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.

Slovná zásoba

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
  • Slovná zásoba: Essential call centre vocabulary, types of calls, customer service phrases
  • Čítanie: Call centre scripts, articles, and reports
  • Počúvanie: Recorded call sample
  • Písanie: Call summaries and notes
  • Hovorenie: Call centre operations and customer interactions
  • Pronunciation: Anxious and Chess + connected speech

Module 2

  • Customer Enquiries and Complaints:
  • Gramatika: Past tenses
  • Slovná zásoba: Types of Enquiries, common customer issues, complaint resolution
  • Čítanie: Customer inquiries and complaint emails
  • Počúvanie: Identifying issues
  • Písanie: Customer responses and complaint resolutions
  • Hovorenie: Role-playing customer inquiry and complaint calls
  • Pronunciation: Beats and Beach + connected speech

Module 3

  • Sales and Upselling Techniques:
  • Gramatika: Going to and Will
  • Slovná zásoba: Sales strategies, persuasive language, product features and benefits
  • Čítanie: Sales scripts and promotional materials
  • Počúvanie: Successful sales calls and identifying techniques
  • Písanie: Writing sales pitches and follow-up emails
  • Hovorenie: Sales calls and upselling techniques
  • Pronunciation: Bet and But + connected speech

Module 4

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

Module 6

  • Managing Difficult Customers and Situations:
  • Gramatika: First conditional
  • Slovná zásoba: Conflict resolution, negotiation, de-escalation techniques
  • Čítanie: Case studies of difficult customer situations
  • Počúvanie: Calls with challenging customers and identifying strategies
  • Písanie: Handling difficult situations
  • Hovorenie: Difficult customer scenarios and practicing de-escalation
  • Pronunciation: Cart and Cut + connected speech

Module 7

  • Call Centre Performance Metrics and Quality Assurance:
  • Gramatika: Passive
  • Slovná zásoba: Key performance indicators (KPIs), call monitoring, quality assurance
  • Čítanie: Performance reports and quality assurance guidelines
  • Počúvanie: Call evaluations and feedback sessions
  • Písanie: Self-assessments and performance improvement plans
  • Hovorenie: Performance metrics and quality assurance with colleagues
  • Pronunciation: Day and Ray + connected speech

Module 8

  • Professional Communication for Call Centre Staff:
  • Gramatika: Second conditional
  • Slovná zásoba: Formal and informal language, presentation skills, email etiquette
  • Čítanie: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Počúvanie: Colleagues and supervisors in various situations
  • Písanie: Professional emails, memos, and announcements
  • Hovorenie: 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.