Business English - Language for Customer Service Excellence

Activity 1: Let's Get Started! (Warm-up)

Why is the language used by customer service representatives so critical for overall customer satisfaction, loyalty, and a company's public reputation?
Can you recall a personal experience (either positive or negative) where the specific language and tone used by a customer service agent significantly impacted your impression of a company? What happened?
What specific communication skills, language qualities, or attitudes do you believe are absolutely essential for any professional aiming to provide excellent customer service?

Activity 2: New Words (Vocabulary)

Let's explore some essential terms and phrases related to providing excellent customer service. Understanding and using these effectively can greatly enhance customer interactions.

1. Empathy (noun): The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, crucial for connecting with customers and acknowledging their concerns.

Example: Showing empathy by saying "I understand this must be frustrating for you" can help de-escalate a customer's complaint.

2. Assurance (noun): A positive declaration intended to give confidence or make someone feel secure; a promise. Phrases like "I can assure you..." are common.

Example: Giving assurance that you are taking action can help calm an anxious customer.

3. Resolution (noun): The act of successfully solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter for a customer.

Example: Our goal is to achieve a satisfactory resolution for every customer issue within 24 hours.

4. Inconvenience (noun): Trouble, difficulty, or bother caused to someone's personal requirements, comfort, or schedule. Often used when apologizing.

Example: "We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the service disruption may have caused you."

5. Go the extra mile (idiom): To make a special or greater effort than is necessary or expected in order to achieve something or to help someone.

Example: Our top customer service agents always try to go the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction.

6. Query / Inquiry (noun): A question, especially one expressing doubt, asking for information, or seeking clarification from a customer or about a customer's situation.

Example: We receive many customer inquiries about product features via our online chat service.

7. Feedback (noun): Information, opinions, or reactions about a product, service, or a person's performance of a task, which is used as a basis for improvement.

Example: We actively collect customer feedback through surveys to help us enhance our services.

8. Compensation (noun): Something, typically money or a concession, awarded to someone as a recompense for loss, injury, suffering, or inconvenience caused by a product or service failure.

Example: As a form of compensation for the error, the company offered the customer a discount on their next purchase.

Activity 3: Reading - Sarah Handles a Difficult Customer Call

Read the following scenario about Sarah, a customer service representative, skillfully handling a call from an upset customer. Notice how she uses language to manage the situation.

Sarah, a seasoned customer service representative at 'ConnectAll Telecom,' received a call from Mr. Harrison, who was audibly upset because his internet service had been unexpectedly down for several hours. Sarah immediately focused on expressing empathy. 'Mr. Harrison,' she began in a calm voice, 'I truly understand how frustrating it must be to be without your internet service, especially when you rely on it daily. Please accept my sincerest apologies for this significant inconvenience you're experiencing.' Her primary goal at this initial stage was to provide assurance that his query was being taken seriously and that she was there to help find a solution.

After actively listening to all of Mr. Harrison's concerns without interruption, Sarah quickly investigated the issue, identifying a local network outage in his area. 'I can assure you, Mr. Harrison,' she explained clearly, 'that our technical team is already working diligently on a resolution for this outage. We anticipate that normal service will be restored within the next two hours.' To address the disruption he had faced, she added, 'For the trouble this has caused, we would like to offer some form of compensation, such as a credit on your next monthly bill.' Mr. Harrison, though still clearly inconvenienced, began to sound less agitated, evidently appreciating Sarah’s proactive and understanding approach. Sarah further promised to go the extra mile by personally monitoring the situation and calling him back with an update or to confirm once his service was fully restored. She also warmly invited him to provide feedback on their service handling once the entire issue was completely resolved, emphasizing that his input was valuable. Her professional handling of his inquiry and her commitment to finding a swift resolution significantly helped to de-escalate a potentially difficult situation and ultimately retain a valued customer.

Comprehension Questions:

After reading the passage, answer the following questions:

How did Sarah demonstrate empathy and provide assurance at the beginning of her call with the upset customer, Mr. Harrison?
What was the specific resolution Sarah's technical team was working on, and what form of compensation did Sarah offer Mr. Harrison for the inconvenience he experienced?
In what specific way did Sarah promise to "go the extra mile" for Mr. Harrison beyond just explaining the situation?
Why is inviting customer feedback important, as implied by Sarah's actions, even after a problem appears to be on its way to resolution?

Activity 4: Role Play - Addressing a Customer Complaint

Read the following dialogue with a partner. One person can be Tom (a Customer Service Representative), and the other can be Mrs. Lee (a Customer with a complaint).

Tom: Thank you for calling TechSupport Solutions, my name is Tom. How may I help you today?

Mrs. Lee: I'm calling because this new tablet I purchased just last week is not working properly at all! This is a huge inconvenience, and frankly, I'm very disappointed.

Tom: I'm very sorry to hear that you're experiencing issues with your new tablet, Mrs. Lee. I can certainly understand your frustration and disappointment, especially with a new device. Showing empathy is my first step. Could you please describe the problem you're having with your query in a bit more detail?

Mrs. Lee: The screen keeps freezing every few minutes, and sometimes it just turns off by itself. I paid a lot of money for this! I need a quick resolution to this problem.

Tom: I understand this is not the experience we want you to have, and I can assure you I'll do my very best to help get this sorted out for you. Let's try a few basic troubleshooting steps first. If that doesn't work, we'll immediately explore options like a replacement or some form of appropriate compensation for the trouble.

Mrs. Lee: Alright, I'm willing to try. What do you suggest we do first?

Tom: (Suggests a troubleshooting step like a hard reset, and waits for Mrs. Lee to try it) ... Does that seem to make any difference to the tablet's performance, Mrs. Lee?

Mrs. Lee: No, unfortunately, it's still freezing up just as before. This is really unacceptable for a brand new product.

Tom: I completely understand your continued frustration, Mrs. Lee, and thank you for trying that step. Since that didn't resolve it, we will definitely go the extra mile to make this right for you. Let me immediately arrange for a brand new replacement tablet to be sent out to you with expedited shipping. We truly value your feedback on how we handle this entire process.

Mrs. Lee: A new replacement sent out quickly would be a good resolution. Thank you, Tom. I appreciate you working towards a solution for this query.

Discuss Together:

After reading or performing the dialogue, discuss the following with a partner:

Tom used several customer service phrases and techniques. Which ones did you find most effective in handling Mrs. Lee's complaint and why? Were there any points where he could have done something differently?

Activity 5: Let's Practice - Customer Service Language

Objective: Practice using key terms and phrases related to providing excellent customer service.

Scenario: Ms. Carter (a trainer) is discussing essential customer service language with Ben (a new Customer Service Representative).

Ms. Carter: Ben, when a customer calls and is clearly upset or frustrated with a problem, what's the very first and most important quality to convey in your voice and your words?

Ben: I should always try to show genuine for their situation and how they are feeling.

Ms. Carter: Exactly. And if they are worried that their problem won't be solved, what can you offer them verbally to make them feel more confident in our company's ability to help?

Ben: I can give them that we will do our utmost to investigate and fix the issue for them.

Ms. Carter: Good. Our ultimate aim with any customer problem, big or small, is to find a satisfactory outcome or ______.

Ben: We need to work towards a that works for the customer and the company.

Ms. Carter: If our company has made a mistake or our service has caused a problem for the customer, we should always sincerely apologize for the ______.

Ben: Yes, we must apologize for any that our error may have caused them.

Ms. Carter: Sometimes, simply fixing the immediate problem isn't quite enough to restore full customer satisfaction. What common English idiom describes making an extra special effort for the customer?

Ben: That's when we try to to exceed their expectations.

Ms. Carter: When a customer contacts us with a question, a problem, or a request for information, what's another professional word for their contact or question?

Ben: We can refer to it as a customer or sometimes an inquiry.

Ms. Carter: After an interaction, especially if there was a problem that we helped to resolve, it's often a very good idea to ask the customer for their ______ on how we handled things.

Ben: Yes, their honest is invaluable as it helps us to improve our service processes.

Ms. Carter: And in situations where a customer has suffered a significant loss, inconvenience, or dissatisfaction due to an error on our part, what might we appropriately offer them as a gesture of goodwill?

Ben: In such cases, we might offer some suitable form of , such as a discount, a refund, or a voucher for future services.

Try to fill in the blanks with the correct words or phrases from Activity 2.