Dealing with difficult customers

Title separator

Read at home,
talk in class

functional language for dealing with customers
ARTICLE: https://eslbrains.com/crc057

LESSON OVERVIEW

In this extended Critical Reading Club lesson plan, students talk about the article they read at home. They also learn some functional language for dealing with customers and do several role-plays. This lesson is longer than other CRC lessons. 

B1 / Intermediate
B2 / Upper Intermediate
45 minCritical Reading ClubUnlimited Plan

This is a Critical Reading Club worksheet. With this format, students need to read an online article at home and do the exercises in the classroom. Learn more about how to use such worksheets and their benefits in our post.

WARM-UP & DISCUSSION

The lesson starts with a warm-up activity in which students try to explain why some people might agree with the provided statement about customers. Then, students talk about dealing with difficult customers, contacting customer service and the ideas from the article. For instance, they need to provide reasons why employees should or shouldn’t do what the article suggested. The discussion questions also contain some functional language that students might have heard, like We appreciate your patience. In this part of the lesson, students also share their experiences with complaints, refunds and discounts, both from the customer as well as the employee perspective.

FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE FOR DEALING WITH CUSTOMERS

In this part of the lesson, students match a customer’s comments with a customer service rep’s responses. The responses include functional language such as: We appreciate your feedback., I apologize for the inconvenience. or It’s against our policy. Students also need to explain what some phrases in the comments mean (e.g. look into, make things right) They can infer the meaning from the context. 

Afterwards, students have a controlled practice of the functional language for dealing with customers. They need to use some words and phrases to reply to customers’ comments. Finally students get role-play cards. They need to read them and prepare to have a conversation with their partner. There are four role-plays and the situations include dealing with a difficult customer in a hotel, on the phone, on the plane and in a restaurant. Students are encouraged to use the functional language for dealing with customers from the lesson. 

ARTICLE

https://eslbrains.com/crc057

WORKSHEETS

Comments

Title separator

Leave a Reply

  1. Watanabefarah

    Cool

  2. Lorenzo2023

    “But you need to calm down”…..Uhm that might not be the best option.
    It might be better to say “I understand your frustration. Let’s try to get to the bottom of the problem and solve the issue”.

    1. Ewa

      Hi, thanks for your comment. ‘You need to calm down’ might sound strong, but you’ll see in the lesson that it is used in response to a rather extreme comment ‘Are you crazy? It’s all your fault!’. Also, the lesson is about how not to let customers bully you, so some strong words might be needed. Your suggestion is ofcourse a good alternative.

  3. Chris Stott

    The link doesn’t appear to work, anyone else having problems? (To read the article)

    1. Justa

      It works fine on our side, you can try and click this direct link.

      1. KayMysk

        Hi Justa, I can’t open the link either, it seems like the page doesn’t exist anymore? I also tried your direct link, both last week as well as again this morning (I’d hoped the site was just doing maintenance or something).

        1. Justa

          Hi! The link seems to work fine, so please check again as it might have been just a temporary problem.

Browse other materials recommended for you

Title separator
ESL lesson on customer service
B1 / Intermediate
Standard Lesson 60 min

I can definitely help you with that!

Business

Practise polite phrases for dealing with customers! Students talk about customer service problems, watch a video on poor and great service and create dialogues with customer service professionals.

speaking lesson on business etiquette
B1 / Intermediate
Speaking Class 45 min / 60 min

Is it professional?

Business

Talk about professionalism with this speaking lesson on business etiquette! Students share their thoughts, watch a video on professional behaviour and evaluate actions at work. They can also do an extra vocabulary activity.

B1 / Intermediate | B2 / Upper Intermediate
Critical Reading Club 45 min

Starting your own business

Business

Encourage students to read an article about starting a business! They practise business-related vocabulary, discuss the pros and cons of owning a business and share their perspectives.

vocabulary for job interviews
B1 / Intermediate
Standard Lesson 60 min

Get ready for your next job interview

Business

Explore job hunting with this lesson on job interviews! Students discuss preparation, watch a video of a job interview and practise useful vocabulary. They also role-play interview questions and answers.

B1 / Intermediate
Critical Reading Club 45 min

Office software

Business Technology

Talk about office software with this Critical Reading Club lesson! Students discuss office software and work tasks, practise useful collocations and share their experiences. They also talk about their preferences for workplace software.

ESL lesson on passive structures
B1 / Intermediate
Standard Lesson 60 min

A new website will be created soon (passive voice)

Business Grammar Technology

Talk about websites while practising the passive voice! With this lesson, students watch a video about website creation, share their opinions and work with passive structures in different scenarios.

describing trends in data
B1 / Intermediate
Standard Lesson 60 min

Describing trends in data

Business

Talk about trends in data with this lesson! Students practise vocabulary for describing graphs, watch a video on the sales of mobile phones and discuss data. They also talk about future trends in smartphones and operating systems.

talking about the job market
B1 / Intermediate
Speaking Class 45 min / 60 min

Are they really hiring?

Business

Talk about the job market and employment opportunities with this lesson! Students watch a video on fake job listings, analyze a job posting and discuss tips for job seekers. They can also do an optional vocabulary activity.

vocabulary for discussing sales
B2 / Upper Intermediate
Standard Lesson 60 min

From pitch to profit

Business

Talk about sales strategies with this lesson! Students learn and practise vocabulary for discussing sales, watch a video about a sales challenge and talk about a salesperson’s job. They also share their opinions and role-play sales situations.

Show more lessons

Questions

Title separator

Is there a minimum subscription period if I choose a monthly subscription?

No, there's no minimum required number of subscription months. You can cancel any time you want. Basically, you can sign up and then cancel your subscription the next day, which will mean you have access for 1 month and won't be charged again.

What currencies can I pay in for my subscription?

Our default currency is USD (American dollar), but you can also pay in EUR (euro), GBP (British pound sterling) or PLN (Polish zloty). You can change the currency you want to pay in at the Pricing page before selecting a subscription plan.

How can I edit an e-lesson plan?

You can get your own editable copy of an e-lesson plan and make changes to it. To do so, either (1) make a copy of it on your Google Drive (preferable method) or (2) download it in a Powerpoint format (but formatting might be a bit off so we can’t guarantee that it will work well).
Read more FAQ
Title separator

ESL Brains

Forgot password?
or continue with