Free · Start here before the rush
Pre-Rush Fast-Track Planner
Six practical steps and a two-minute shift huddle, drawn from this program, to get a team ready for the busiest weeks of the year. 12-page PDF.
Get the planner freeThe Safe & Well Series · Handling Difficult Customers · Retail and hospitality
Abuse at the counter isn’t part of the job. Teach your team what to do instead.
Four levels of short, leader-led workshops that take a retail or hospitality team from spotting trouble early to running a safety system across every site and shift. Built for store, venue, shift and duty managers to run themselves, before opening or in a team huddle.
$349 a level · 32 workshops across four levels · Every scenario in a retail and a hospitality version
Sound familiar?
If any of these happen at your registers, counters or doors
Staff freeze, argue back, or just absorb it because “it’s part of the job”.Level 1 gives them a shared language and a calm way to answer.
A refused refund or a policy turns into an argument about who’s in charge.Level 2 teaches limits without power struggles and when to call for help.
It kicks off in front of a queue, a full bar, or phones filming.Level 3 covers crowds, bystanders and backing up a junior colleague.
The same incidents keep happening and the answer is always “more training”.Level 4 fixes the conditions, the records and the reporting culture.
What’s in each level
Pick a level to see its eight workshops
Each level is one course of eight workshops for $349. New to this? Start at Emerging. Already have the basics? Start where your team is.
Level 1 · Emerging · Who it’s for
Frontline retail and hospitality teams, and the supervisors who run them
The team can tell frustration from aggression, keep their composure, give a short calm answer, set a limit, and knows exactly how to call for help. The site ends up with a one-page Local Playbook.
Get Level 1 · $3498 workshops · 40–45 minutes
The eight workshops
Click a workshop to see what it covers1.1What Counts as Customer Aggression?40 min
Difficult versus aggressive, the six forms of customer aggression, and the rule everything else rests on: no sale, stock, refund or rule is worth anyone getting hurt.
1.2Triggers and Pressure Points40 min
The predictable moments that spark hostility, a Hot Spot Map of your own site, and why fixing the conditions beats better scripts.
1.3Early Warning Signs and Threat Cues40 min
Reading what a customer does, not what they look like. The three stages (Frustrated, Rising Risk, Danger) and your site’s Help Call.
1.4Holding Calm: The Status Shield40 min
Why calm is catching, your own stress cues, a four-part composure tool, and the phrases that pour fuel on the fire.
1.5First-Line De-escalation Language40 min
Why fewer words work. The Three-Line Reply, finding the “what I can do”, and agreed words for the predictable no.
1.6Respectful Boundaries and Exit Signals40 min
The Boundary Line, the once-once-more-then-act rule, the signals that mean stop talking and step away, and the Never List.
1.7Reporting, Handover, and Immediate Aftercare40 min
An incident record in facts not opinions, the two-line handover, and Look, Listen, Link for a shaken colleague.
1.8Local Playbook Walkthrough45 min
Pull it all into one page for your site, stress-test it at the hardest times, and brief the six essentials every new starter needs.
Level 2 · Building · Who it’s for
Customer-facing teams who have the basics, and the leaders who back them up
Staff show real empathy without giving away what isn’t theirs to give, find the one need under the venting, hold a limit without arguing, and call for backup at the right moment. Leaders know what to do in the first hour after an incident.
Get Level 2 · $3498 workshops · 40–45 minutes
The eight workshops
Click a workshop to see what it covers2.1Empathy Without Giving In40 min
Accurate acknowledgement, the three misses (stock phrase, taking sides, giving in), and why caving teaches aggression.
2.2Asking, Listening, and Narrowing the Problem40 min
The six usual needs beneath customer venting and a three-step routine to get to one solvable thing.
2.3Boundaries Without Power Struggles40 min
The five signs of an ego battle, calm repetition, and the six steps for refusing service safely.
2.4Offering Choices Under Pressure40 min
Two safe choices, the three checks (real, safe, fine by you), and what to say when they want neither.
2.5Team Handover and Manager Assist40 min
The five call-early moments, the three jobs (engage, clear, call) and a clean four-step handover.
2.6Protective Positioning and Safe Disengagement45 min
Distance, barrier, way out. People not property, and what safe looks like during theft or robbery.
2.7Immediate Manager Care After an Incident45 min
The first hour: Look, Listen, Link in full, keeping the record separate from the feelings, and Believe, Protect, Act for customer sexual harassment.
2.8Using the Local Prevent–Protect–Care System45 min
Walk an everyday incident start to finish through your site’s arrangements, tested against the newest person at the busiest time.
Level 3 · Advancing · Who it’s for
Duty managers, venue supervisors and senior shift leaders
Leaders diagnose what is driving an incident, calm a customer who is past logic, run a confrontation in front of a crowd, back up a junior colleague without taking over, and change the layout or roster that caused it.
Get Level 3 · $3498 workshops · 45–50 minutes
The eight workshops
Click a workshop to see what it covers3.1Reading Aggression Patterns in Real Time45 min
What’s behind it: distress, grievance, intoxication, intimidation or opportunity. Stage first, then adapt.
3.2De-escalating High-Emotion, Low-Logic Interactions45 min
Why flooded customers can’t hear policy. One Step at a Time and the power of a pause.
3.3Managing Bystanders, Crowding, and Public Escalation45 min
The audience effect, getting it out of the spotlight but not out of sight, and the six-line Crowd Plan.
3.4Coaching Peers in the Moment45 min
Back Them Up: be there, quiet word, take over. The four helper nevers and the two-minute word afterwards.
3.5Fixing the Conditions at Your Site45 min
The Control Ladder, a ten-line Peak Plan, protecting staff from strain, and launching a two-week site change.
3.6Trauma-Informed Follow-Up Conversations45 min
Not a second interview. A five-step check-in, the signs it isn’t settling, and including witnesses.
3.7Pattern-Based Incident Review45 min
Sort, cluster, ask upstream. The system not the person, and evaluating your site change.
3.8Leading a Complex Incident Simulation Review50 min
Decision points, what did they know at the time, questions not verdicts, and a four-part review summary.
Level 4 · Mastering · Who it’s for
General managers, area leaders, operations and safety leads
Leaders coach supervisors rather than rescue them, audit each site’s protections, lead a team through recovery after a serious incident, keep records that stand up, and build a reporting culture where more reports means more trust.
Get Level 4 · $3498 workshops · 45–50 minutes
The eight workshops
Click a workshop to see what it covers4.1Coaching Others in De-escalation and Recovery45 min
Three coaching windows, care first and coach later, and coaching to the tool rather than “be more confident”.
4.2Strengthening the Local Safety System45 min
The six-part Site Safety Check, the “how do we know?” test, and a six-line improvement plan with an owner and a date.
4.3Fitting Prevent–Protect–Care to Your Site45 min
Six non-negotiable core protections, how they slip, a one-page site version, and the line between house staff and contracted security.
4.4Leading Trauma-Informed Team Recovery45 min
The ripple of a serious incident, why compulsory group debriefs are out, a five-part facts briefing, and a fortnight recovery pathway.
4.5Records That Stand Up45 min
Audit-ready evidence, the five-part record check, add never alter, and connecting incident, action, training and review records.
4.6Building a Reporting Culture Without Blame45 min
Why staff don’t report, the first-minute response, report-respond-report-back, and why a spike in reports is good news.
4.7Mentoring Supervisors Through Complex Cases45 min
Five moves of case-based mentoring, lens questions from the course tools, and knowing when to step in.
4.8Continuous Improvement Review50 min
A five-step review cycle, reading trends with care, evaluating the six-week change, and the four-line proposal an owner can approve.
Why this program is different
Built for a shop floor, not a training room
Retail and hospitality, side by side
Every drill and scenario card comes in two versions: stores, registers and returns desks, or cafés, bars and front desks. Pick the one that matches your floor.
Runs before opening or in a huddle
40 to 50 minutes, led by your own manager with word-for-word scripts and timed run sheets. No consultant, no binders, no logins. Staff write in their own notebooks.
One story per level
Each level follows one venue: a 24-hour highway stop, a corner hotel with a bottle shop, a five-site precinct. Teams build on the same situation instead of learning a new one every week.
Fixes the site, not just the staff
Levels 3 and 4 include a real change at your own site, run for two to six weeks and reviewed. Layout, lighting, staffing and sightlines, not just what to say.
Sold across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, the US, South Africa and Ireland. This is a capability program, not a compliance course and not legal advice; formal processes follow your own policies and local law.
All four levels · Buy three, get the fourth free
The complete 32-workshop program
From a casual’s first busy shift to the general manager’s safety review. One purchase, every site and every new starter, for good.
$1,047 save $349
View the bundleBefore you choose
Not sure which level, or how to fit it around trading? Talk it through with Yzly.
Ask a question →Who runs the workshops?
A store, venue, shift or duty manager. The guide has the words to say, the timings and the activities; the Facilitator Foundations Guide, included free, covers opening the room safely and handling people who have been through something before.
We’ve got seasonal casuals starting in two weeks. Where do we begin?
Start with the free Pre-Rush Planner today. Then run the Peak Season Essentials fast track: workshops 1.1, 1.3, 1.6 and 1.8 from Level 1, which cover what counts as aggression, warning signs, boundaries and the Local Playbook, with 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7 from Level 2 if you have time.
Does it cover theft, robbery and sexual harassment by customers?
Yes. People not property, and never chase, grab, restrain or block, run through every level. Safe conduct during theft and armed robbery is in 2.6; Believe, Protect, Act for customer sexual harassment is in 2.7 and 3.6. Physical removal stays with licensed security and police.
What exactly is in the download?
Eight facilitator guides per level with word-for-word scripts and whiteboard layouts, retail and hospitality scenario cards, the templates for that level (Local Playbook, Crowd Plan, Peak Plan, Site Safety Check and so on), a glossary, and the Facilitator Foundations Guide. Instant download after purchase.
Is this a compliance course?
No. It builds the capability to prevent, handle and recover from customer aggression. It does not give legal advice or replace your own policies, formal HR processes or local workplace safety law, which you should check for your region.
What does the licence cover?
One purchase gives the buyer permanent use across every store, venue and site in the business, with every new starter, as often as you like, including client teams if you are a consultant. The one rule is no copying: the files stay with the purchasing organisation.
Nobody on your team should face aggression alone.
Give them the words, the limits and the backup. Start at the level that fits.