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.

Gramatika

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.

Žodynas

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:
  • Gramatika: Present tenses
  • Žodynas: Essential call centre vocabulary, types of calls, customer service phrases
  • Skaitymas: Call centre scripts, articles, and reports
  • Klausymasis: Recorded call sample
  • Rašymas: Call summaries and notes
  • Kalbėjimas: Call centre operations and customer interactions
  • Pronunciation: Anxious and Chess + connected speech

Module 2

  • Customer Enquiries and Complaints:
  • Gramatika: Past tenses
  • Žodynas: Types of Enquiries, common customer issues, complaint resolution
  • Skaitymas: Customer inquiries and complaint emails
  • Klausymasis: Identifying issues
  • Rašymas: Customer responses and complaint resolutions
  • Kalbėjimas: Role-playing customer inquiry and complaint calls
  • Pronunciation: Beats and Beach + connected speech

Module 3

  • Sales and Upselling Techniques:
  • Gramatika: Going to and Will
  • Žodynas: Sales strategies, persuasive language, product features and benefits
  • Skaitymas: Sales scripts and promotional materials
  • Klausymasis: Successful sales calls and identifying techniques
  • Rašymas: Writing sales pitches and follow-up emails
  • Kalbėjimas: Sales calls and upselling techniques
  • Pronunciation: Bet and But + connected speech

Module 4

  • Technical Support and Troubleshooting:
  • Gramatika: Present perfect
  • Žodynas: Technical terms, problem-solving, software and hardware issues
  • Skaitymas: Technical support guides and troubleshooting manuals
  • Klausymasis: Technical support calls and identifying solutions
  • Rašymas: Technical support instructions and summaries
  • Kalbėjimas: Technical support calls and providing guidance
  • Pronunciation: Bud and Bird + connected speech

Module 5

  • Call Centre Etiquette and Communication Skills:
  • Gramatika: Countable and uncountable nouns
  • Žodynas: Polite expressions, empathy, active listening
  • Skaitymas: Call centre etiquette and communication strategies
  • Klausymasis: Examples of effective and ineffective communication
  • Rašymas: Personal communication skills
  • Kalbėjimas: Polite and effective communication in role-plays
  • Pronunciation: Book and But + connected speech

Module 6

  • Managing Difficult Customers and Situations:
  • Gramatika: First conditional
  • Žodynas: Conflict resolution, negotiation, de-escalation techniques
  • Skaitymas: Case studies of difficult customer situations
  • Klausymasis: Calls with challenging customers and identifying strategies
  • Rašymas: Handling difficult situations
  • Kalbėjimas: Difficult customer scenarios and practicing de-escalation
  • Pronunciation: Cart and Cut + connected speech

Module 7

  • Call Centre Performance Metrics and Quality Assurance:
  • Gramatika: Passive
  • Žodynas: Key performance indicators (KPIs), call monitoring, quality assurance
  • Skaitymas: Performance reports and quality assurance guidelines
  • Klausymasis: Call evaluations and feedback sessions
  • Rašymas: Self-assessments and performance improvement plans
  • Kalbėjimas: Performance metrics and quality assurance with colleagues
  • Pronunciation: Day and Ray + connected speech

Module 8

  • Professional Communication for Call Centre Staff:
  • Gramatika: Second conditional
  • Žodynas: Formal and informal language, presentation skills, email etiquette
  • Skaitymas: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Klausymasis: Colleagues and supervisors in various situations
  • Rašymas: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Kalbėjimas: 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.