ENGLISH FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES
LESSON 5: CUSTOMER CARE
WARM UP ? decide which words from the box relate to the customer care and belong to the diagram
satisfaction | target | loyalty |
service | research | purchase |
progress | market share | stock exchange |
meet expectation | troubleshooting | product |
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CUSTOMER CARE ? SATISFACTION, LOYALTY, PURCHASE, SERVICE, PRODUCT, MEET EXPECTATION, TROUBLESHOOTING
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SPEAKING:
What do you know about CUSTOMER CARE? What is it for you?
Would you add anything else to the CUSTOMER CARE? If yes, what?
Complete the definition of CUSTOMER CARE with the words from the box.
profitalibity | performance | areas |
core | maximise | important |
What is customer care?
Customer care involves putting systems in place to your customers' satisfaction with your business. It should be a prime consideration for every business – your sales and depends on keeping your customers happy.
Customer care is more directly in some roles than others. For receptionists, sales staff and other employees in customer-facing roles, customer care should be a element of their job description and training, and a core criterion when you’re recruiting.
But don’t neglect the importance of customer care in other of your business. For instance, your warehousing and dispatch departments may have minimal contact with your customers – but their when fulfilling orders has a major impact on customers' satisfaction with your business.
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What is customer care?
Customer care involves putting systems in place to maximise your customers' satisfaction with your business. It should be a prime consideration for every business – your sales and profitability depends on keeping your customers happy.
Customer care is more directly important in some roles than others. For receptionists, sales staff and other employees in customer-facing roles, customer care should be a core element of their job description and training, and a core criterion when you’re recruiting.
But don’t neglect the importance of customer care in other areas of your business. For instance, your warehousing and dispatch departments may have minimal contact with your customers – but their performance when fulfilling orders has a major impact on customers' satisfaction with your business.
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SPEAKING
Using your own words, explain what Customer Care is.
Look at the pictures! Say what you can see in them. Explain the differences between the pictures.
What makes a perfect Customer Service specialist?
READING and VOCABULARY EXERCISE
Read the text below and fill the gaps with the words and expressions below.
interaction | fulfilled by | inferior |
a track of | in charge of | thorough and deep |
Customer service specialist job profile and description
A customer service specialist is achieving the consumer welfare goals of a customer service specialist companies and corporations. He or she has a number of responsibilities such as organizing retail chains, branded consumer product companies and designer brands of [tooltip][phrase]apparel[/phrase][def]apparel
mainly US clothes of a particular type when they are being sold in a shop / ubranie[/def][/tooltip] clothing, cosmetics etc. basically needs to ensure the customer satisfaction for the goods and services. Besides that, the job gives knowledge of marketing and [tooltip][phrase]salesmanship[/phrase][def]salesmanship
skill in selling / sztuka pozyskiwania klienta[/def][/tooltip] as well as an opportunity to [tooltip][phrase]endorse[/phrase][def]endorse
to appear in an advertisement, saying that you use and like a particular product / udzielać poparcia, wspierać [/def][/tooltip] the reputable qualities of the companies.
Customer Service Specialist duties and responsibilities
There are a number of duties and responsibilities which are expected to be a customer service specialist and they are as follows:
- The prime responsibility is to [tooltip][phrase]cater[/phrase][def]cater to
to try to satisfy a need, especially one which is not popular or not generally acceptable / zaspakajać potrzeby, troszczyć się[/def][/tooltip] to the needs and demands of the customers perfectly. - He or she needs to provide satisfactory service to the customers in understanding of products, such as electronic goods, cosmetics, accessories etc.
- He or she has the responsibility to advertise the special [tooltip][phrase]features[/phrase][def]features
a typical quality or an important part of something / cecha, właściwość[/def][/tooltip] and impressive qualities of products and services. - He or she has to work for increasing the client bases and gain satisfaction from the consumption.
- He or she also have to solve the problems, [tooltip][phrase]arising[/phrase][def]arising out
to happen / powstawać[/def][/tooltip] out of the consumption ofgoods and register their complaints for solutions. - The customer service specialist has to keepthe recent trends and developments in products and technologies.
Customer service specialist Skills and Specifications
- The most important skills required are the communication skills both verbally and written.
- The other skills, which are required for customer service specialization, are mostlyskills.
Customer service specialist Qualifications and Experience
- The person should haveknowledge and should be very well [tooltip][phrase]versed with[/phrase][def]versed with
to know a lot about a particular subject or be experienced in a particular sill / biegły, doświadczony[/def][/tooltip] the products available. - The other required skills are communication qualities, like accent and etiquette, while speaking.
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A customer service specialist is in charge of achieving the consumer welfare goals of a customer service specialist companies and corporations. He or she has a number of responsibilities such as organizing retail chains, branded consumer product companies and designer brands of apparel clothing, cosmetics etc. basically needs to ensure the customer satisfaction for the goods and services. Besides that, the job gives knowledge of marketing and salesmanship as well as an opportunity to endorse the reputable qualities of the companies.
Customer Service Specialist duties and responsibilities
There are a number of duties and responsibilities which are expected to be fulfilled by a customer service specialist and they are as follows:
- The prime responsibility is to cater to the needs and demands of the customers perfectly.
- He or she needs to provide satisfactory service to the customers in understanding of products, such as electronic goods, cosmetics, accessories etc.
- He or she has the responsibility to advertise the special features and impressive qualities of products and services.
- He or she has to work for increasing the client bases and gain satisfaction from the consumption.
- He or she also have to solve the problems, arising out of the consumption of inferior goods and register their complaints for solutions.
- The customer service specialist has to keep a track of the recent trends and developments in products and technologies.
Customer service specialist Skills and Specifications
- The most important skills required are the communication skills both verbally and written.
- The other skills, which are required for customer service specialization, are mostly interaction skills.
Customer service specialist Qualifications and Experience
- The person should have thorough and deep knowledge and should be very well versed with the products available.
- The other required skills are communication qualities, like accent and etiquette, while speaking.
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VOCABULARY EXERCISE -> Use the highlighted expressions from the text in the sentences below.
versed | endorse | cater to |
features | salesmanship | arise |
apparel |
- Clever can persuade you to buy things you don’t really want.
- Could you work on Saturday, should the need (= if it were to be necessary)?
- The store sells women’s and children’s .
- I’m not sufficiently in computers to understand what you’re saying.
- Our latest model of phone has several new .
- They only publish novels which the mass market.
- I wonder how many celebrities actually use the products they .
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- Clever salesmanship can persuade you to buy things you don’t really want.
- Could you work on Saturday, should the need arise (= if it were to be necessary)?
- The store sells women’s and children’s apparel.
- I’m not sufficiently versed in computers to understand what you’re saying.
- Our latest model of phone has several new features.
- They only publish novels which cater to the mass market.
- I wonder how many celebrities actually use the products they endorse.
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AN INTERESTING DETAIL
Complete the short text with:
god | number one | king |
Customer Service and Customer Care
In the UK we say the customer is , in the US they say the customer is , in Japan they say the customer is .
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In the UK we say the customer is number one, in the US they say the customer is king, in Japan they say the customer is god.
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EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
Customer service Quiz ? build the questions.
1. What / customers / complain / unhappy / percentage of / never /?
QUESTION:
[key] 1. What percentage of unhappy customers never complain? [/key]
2. If you / resolve / to the customer’s satisfaction / a complaint, / stay with you / what percentage of customers / will ?
QUESTION:
[key]2. If you resolve a complaint to the customer’s satisfaction, what percentage of customers will stay with you? [/key]
3. How many / a dissatisfied / about their experience / people / customer / will / tell /?
QUESTION:
[key] 3. How many people will a dissatisfied customer tell about their experience? [/key]
4. If you / tell about it / resolve a complaint / how many people / will the customer / to the customer’s satisfaction, ?
QUESTION:
[key] 4. If you resolve a complaint to the customer’s satisfaction, how many people will the customer tell about it?[/key]
5. How many times / to gain / more expensive is it on average / customer / a new / than / an existing one / to retain /?
QUESTION:
[key] 5. How many times more expensive is it on average to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one?[/key]
Check the answers in the text below and choose the right answer.
- It can cost up to five times as much to attract a new customer than to retain an existing one.
- The average business never hears from 96% of its unhappy customers.
- For every complaint received, the average company has 24 customers with problems, 6 of which are serious in nature.
- Surprisingly, of the people who have problems, complainers are more likely than non-complainers to do business again with a company that upset them, even if the problem isn’t satisfactorily resolved.
- Of customers who register a complaint, between 54% and 70% will do business again with the organisation if their complaint is resolved. That figure goes up to an impressive 95% if the customer feels that the complaint was resolved quickly (within 24 hours).
- The average customer who has a problem with an organisation tells 9 or 10 people about it. Thirteen percent of the people who have a problem with an organisation recount the incident to more than 20 people.
- Customers who have complained to an organisation and had their complaints satisfactorily resolved tell an average of 5 people about the treatment they receive.
Source: http://www.totalsuccess.co.uk/customer-service-and-customer-care/
1. What percentage of unhappy customers never complain?
A. 50% | B. 75% | C. 96% |
2. If you resolve a complaint to the customer’s satisfaction, what percentage of customers will stay with you?
A. Between 54% and 70% | B. between 75% and 95% | C. more than 96% |
3. How many people will a dissatisfied customer tell about their experience?
A. 4 or 5 people | B. more than 20 people | C. 9 or 10 people |
4. If you resolve a complaint to the customer’s satisfaction, how many people will the customer tell about it?
A. on average 2 people | B. on average 10 people | C. on average 5 people |
5. How many times more expensive is it on average to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one?
A. 10 times more expensive | B. 5 times more expensive | C. 8 time more expensive |
Complete the sentences with the words from the box.
SULLEN | STRANGLING | FIDDLE | REQUIRES |
- When you’re dealing with a customer face to face, what are some non-verbal things you can do to make the customer feel like you?
- If you’re chewing gum, pop it really loudly!
- Twist your hair and with your jewellery!
- Sigh deeply and fold your arms.
- Don’t make eye contact, or if you do, look and bored.
- If you’re dealing with a woman, keep looking at her figure, don’t look her in the eye.
- If it’s a guy, stare at the top of his head where his hair might be thinning.
- Keep looking at your watch like you have something better to do.
- If it paperwork, make sure you don’t have all you need. Keep leaving the premises for long absences.
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- When you’re dealing with a customer face to face, what are some non-verbal things you can do to make the customer feel like strangling you?
- If you’re chewing gum, pop it really loudly!
- Twist your hair and fiddle with your jewellery!
- Sigh deeply and fold your arms.
- Don’t make eye contact, or if you do, look sullen and bored.
- If you’re dealing with a woman, keep looking at her figure, don’t look her in the eye.
- If it’s a guy, stare at the top of his head where his hair might be thinning.
- Keep looking at your watch like you have something better to do.
- If it requires paperwork, make sure you don’t have all you need. Keep leaving the premises for long absences.
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SULLEN | FIDDLE | STRANGLE |


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