Pratica di Shadowing: 20 English Customer Service Phrases - Impara a parlare inglese con i video

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Hey, so customer service is a big part of many different jobs in many different industries.
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Customer service is important not only if you are a customer service representative.
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And every moment that you spend with your customers
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or your clients is an opportunity for you to make them feel special and to create an amazing experience.
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And your choice of language or your choice of words reflects how much you care about and value your customers.
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So in today's lesson, we are learning 20 very useful phrases for customer service.
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First off, let's have a look at some phrases for getting your conversation started with your customer or your client.
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Now, two of the most common phrases that I'm sure you have heard
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and probably used if you work in customer service are, how can I help you or is there anything I can help you with today?
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How can I help you or is there anything I can help you with today?
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Now, these two phrases are very common, as I said, and they're kind of the essential foundation of a conversation with a customer.
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These questions can be asked in a shop or on the phone
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if you are providing a service or if you are selling a product.
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If you're talking to a customer and you work in retail, for instance, it's very common to ask, how can I help you today?
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Or is there anything I can help you with today?
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Another great phrase is, thank you so much for waiting.
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Thank you so much for waiting or thank you for your patience.
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Now this one is common
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when your customer has been in line waiting to speak to you or when they have been on hold on the phone.
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You always want to thank them for waiting, okay?
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People don't like waiting for things.
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Unfortunately, people are kind of impatient by nature.
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When you start your conversation by thanking them for waiting or thanking them for their patience,
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it just sets a positive tone for the rest of the conversation.
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Another question you might ask early on in your conversation is, is there anything else I can help you with?
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Is there anything else I can help you with today?
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And this one is useful for when you have answered your customer or client's question.
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And then you want to make sure that you've done the maximum you can.
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You can ask, is there anything else I can do for you?
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Or is there anything else I can help you with today?
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Next, let's look at some phrases for when you have to apologize to a customer.
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Now, there's lots of different reasons and situations in which you might have to apologize to a customer.
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Perhaps you made a mistake.
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Perhaps someone else made a mistake.
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Perhaps your customer just had a bad experience.
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So it's not necessarily that you've done something wrong
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and you have to say sorry there are different situations in which apologizing is appropriate, professional, and expected.
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And when it comes to apologizing, you want to make sure that you are putting yourself in the customer's shoes,
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even if you are apologizing on behalf of your company or on behalf of someone else.
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So instead of simply saying, I'm sorry, try putting yourself in your customer's shoes, trying to understand how they feel.
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And you can use a combination of any of these phrases.
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I apologize for, I apologize for something.
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Now, instead of saying I apologize, if you're upset, you want to apologize for something that you actually believe happened.
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And your choice of words is important.
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And this is an example.
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I or we apologize for something.
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For instance, I apologize for the mistake or for the mix-up.
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Now mix-up is just another way of saying mistake.
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Something was mixed up, a mistake was made.
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Okay I apologize for the mix-up or I apologize for the mistake.
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As I mentioned your choice of words is important.
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So instead of saying I apologize if there was a mistake
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or if someone made a mistake you want to be careful here and you want to say, I apologize for something.
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Okay.
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Even if the mistake was not made by you
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and you're not a hundred percent sure that a mistake was made by saying, I apologize for this happening.
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It makes the customer feel like you believe them and that you think that their problem is important, that this mistake is important.
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Whereas I apologize if a mistake was made, sounds like it gives the impression that you kind of doubt
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that a mistake was made or maybe a mistake wasn't really made
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but if so i'm sorry instead you want to sound more sure of your apology okay
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so be careful with your prepositions here
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so i apologize for the mistake you can also use we instead of i
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if you're apologizing on behalf of your team your department
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or your company i apologize
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or we apologize for the oversight now oversight is is a mistake
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that is made when someone forgets to do something or essentially overlooks something.
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That's kind of a synonym, okay?
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Something is supposed to be done and the person responsible just forgot to do it, okay?
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That's an oversight.
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I apologize for the confusion or for the misunderstanding.
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I apologize for the confusion or the misunderstanding.
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Now, this phrase focuses more on the fact that there was a miscommunication
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or a misunderstanding instead of whose fault it was okay instead of i apologize
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that my colleague didn't explain that properly or i apologize
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that you didn't understand that's not the best choice of words
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it's kind of putting the blame on someone else instead you just want to focus on the fact
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that there was a misunderstanding and you want to apologize for
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that and then go ahead and shift your focus to finding a solution.
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And I apologize for the inconvenience.
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I apologize for the inconvenience.
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This is a good one to use
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if your customer has been waiting a long time or they've experienced any inconvenience that they shouldn't have.
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Next, some useful phrases for solving a problem that your customer might have.
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First up, let's find a solution for you.
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Let's find a solution for you.
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This is a nice phrase because it sounds collaborative.
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It sounds like you and the customer
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or client could be working together to find a solution
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or you and your colleagues and your team could be working together to find a solution for your customer.
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So this is a nice one for after you have listened to the issue, you've listened to the problem, you've taken the time to gather all the information you need,
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make sure you understand the facts, and then you want to come up with a positive response and say, all right, let's find a solution for you.
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Another option, I will look into that right away.
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I will look into that right away.
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Now look into is a nice phrasal verb to know.
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Look into just means to investigate something further or get some more information about something.
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Next, here's what we can do to resolve this issue.
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Here's what we can do to resolve this issue.
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Okay, so if your customer has faced a problem or an issue and you have a solution to present to them,
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this is a great phrase to start the presentation of your solution or the steps that you might need to take.
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Thank you for bringing this up or thank you for letting me know.
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Thank you for bringing this up or thank you for letting me know.
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This is a really nice one for when a customer or client has come to you with an issue, with a problem or with a concern.
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You can start your response by thanking them for telling you first of all.
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A lot of customers nowadays do not come to you with their concerns.
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Instead they stay quiet, they say everything is okay, act like everything is okay, and then go online and leave a bad review.
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And a lot of people or businesses are surprised because they never had the opportunity to provide a solution.
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All right.
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So this is a lovely one.
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Next, let's look at some phrases for showing or expressing empathy.
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Now, empathy is the ability to understand how someone else is feeling.
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You put yourself in someone else's position and understand what they are experiencing or what they are going through.
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Now it's important to empathize with your customers and with your clients because this shows that you value them,
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you care about them, and it also helps to calm them down if they are upset about something.
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Once you are able to empathize with your customers, it puts them in the right mindset to solve any problems.
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When you show empathy to your customers, it helps to get them into the right mindset to be open to solving a problem.
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So a good phrase for expressing empathy would be, I completely understand how adjective this must be for you.
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I completely understand how frustrating this must be for you.
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I completely understand how difficult this must be for you.
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A lot of times when you have a customer who's upset, they want to be heard and understood.
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That is a very first step to delivering good customer service is to listen
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and to understand the issue that your customer is coming to you with.
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All right.
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Another option is I understand this situation has been difficult
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and I will do everything I can to help you or I will do everything I can to solve it.
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Now, this is a good one for a customer who has been facing an ongoing issue or an ongoing challenge.
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and maybe you are not the first person that they've spoken to.
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So they're becoming more and more frustrated and you want to empathize with them
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and actually try to take the steps to solve the problem.
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Another nice one is, I will do my best to help you with this.
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I will do my best to help you with this.
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Or if you want to be a little more formal, you could use the word assist instead of help.
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I'll do my best to assist you with this.
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Or I understand your concern.
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I understand your concern.
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Let's see what we can do for you.
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I understand your concern.
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Let's see what we can do.
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Next is I would be happy to verb that for you.
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I would be happy to check that for you.
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I would be happy to do that for you.
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I would be happy to arrange that for you.
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And finally, I appreciate your patience.
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I appreciate your patience.
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This is a very simple but effective phrase because
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when you acknowledge the fact that someone has had to be patient and has actually been patient, it really does mean a lot.
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It helps your customer to realize that you actually care about them, that they are valuable to you, and it puts them in a more positive state of mind.
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They're going to be more receptive to you and receptive to what you are saying to them.
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Now with all of these phrases you can use them in combination with each other.
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You can also adjust how formal you are.
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Depending on where you live, where you work, the culture of your company, the culture of your location, you will have to adjust your level of formality.
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Also keep in mind that when you are speaking on behalf of your company or your team, you can use the pronoun we.
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And if you are speaking on behalf of yourself, of course, you can use I.
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Now be careful with this one because sometimes when you're speaking to someone face to face, it's a one to one conversation and you keep saying we,
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we, we, and there's no one else there.
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It can seem a little bit impersonal and kind of like you're deflecting and you're putting the attention, you know, on a group of people who isn't even there.
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So just be careful with this one.
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Now it's also a good idea to use contractions and shorter sentences
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or shorter versions of these sentences when you are speaking to someone.
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You can use more formal and longer versions of these sentences
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if you happen to be writing an email to a customer, for instance.
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Remember that spoken English and written English are not the same, so you want to make sure that you are adjusting the phrase to best fit the situation.
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Now, whether you work in customer service
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or you need to improve your customer service skills in general for the position
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that you have or that you are looking for, this is a topic that I teach in detail in the Essential English for Business course.
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That is a self-study online course to teach you the fundamentals of professional English communication.
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You can learn more about the Essential English for Business course down below in the description box.
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As well, you can grab your free ebook English Conversations Made Simple also linked down below.
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If you have any questions on this topic please do drop those in the comments for me
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and let me know what your experiences have been with working in customer service in English.
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Customer service is a very very very important part of many many jobs nowadays
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and developing strong customer service skills are very very valuable.
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So I hope that you enjoyed today's lesson.
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Thank you for watching, learning, and spending time here with me today.
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I'll see you very soon in another one.

Vocabolario e note di pronuncia per questa lezione

Questa lezione di conversazione di livello B2 si basa sul video “20 English Customer Service Phrases”. Le parole che ritornano più spesso: customer, apologize, phrase, mistake, instead. Questo video contiene 174 frasi e 2305 parole da ripetere con lo shadowing. Il parlato dura 13:35. Chi parla ha un ritmo naturale di circa 170 parole al minuto, vicino a una conversazione quotidiana. Il 87% delle parole rientra nelle 3.000 più comuni dell’inglese, quindi il lessico è facile da seguire.

Vocaboli chiave di questo video

Le 15 parole più avanzate del video, con pronuncia e significato:

ParolaPronunciaSignificato
apologize verbo/əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/scusarsi
misunderstand verbo/mɪs.ʌn.də(ɹ)ˈstænd/fraintendere, equivocare
empathy sostantivo/ˈɛmpəθi/empatia
patience sostantivo/ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/pazienza
empathize verbo/ˈɛmpəˌθaɪz/avere empatia, simpatizzare
inconvenience sostantivo/ɪnkənˈvinjəns/disagio, inconveniente
oversight sostantivo/ˈəʊvəˌsaɪt/svista
adjust verbo/əˈd͡ʒʌst/adattare, adeguare
receptive aggettivo/ɹəˈsɛptɪv/recettibile, ricettivo
verb sostantivo/vɝb/verbo
mindset sostantivo/ˈmaɪn(d)ˌsɛt/mentalità, modo di pensare
colleague sostantivo/ˈkɒliːɡ/collega
nowadays avverbio/ˈnaʊ.ə.deɪz/oggidì, oggigiorno
resolve verbo/ɹɪˈzɑlv/risolvere, accordarsi
confusion sostantivo/kənˈfjuːʒən/confusione, disordine

I phrasal verb che sentirai

ParolaPronunciaSignificato
come up with verboideare, escogitare
go ahead verbo/ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/procedere, andare avanti
go through verboattraversare

Frasi da ripetere

Frasi brevi e complete del video che puoi riutilizzare nella conversazione di tutti i giorni:

  • Is there anything else I can help you with today?
  • You can ask, is there anything else I can do for you?
  • First up, let's find a solution for you.
  • Let's find a solution for you.
  • Here's what we can do to resolve this issue.

La grammatica di questo video

Le strutture che chi parla usa di più, con le parole esatte del video:

StrutturaNel video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — un’azione iniziata prima e ancora in corsohas been waiting · has been facing
Present perfect have/has + participio passato — un’azione passata che conta ancora adessohave heard · has been · have answered
Forma passiva be + participio passato — conta ciò che accade, non chi lo facan be asked · was mixed · was not made

Pronuncia a cui fare attenzione

Chi parla usa 27 contrazioni e forme ridotte, come you're, you've, I'm. Pronunciale nella forma breve, così come le senti.

  • I suoni “th”: empathy /ˈɛmpəθi/, empathize /ˈɛmpəˌθaɪz/
  • I suoni “sh” e “zh”: patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/, confusion /kənˈfjuːʒən/, contraction /kənˈtɹækʃ(ə)n/, preposition /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/, impatient /ɪmˈpeɪʃənt/
  • Parole lunghe — attenzione all’accento: apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, misunderstand /mɪs.ʌn.də(ɹ)ˈstænd/, inconvenience /ɪnkənˈvinjəns/, formality /fɔːrˈmælɪti/, impersonal /ɪmˈpɝsənəl/

I suoni difficili per chi parla italiano:

  • Consonante finale — senza aggiungere una vocale dopo: apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, misunderstand /mɪs.ʌn.də(ɹ)ˈstænd/, patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/, empathize /ˈɛmpəˌθaɪz/, inconvenience /ɪnkənˈvinjəns/
  • /æ/ — più aperta della “e”: misunderstand /mɪs.ʌn.də(ɹ)ˈstænd/, adjective /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/, contraction /kənˈtɹækʃ(ə)n/, formality /fɔːrˈmælɪti/, collaborative /kəˈlæb.ə.ɹə.tɪv/

Come esercitarsi con questo video

  1. Ascolta tutto il video una volta senza parlare e annota le parole che non conosci.
  2. Inizia a velocità 0,75×, fai shadowing frase per frase e torna alla velocità normale quando diventa facile.
  3. Registrati e confronta con l’originale, facendo attenzione a parole come apologize, misunderstand, empathy.

Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?

Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.

Tecnica dello shadowing: leggi la guida completa passo dopo passo →