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.

Грамматика

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.

Словарный запас

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:
  • Грамматика: Present tenses
  • Словарный запас: Essential call centre vocabulary, types of calls, customer service phrases
  • Чтение: Call centre scripts, articles, and reports
  • Прослушивание: Recorded call sample
  • Написание: Call summaries and notes
  • Выступление: Call centre operations and customer interactions
  • Произношение: Anxious and Chess + connected speech

Module 2

  • Customer Enquiries and Complaints:
  • Грамматика: Past tenses
  • Словарный запас: Types of Enquiries, common customer issues, complaint resolution
  • Чтение: Customer inquiries and complaint emails
  • Прослушивание: Identifying issues
  • Написание: Customer responses and complaint resolutions
  • Выступление: Role-playing customer inquiry and complaint calls
  • Произношение: Beats and Beach + connected speech

Module 3

  • Sales and Upselling Techniques:
  • Грамматика: Going to and Will
  • Словарный запас: Sales strategies, persuasive language, product features and benefits
  • Чтение: Sales scripts and promotional materials
  • Прослушивание: Successful sales calls and identifying techniques
  • Написание: Writing sales pitches and follow-up emails
  • Выступление: Sales calls and upselling techniques
  • Произношение: Bet and But + connected speech

Module 4

  • Technical Support and Troubleshooting:
  • Грамматика: Present perfect
  • Словарный запас: Technical terms, problem-solving, software and hardware issues
  • Чтение: Technical support guides and troubleshooting manuals
  • Прослушивание: Technical support calls and identifying solutions
  • Написание: Technical support instructions and summaries
  • Выступление: Technical support calls and providing guidance
  • Произношение: Bud and Bird + connected speech

Module 5

  • Call Centre Etiquette and Communication Skills:
  • Грамматика: Countable and uncountable nouns
  • Словарный запас: Polite expressions, empathy, active listening
  • Чтение: Call centre etiquette and communication strategies
  • Прослушивание: Examples of effective and ineffective communication
  • Написание: Personal communication skills
  • Выступление: Polite and effective communication in role-plays
  • Произношение: Book and But + connected speech

Module 6

  • Managing Difficult Customers and Situations:
  • Грамматика: First conditional
  • Словарный запас: Conflict resolution, negotiation, de-escalation techniques
  • Чтение: Case studies of difficult customer situations
  • Прослушивание: Calls with challenging customers and identifying strategies
  • Написание: Handling difficult situations
  • Выступление: Difficult customer scenarios and practicing de-escalation
  • Произношение: Cart and Cut + connected speech

Module 7

  • Call Centre Performance Metrics and Quality Assurance:
  • Грамматика: Passive
  • Словарный запас: Key performance indicators (KPIs), call monitoring, quality assurance
  • Чтение: Performance reports and quality assurance guidelines
  • Прослушивание: Call evaluations and feedback sessions
  • Написание: Self-assessments and performance improvement plans
  • Выступление: Performance metrics and quality assurance with colleagues
  • Произношение: Day and Ray + connected speech

Module 8

  • Professional Communication for Call Centre Staff:
  • Грамматика: Second conditional
  • Словарный запас: Formal and informal language, presentation skills, email etiquette
  • Чтение: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Прослушивание: Colleagues and supervisors in various situations
  • Написание: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Выступление: Communication skills in different scenarios
  • Произношение: 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.