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.

Vārdnīca

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
  • Vārdnīca: Essential call centre vocabulary, types of calls, customer service phrases
  • Lasīšana: Call centre scripts, articles, and reports
  • Klausīšanās: Recorded call sample
  • Rakstīšana: Call summaries and notes
  • Runājot: Call centre operations and customer interactions
  • Pronunciation: Anxious and Chess + connected speech

Module 2

  • Customer Enquiries and Complaints:
  • Gramatika: Past tenses
  • Vārdnīca: Types of Enquiries, common customer issues, complaint resolution
  • Lasīšana: Customer inquiries and complaint emails
  • Klausīšanās: Identifying issues
  • Rakstīšana: Customer responses and complaint resolutions
  • Runājot: Role-playing customer inquiry and complaint calls
  • Pronunciation: Beats and Beach + connected speech

Module 3

  • Sales and Upselling Techniques:
  • Gramatika: Going to and Will
  • Vārdnīca: Sales strategies, persuasive language, product features and benefits
  • Lasīšana: Sales scripts and promotional materials
  • Klausīšanās: Successful sales calls and identifying techniques
  • Rakstīšana: Writing sales pitches and follow-up emails
  • Runājot: Sales calls and upselling techniques
  • Pronunciation: Bet and But + connected speech

Module 4

  • Technical Support and Troubleshooting:
  • Gramatika: Present perfect
  • Vārdnīca: Technical terms, problem-solving, software and hardware issues
  • Lasīšana: Technical support guides and troubleshooting manuals
  • Klausīšanās: Technical support calls and identifying solutions
  • Rakstīšana: Technical support instructions and summaries
  • Runājot: 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
  • Vārdnīca: Polite expressions, empathy, active listening
  • Lasīšana: Call centre etiquette and communication strategies
  • Klausīšanās: Examples of effective and ineffective communication
  • Rakstīšana: Personal communication skills
  • Runājot: Polite and effective communication in role-plays
  • Pronunciation: Book and But + connected speech

Module 6

  • Managing Difficult Customers and Situations:
  • Gramatika: First conditional
  • Vārdnīca: Conflict resolution, negotiation, de-escalation techniques
  • Lasīšana: Case studies of difficult customer situations
  • Klausīšanās: Calls with challenging customers and identifying strategies
  • Rakstīšana: Handling difficult situations
  • Runājot: Difficult customer scenarios and practicing de-escalation
  • Pronunciation: Cart and Cut + connected speech

Module 7

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

Module 8

  • Professional Communication for Call Centre Staff:
  • Gramatika: Second conditional
  • Vārdnīca: Formal and informal language, presentation skills, email etiquette
  • Lasīšana: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Klausīšanās: Colleagues and supervisors in various situations
  • Rakstīšana: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Runājot: 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.