Business English Pod / Customer Service / Page 5

BEP 88 – Telephoning: Booking a Travel Ticket

A2, Business English, Customer Service, Intermediate English, Telephone English, Travel /

Booking tickets on the phone is a basic part of business travel. In this intermediate Business English Podcast, we will practice useful phrases and language for making travel arrangements on the telephone.

Viva is an Italian manufacturer of ladies’ apparel, or clothing. Marco and Francesca, Viva employees, are on a business trip. After visiting customers in the UK, they are now heading to Las Vegas in the United States to meet with their American distributor – the company that sells their product there. Marco calls a travel agent to book tickets for them.

Listening Questions

1) When does Marco want to leave and when does he want to return? Will he and Francesca be flying first class, business class or economy?
2) Does Marco ask the travel agent to “hold the fare” or does he pay for it immediately?
3) Does Marco need to pick up his and Francesca’s tickets at the travel agent’s office?

Premium Members: PDF Transcripts | PhraseCast

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 80 – Travel English: Checking In to a Hotel

Business English, Customer Service, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Travel /

In this Business English Podcast lesson, we will focus on phrases and vocabulary – both for checking in and for enquiring about hotel services whilst checking in.

Arriving at a hotel after a long, hard day of travel, you need to do one last thing before you can take a hot shower and relax in front of the TV – you need to check in. That means registering for the room by filling out any necessary forms and giving the hotel your credit card number.

Checking in to hotels is another important part of travel, whether it’s for business or for pleasure. This episode follows on from BEP 79 Travel: Reserving a Hotel Room, in which Sarah Johnson called to reserve a room at the Majestic Hotel in New York. Sarah has now arrived, and she is ready to begin her stay.

In the listening, Paul, at reception, helps Sarah register for the room. Pay attention to the language Sarah uses.

Listening Questions

1) When she reserved the room, Sarah asked for a dinner reservation. What is the name of the hotel’s restaurant? Which floor is it on?
2) What do guests need to bring with them to the fitness center?
3) How does Sarah pay for her room deposit?

Premium Member Links: PDF Transcript | PhraseCast

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 79 – Travel: Making a Hotel Reservation

Business English, Customer Service, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Travel /

Today’s Business English Podcast lesson is on making a hotel reservation.

It’s something all of us need to do: Whether it’s for a company business trip, or for personal travel – we all need to, at some time or another, call a hotel to reserve a room. Of course, making reservations is not only useful for hotels but also for all sorts of situations – conferences, restaurants, airplane travel, and any other type of event that requires us to book in advance.

That is the skill that we will be practicing in this episode – making reservations. Along the way, we’ll also be learning vocabulary for staying in hotels.

In the listening, Sarah Johnson is going on vacation with her husband. She calls the reservations desk at the Majestic Hotel in New York, where a staff member, Tony, picks up the phone. As you listen, pay attention to the language Sarah uses, and try to answer the following questions.

Listening Questions

1) What kind of room does Sarah want?
2) What extra request does Sarah have?
3) Tony makes a mistake while taking Sarah’s reservation. What is it?

Premium Member Links: PDF Transcript | PhraseCast

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 54 – Customer Service: Handling Complaints 2: Resolving the Complaint

Advanced, Business English, Customer Service, ESL Podcast, Telephone English /

This is the second in a two-part Business English Podcast series on handling angry customers on the telephone. In today’s show we’ll be looking at how to resolve the customer’s complaint.

First a quick review: In part one we learned the first three steps for calming down angry customers and dealing with their complaints: First, we need to acknowledge their emotions by showing empathy. Second, we should identify the background to their problem so that we can take the right steps to fix it. And third, we should listen actively to show them that we care.

Where we left off last time, Sandy, a service associate at the front desk of the Majestic Hotel, had just finished identifying Steve’s problem. Let’s continue listening to see how Sandy resolves the complaint.

Listening Questions

1) How does Sandy show that he is actively listening to Steve?
2) What does Steve need?
3) What steps does Sandy take to ensure that Steve is satisfied with the outcome of the call?

Members: PDF Transcript

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 53 – Customer Service: Handling Complaints 1: Empathizing

Advanced, Business English, Customer Service, ESL Podcast, Telephone English /

Good customer service is essential to success in any industry, but it is particularly important in the service and hospitality sector. “Hospitality” means treating guests well; and here, we’re talking specifically about hotels. Because service is so vital to hospitality, hotels are a good place to look for excellent service practices.

So today we’ll be listening in on a phone call from an angry customer at the Majestic, a five-star hotel in Shanghai. By listening to a bad example and a good example of service practice, we’ll be studying skills that are useful in any industry, no matter whether you are dealing with internal or external customers.

We’ll see that a very important part of handling angry customers is showing empathy: Empathy is similar to sympathy – it means showing that you understand the customer’s pain.

Listening Questions

Bad Example:
1) How does the customer, Steve, learn the service associate’s name?
2) What is Steve’s problem?
3) How could Jenna have handled the complaint better?

Good Example:
1) When Steve says, “I’m at the end of my rope,” what does he mean?
2) What does Sandy do to calm Steve down?

Members: PDF Transcript

Download: Podcast MP3