Developing customer-centricity (Level B1+)

Great to see you here! With this video activity set you can practise:

• your general business vocabulary (trading, customer relations)

• how to underline importance, summarise customer information, make suggestions

• how to respond to an unhappy customer via email

Let’s start! (9 activities, duration: 20-25 minutes)

Warm up: Refresh your vocabulary knowledge before watching the video.

1. True or false? Read the definition and click your answer.

2. Match the words with their definitions. Just drag the boxes into the correct positions.

3. Complete the sentences with the correct words from the drop down boxes.

Classroom activity

With a partner take it in turns to play out the roles below.

Person A should summarise, acknowledge and suggest a solution to the customer’s problem/s.

Scenario 1 A
You work for a kitchen appliance manufacturer in the retail sector. A customer wants to return a defective coffee machine for a full refund. Find out why and try to convince them to take store credit instead of a cash refund.

Scenario 1 B
You have bought kitchen appliances from the same manufacturer for the last 10 years but have noticed that customer service standards have fallen recently. Your coffee machine was delivered a week late and was missing parts. After two months it broke completely. You would like a cash refund so that you can buy from a rival store.

Scenario 2 A
You work for a chemical manufacturer and have several large customers in Europe. One of your key customers would like to speak to you about delivery problems with one of your industrial cleaning chemicals. Try to find out what the problem was and make some proposals for solutions.

Scenario 2 B
You work for a large chemical retailer in Europe but have recently had problems supplying your customers on time because of late deliveries from your supplier. They are the cheapest supplier on the market and you have a good relationship with them but you recently got a warning from one of your customers due to a late delivery. You want to find out what the problem was and how to move forwards.

Scenario 3 A
One of your online customers is calling about a mistake with their order. You don’t have any details about what the problem was but the customer is clearly unhappy. Try to professionally get the information and propose a solution.

Scenario 3 B
You recently ordered a present for your mother from an online retailer but they delivered a different product from the one you ordered. This was a present for a special occasion and so you are very angry that this happened. It was your first time using this retailer, normally you would use their competitor but they were out of stock. You’d like a refund and some kind of compensation for this mistake.

Now watch the video and be ready to answer some comprehension questions afterwards.

 

Comprehension check: Go through the questions to see what you understood from the video.

Language check: Central parts of customer-centricity are prioritising, summarising, and making suggestions.

Try the following exercises to see how well you do with the necessary language.

1. Prioritising: Complete the sentences below with the given words from the video.

2. Summarising: Unjumble the structures in brackets to complete the sentences.

Tip: Pay attention to the commas, too.

3. Making suggestions: Fill in the phrases in the sentences below.

Tip: For some more than one answer may be possible.

Skill check: You have received an email from a customer who is upset about a late delivery of a gift.

Drag the text boxes to complete the email reply.

Tip: You could use this as a nice template for your everyday job life, too!

Good job! You have completed this activity set.

 

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