and save headaches.
How to use different kinds of time estimates to your advantage3:36

Value of customer education in saying no3:48
Educate customers when saying no by clearly explaining constraints, addressing misconceptions with patient, detailed reasoning, and guiding them toward better alternatives as the expert.
Strong phrases to support your education2:22
Learn to explain ideas with powerful phrases that cite past successes, industry research, and standard procedures, while comparing older designs to modern approaches to persuade customers.

Introduction to the quiz and retaining the course information better2:05
Explore the forgetting curve and learn to boost retention by reassessing and reusing course information, then use quizzes designed to reaccess key concepts.
Course quiz
Introducing the AI role play feature3:04
Explore the AI roleplay feature, a real-time, voice-enabled practice tool that trains an AI persona to create scenarios and help you retain course material.
Role play scenario to practice saying no in a good way

Requirements

There are no prerequisites for this course, just an open mind and a love for learning

Description

Lean to say no to customers or deliver bad news to them in a sensible, professional, transparent, and respectable way that impresses, builds trust, and builds positive aspects of your relationship with them for the long term.

LEARN THE NICE, BUT PROFESSIONAL WAY TO SAY NO

Even though you aim to please your customers, you'll sometimes find yourself in a situation in which you must say no. So instead of blatantly saying no, you must wrap that "no" in many yeses.

I'll show you how to acknowledge your customers views and desires to make them feel respected and heard. I'll also show you how to structure the "no" in order to offer viable existing alternatives, and work with them to ultimately end up with a solution that placates their concerns or needs.

USE CUSTOMER EDUCATION TO COME UP WITH VIABLE MIDDLE GROUNDS

Sometimes customers make wild requests because they are not expert in your field. That's why you are the service provider and they are the customer. If you take the time to educate them on the best standard approach, they may appreciate it, and retract their unreasonable demands.

WHAT IF YOU HAVE TO DELIVER BAD NEWS?

Sometimes you just make errors that you have to inform your customers of. It can feel scary to do so, but being transparent and honest is often the best approach. I'll show you how to handle situations in which you must deliver bad news so you do it gracefully, and with minimal negative impact.

Invest in your future! Enroll today!

Who this course is for:

This is great for customer service, sales, and customer success professionals

Delivering Bad News To Customers: Sales And Customer Service

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction and warm welcome2 lectures • 4min

Formula for delivering bad news1 lecture • 6min

The language you use7 lectures • 21min

Customer education2 lectures • 6min

When you deliver bad news because of something you did incorrectly1 lecture • 4min

Course quiz and a chance to practice what you learned3 lectures • 5min

Conclusion1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: