What’s the right word

Sharon Philip

We know now, without a doubt that Language Proficiency plays a key role in deciding your position in the hierarchy. It is not so much about what we know, as it is about how well we present the knowledge. Even more, due to accelerated globalisation, the possibilities have gone beyond geographical boundaries and language has played a key role in the transition. It is important to know the best way to communicate, and for that we have various workplace jargons specific to particular industries. These comprise professional terminologies that help convey the message with more accuracy,  instead of general vocabulary that tends to blur out the meaning more often than not. Here’s a look at some of these: 

Welcoming language for the hotel industry

We are well aware of the importance of language proficiency in the hospitality sector. A person confident and fluent in speaking skills is always the first to move up the ladder. Being presentable and approachable to the visitors is a vital skill and it helps you gain good reviews for your service. Being a part of this dynamic sector, you are sure to expect people from different cultural backgrounds and nationalities. To live up to the expectations of the tourists, one needs to embody the skill of offering, advising, trouble shooting and all of this in a comforting tone of voice. A few phrases that will instantly impress your customers could be

• “Can I interest you in anything else?”

(Offering further assistance)

• “I hope you had a wonderful stay with us. Hope to see you again.”

(Making a customer feel welcome even after checking out)

• “We are looking forward to having you again as our guest.”

(Retaining customer loyalty)

You might have to apologise for any inconveniences or discomfort caused to the guests. It is important to sound like a responsible host — “I’m sorry for the discomfort. I will attend to this immediately.”

BPO industry — Impress your callers!

Spoken English skill can easily be called the backbone of the BPO industry. The job involves maximum human interaction and that is all that the customers base their decision on. A customer service agent attends everything from pre-sale to post-sale support and even follow up and feedback calls. A standard snippet or canned responses might help to a certain extent but there are always situations that require you to be spontaneous and effective with your language. Today, the BPO industry continues to be the most fundamental part of any business. Customers feel re-assured and cared for when they speak to an agent who, for them, seems to be the voice of the company. It would be difficult to mention a few important phrases considering this is the business of words and words alone. However, to enlist a few impressive phrases that customers would remember you for, you could count on these:

“If I have understood you correctly, you are facing issues with the internet connectivity”"

(Paraphrasing/Confirming) 

• “I understand how difficult this might have been. I’ll make sure I give you a call tomorrow to check everything is working fine.”

(Showing empathy/ Re-assuring)

• “Your business is valuable to us. Have we covered everything that you wanted to discuss?”

(Making the customer feel important)

We see how language is not only serving the purpose of communication but much more. It emotes what your clients and customers exactly need to hear. Every industry designs its language according to what is expected of the staff  and the understanding of where you stand will help you evolve as a more professional representative of the industry. 

Apart from the good it brings to the business, it definitely helps you strengthen your conviction towards your role in it. Industry specific phrases and terminologies may vary but they all carry the “I” statements which make you sound like a person of authority, at the same time a person who takes responsibility of the product and services offered. This will help you stand out as a professional.

English for the retail staff

Multi-national retail enterprises require their in-house staff to be capable of building a good rapport with its walk-in customers. The staff represents the brand for them, and it is important that they know the common phrases that might help them present their product in the most appealing manner. The staff must be capable of communicating in English so as to cater to customers from across the globe. They might need to explain and attend to customers with a formal yet warm approach. Here are a few phrases that you might want to hear from a cordial store staff at your favourite outlet:

“If I were you, I would definitely go for this product.”

(Bridging the customer-business gap)

“Considering your specific requirement, this will be the best option.”

(Customised service)

“What I will do for you now is give a discount of 15% on the total price.”

(Offering a good discount and making sure it is acknowledged by your customer)

These phrases make the customer feel welcome and valuable to the store. It gives them the realistic human interaction they would want with a company they trust or are willing to trust.

To make a new customer feel comfortable, you could begin with a phrase like “May I show you the new range of products?” or “Have you ever tried this variant?”

In a hair salon, you could make sure your customer’s opinion matters by saying “Let’s just see how it might look.”

At an electrical appliance store you could explain the working or offer to give a demo - “Let me help you understand the working of the different modes.”

— The writer is senior faculty at Kings Learning