Summary
This downloadable lesson plan for B1-level ESL students provides class material on how to handle customer complaints. This English class material focuses on developing polite and effective communication skills for customer service roles, perfect for a business English context. This comprehensive lesson guides students through the process of managing customer complaints.
Activities include a vocabulary matching exercise, a reading comprehension task about a company's service overhaul, and a grammar focus on politeness. A listening gap-fill exercise helps with comprehension, and the lesson culminates in a practical role-play where students use newly learned phrases to resolve common customer service issues in scenarios like a restaurant, online shop, or hotel.
Activities
- A warm-up discussion where students share personal experiences with impulsive actions and regret, setting the stage for the lesson's theme of self-control in real-life scenarios.
- Video comprehension questions based on a talk about practical techniques like the "magic pause," 4-7-8 breathing, and mindfulness to help manage immediate emotional responses and knee-jerk reactions.
- A grammar exercise focusing on mixed conditionals (If + past perfect, would + verb) to help students reflect on the present consequences of past impulsive actions, connecting grammar directly to the lesson's theme.
- Guided role-play scenarios involving common workplace conflicts, such as sending an angry email or interrupting a colleague, allowing students to practice giving and receiving advice using newly learned vocabulary and phrases.
Transcript
00:00 Handling customer complaints can be challenging, but it's a vital part of our job. The first step is always to listen actively and show empathy. Customers want to feel heard and understood, even if we can't always give them exactly what they want. Then, it's crucial to apologize sincerely for any inconvenience caused. After that, we should clearly explain the steps we'll take to resolve the issue. Offering a solution, even a temporary one, helps restore trust. Our goal is to turn a negative experience into a positive one, if possible ultimately, professionalism and a calm demeanor are key to de-escalating any situation.
Vocabulary focus
This lesson focuses on essential vocabulary for customer service and conflict resolution. Key terms include: "complaint," "empathy," "inconvenience," "resolve," "solution," "offer," "refund," and "de-escalate." Students learn these words through a matching exercise to ensure they understand their meaning and context before using them in practice.
Grammar focus
The grammar section concentrates on using modal verbs to make requests and offers sound more polite and professional. Students practice transforming direct statements into softer, more appropriate language using modals like 'could', 'can', 'would', and 'may'. This is a crucial skill for successfully de-escalating tense situations with customers.
