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.

Γραμματική

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.

Λεξιλόγιο

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:
  • Γραμματική: Present tenses
  • Λεξιλόγιο: Essential call centre vocabulary, types of calls, customer service phrases
  • Ανάγνωση: Call centre scripts, articles, and reports
  • Ακρόαση: Recorded call sample
  • Γράφοντας: Call summaries and notes
  • Μιλώντας: Call centre operations and customer interactions
  • Pronunciation: Anxious and Chess + connected speech

Module 2

  • Customer Enquiries and Complaints:
  • Γραμματική: Past tenses
  • Λεξιλόγιο: Types of Enquiries, common customer issues, complaint resolution
  • Ανάγνωση: Customer inquiries and complaint emails
  • Ακρόαση: Identifying issues
  • Γράφοντας: Customer responses and complaint resolutions
  • Μιλώντας: Role-playing customer inquiry and complaint calls
  • Pronunciation: Beats and Beach + connected speech

Module 3

  • Sales and Upselling Techniques:
  • Γραμματική: Going to and Will
  • Λεξιλόγιο: Sales strategies, persuasive language, product features and benefits
  • Ανάγνωση: Sales scripts and promotional materials
  • Ακρόαση: Successful sales calls and identifying techniques
  • Γράφοντας: Writing sales pitches and follow-up emails
  • Μιλώντας: Sales calls and upselling techniques
  • Pronunciation: Bet and But + connected speech

Module 4

  • Technical Support and Troubleshooting:
  • Γραμματική: Present perfect
  • Λεξιλόγιο: Technical terms, problem-solving, software and hardware issues
  • Ανάγνωση: Technical support guides and troubleshooting manuals
  • Ακρόαση: Technical support calls and identifying solutions
  • Γράφοντας: Technical support instructions and summaries
  • Μιλώντας: Technical support calls and providing guidance
  • Pronunciation: Bud and Bird + connected speech

Module 5

  • Call Centre Etiquette and Communication Skills:
  • Γραμματική: Countable and uncountable nouns
  • Λεξιλόγιο: Polite expressions, empathy, active listening
  • Ανάγνωση: Call centre etiquette and communication strategies
  • Ακρόαση: Examples of effective and ineffective communication
  • Γράφοντας: Personal communication skills
  • Μιλώντας: Polite and effective communication in role-plays
  • Pronunciation: Book and But + connected speech

Module 6

  • Managing Difficult Customers and Situations:
  • Γραμματική: First conditional
  • Λεξιλόγιο: Conflict resolution, negotiation, de-escalation techniques
  • Ανάγνωση: Case studies of difficult customer situations
  • Ακρόαση: Calls with challenging customers and identifying strategies
  • Γράφοντας: Handling difficult situations
  • Μιλώντας: Difficult customer scenarios and practicing de-escalation
  • Pronunciation: Cart and Cut + connected speech

Module 7

  • Call Centre Performance Metrics and Quality Assurance:
  • Γραμματική: Passive
  • Λεξιλόγιο: Key performance indicators (KPIs), call monitoring, quality assurance
  • Ανάγνωση: Performance reports and quality assurance guidelines
  • Ακρόαση: Call evaluations and feedback sessions
  • Γράφοντας: Self-assessments and performance improvement plans
  • Μιλώντας: Performance metrics and quality assurance with colleagues
  • Pronunciation: Day and Ray + connected speech

Module 8

  • Professional Communication for Call Centre Staff:
  • Γραμματική: Second conditional
  • Λεξιλόγιο: Formal and informal language, presentation skills, email etiquette
  • Ανάγνωση: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Ακρόαση: Colleagues and supervisors in various situations
  • Γράφοντας: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Μιλώντας: 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.