Telephone and Helpdesk Skills

If you are a non-native English speaker and make telephone calls as part of your work, then this book is for you. By applying the suggested guidelines, you will stand a much greater chance of making an effective telephone call. You will learn how to:

• prepare for a call both psychologically and from an English language point of view
• receive calls (if you work on reception)
• leave messages
• find out about another company and talk about your own company
• chase people (i.e. people who have not followed up your requests)
• deal with difficult calls and callers, and improve your telephone manner
• use the telephone while working on a help desk or helpline
• resolve language difficulties (i.e. when you cannot understand the other person's English)
• improve your pronunciation
• use resources on the Internet to improve your listening skills The book concludes with a chapter of useful phrases. There is a brief introduction for trainers on how to teach telephone and helpdesk skills within a Business English course.

Adrian Wallwork is the author of over 30 books aimed at helping non-native English speakers to communicate more effectively in English. He has published 13 books with Springer Science+Business Media.

Other books in this Professional English series:

Email and Commercial Correspondence

CVs, Resumes, and LinkedIn

User Guides, Manuals, and Technical Writing

Meetings, Negotiations, and Socializing Presentations, Demos, and Training Sessions

Auteur
Wallwork, a native English speaker from the UK, has 25 years of experience teaching English at various IT companies in Pisa, Italy. He has published 13 books with Springer Science+Business Media.

Contenu

Preparing for Calls.- Making a Call.- Leaving a Message with the Switchboard Operator.- Voicemail and Answering Machines.- Receiving Calls.- Finding Out About Another Company, Giving Information About Your Company.- Chasing.- Dealing with Difficult Callers and Unhelpful Staff.- Improving Your Telephone Manner.- Working on a Helpdesk: Key Issues.- Helpdesk: Dealing with Customers.- Calling a Helpdesk.- What to Do and Say if You Don't Understand.- Using the Web and TV to Improve Your Listening Skills.- Pronunciation: Word and Sentence Stress.- Example Telephone Dialogs.- Useful Phrases.