English for Call Centre Staff

Introduction

English for Call Centre Staff is an online course, consisting of 56 units of English, and providing approximately 60 hours of study for students.

Course aims

To give students at Intermediate, CEFR B1/Upper Intermediate B2 level practice in general and business-oriented language required for business contexts at this level, specifically tailored towards call centre situations. The course blends grammatical structures necessary for this level, with vocabulary, reading, listening, writing, speaking and pronunciation.

Граматика

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Use present and past tenses correctly
  • Use the appropriate conditional forms to talk about situations and consequences.
  • Use the present perfect to describe a link between past and present events.
  • Use going to and will to talk about future predictions and intentions.
  • Use the passive form correctly
  • Distinguish and be able to correctly describe countable and uncountable nouns.

Речник

By the end of the course students will have learnt approximately 200 expressions used in the call centre field.

Skills

By the end of the course students will have had exposure to and practice in reading and hearing formal and informal English from a variety of accents and call centre contexts.

Unit summary

Module 1

  • Introduction to Call Centre Terminology:
  • Граматика: Present tenses
  • Речник: Essential call centre vocabulary, types of calls, customer service phrases
  • Четене: Call centre scripts, articles, and reports
  • Слушане: Recorded call sample
  • Писане: Call summaries and notes
  • Говорене: Call centre operations and customer interactions
  • Pronunciation: Anxious and Chess + connected speech

Module 2

  • Customer Enquiries and Complaints:
  • Граматика: Past tenses
  • Речник: Types of Enquiries, common customer issues, complaint resolution
  • Четене: Customer inquiries and complaint emails
  • Слушане: Identifying issues
  • Писане: Customer responses and complaint resolutions
  • Говорене: Role-playing customer inquiry and complaint calls
  • Pronunciation: Beats and Beach + connected speech

Module 3

  • Sales and Upselling Techniques:
  • Граматика: Going to and Will
  • Речник: Sales strategies, persuasive language, product features and benefits
  • Четене: Sales scripts and promotional materials
  • Слушане: Successful sales calls and identifying techniques
  • Писане: Writing sales pitches and follow-up emails
  • Говорене: Sales calls and upselling techniques
  • Pronunciation: Bet and But + connected speech

Module 4

  • Technical Support and Troubleshooting:
  • Граматика: Present perfect
  • Речник: Technical terms, problem-solving, software and hardware issues
  • Четене: Technical support guides and troubleshooting manuals
  • Слушане: Technical support calls and identifying solutions
  • Писане: Technical support instructions and summaries
  • Говорене: Technical support calls and providing guidance
  • Pronunciation: Bud and Bird + connected speech

Module 5

  • Call Centre Etiquette and Communication Skills:
  • Граматика: Countable and uncountable nouns
  • Речник: Polite expressions, empathy, active listening
  • Четене: Call centre etiquette and communication strategies
  • Слушане: Examples of effective and ineffective communication
  • Писане: Personal communication skills
  • Говорене: Polite and effective communication in role-plays
  • Pronunciation: Book and But + connected speech

Module 6

  • Managing Difficult Customers and Situations:
  • Граматика: First conditional
  • Речник: Conflict resolution, negotiation, de-escalation techniques
  • Четене: Case studies of difficult customer situations
  • Слушане: Calls with challenging customers and identifying strategies
  • Писане: Handling difficult situations
  • Говорене: Difficult customer scenarios and practicing de-escalation
  • Pronunciation: Cart and Cut + connected speech

Module 7

  • Call Centre Performance Metrics and Quality Assurance:
  • Граматика: Passive
  • Речник: Key performance indicators (KPIs), call monitoring, quality assurance
  • Четене: Performance reports and quality assurance guidelines
  • Слушане: Call evaluations and feedback sessions
  • Писане: Self-assessments and performance improvement plans
  • Говорене: Performance metrics and quality assurance with colleagues
  • Pronunciation: Day and Ray + connected speech

Module 8

  • Professional Communication for Call Centre Staff:
  • Граматика: Second conditional
  • Речник: Formal and informal language, presentation skills, email etiquette
  • Четене: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Слушане: Colleagues and supervisors in various situations
  • Писане: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Говорене: Communication skills in different scenarios
  • Pronunciation: Fine and Vine + connected speech

Follow-up

Students completing the English for Call Centre Staff course should feel confident in tackling any upper intermediate course, including our Upper Intermediate Business Power course.