<h1 class='title'>English Language Idioms Call Center Agents Need To Know</h1>

Call center agents are tasked with taking care of customer concerns, doing their best to make sure every transaction results in a positive customer experience. For offshore call centers, the expectation obviously is that call center agents can speak English relatively well. For offshore call center hubs like Manila and Mumbai where English is practically the second language, speaking English well shouldn’t be a problem. However, despite this fact, a lot of customers still insist on speaking with someone else or being transferred to a locally-based representative mainly due to one reason: Customers prefer speaking with a native speaking rep. This article will help you converse with your customer like a native speaking call center agent through the appropriate use of English language idioms.

You Don’t Sound Native

Whenever a customer tells you that you don’t sound like a native English speaker, the customer doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t speak English well but rather you’re not familiar with English language idioms and expressions most native English speakers are quite used to. Although having an accent definitely helps, being a native English speaker requires more than just imitating English slang and accent. Customers aren’t dumb and they can certainly see through the farce of using a fake accent. This tends to be irritating and puts a call center agent’s credibility and honesty into question. It is better to speak English in your natural tone and just spice up the conversation with English language idioms your customer is familiar with. Most American customers are already aware about offshoring and outsourcing and that they are actually talking with a call center agent located halfway across the globe. Usually, they won’t mind talking with a call center agent from Manila or Mumbai as long as the call center agent and the customer can effectively communicate on the same wavelength. It is only when the call center agent fails to speak on the same level as the customer that not sounding native becomes an issue. Do not expect the customer to adjust to the call center agent’s English communication level. On the contrary, it is the call center agent’s responsibility to turn his English communication skill up a notch and be familiar with common English idioms and expressions to communicate effectively with the customer like a native English speaker.

What Are English Language Idioms?

The CAMBRIDGE English Dictionary defines idioms as a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own. MIRRIAM-WEBSTER adds idioms are a form of language peculiar to a people, or to a district, community or class. WIKIPEDIA says an idiom is a common word or phrase with a culturally understood meaning that differs from what its composite words’ denotations would suggest. Taking all these definitions into consideration, we can say that an English language idiom is a form of English speech or expression peculiar to a geographic or cultural group where the words taken together has a completely different meaning from the individual definitions of each word in the phrase. English language idioms are not to be taken literally. For example, the English language idiom “more than one way to skin a cat” may sound rather cruel if taken literally but all it means is “there’s always a way around every problem”. Thankfully, this English idiom has absolutely nothing to do with cats and no cats were harmed (or skinned) in the making of this idiom. While there are English language idioms unique only to certain geographic or cultural groups, there also are idioms common to practically every one. This article will deal mainly with the more common English language idioms that non-native speaking call center agents will find most useful in their every day calls.

Why Learn English Language Idioms?

English language idioms separate native English speakers from other call center agents who basically just know how to speak English. Again, the ability to speak English well is not enough to make one a native English speaker. English language idioms provide color to an otherwise plain and boring English conversation. Call center agents need to learn English language idioms and use them appropriately to be able to converse with their customers like native English speakers. The customer is probably aware she’s talking with a call center agent offshore but she would not mind that fact as long as she is at ease talking with a native sounding speaker. Using English language idioms and sounding native gives customers the impression that you are familiar with their situation and are in a better position to understand and resolve their concern. This is the main reason why customers will usually ask to speak with somebody else when they feel the call center agent handling them does not “talk their language”. The ability to use English language idioms appropriately gives call center agents that much needed advantage to immediately strike rapport with the customer and talk with them more confidently. A word of caution: use English language idioms only when appropriate and make certain you know exactly what each idiom actually means. You do not want to open a “can of worms” using English language idioms inappropriately. Don’t overdo your idioms. Using the wrong idiom at the wrong time is much worse than not using any idiom at all.

How to Learn English Language Idioms

I’m almost certain there must be thousands of English language idioms being used everyday in the English-speaking universe and I will make it clear right now that I will not attempt to discuss each one of these idioms. We will just focus our attention to a handful of common English language idioms that I have used personally and know will be most useful to call center agents. But don’t let me stop you from learning more English language idioms. As I always say: “Never stop learning.” There are a number of ways you can learn English language idioms effectively:

• Search Engines:

  Google the term “English language idioms” and immediately you have well over 7.5 Million search engine results about English language idioms available for your consumption; Searching for “English Idioms for Business” gives you a mind-boggling 33.7 Million search results! Suffice to say, there’s a ton of information on English language idioms available on Google;

• YouTube:

  As of this writing, there are well over 160 thousand videos on YouTube on topics related to English language idioms and English idioms for business;

English Language Idioms YouTube Video

• Movies & Television:

  Every time you watch an English movie or television program, make a conscious effort to note down any English language idiom you hear and try to Google those idioms to know what they actually mean. You might also want to try and emulate how they delivered those idioms. You might want to leave out profanities and other colorful expressions which you are bound to encounter depending on the movie or program you’re watching;

• Your Customers:

  You are on the phone listening to different customers at least 40 hours a week. If that isn’t immersing yourself in English language idioms then I don’t know what is. Make every call a learning experience for you. If you’re allowed to use pen and paper on the operations floor, by all means note down any English language idiom you hear your customer say then Google them later. If you can learn even one or two English idioms per day that would be at least ten new idioms you can add to your arsenal of English language idioms every week.

25 English Language Idioms I Love to Use

As mentioned earlier, since there are practically thousands of English language idioms being used every day, this part of the article will just focus on idioms I have personally used in my conversations with customers. Modesty aside, I had customers tell me they thought I was in the US or something along that line. I take this as a validation that I probably sounded native to them. Of course, I always tell them I’m offshore but they don’t seem to mind that at all. To my customers, what mattered most is we were “on the same page” and we clearly understood each other. I’m sorry I’ve been “beating around the bush” up to this point so I’m not going to delay any longer. Let’s “get the ball rolling”. Here are 25 of the English language idioms I love to use:

• Rule of thumb: a generally accurate guide or principle based on experience
• Go the extra mile: to go beyond what is expected to please a customer
• Call a spade a spade: to be blunt and truthful
• Cost an arm and a leg: very costly or expensive
• Hit the nail on the head: to be accurate or correct
• Bitter pill: to accept an unpleasant situation
• I’m all ears: to listen intently or focus on what the customer is saying
• Best of both worlds: a win-win situation; customer gets all advantages
• Call it a day: to stop working or to end a task
• A silver lining: be optimistic there is still hope
• Hit two birds with one stone: to accomplish two tasks at the same time
• Step up to the plate: to take action when something needs to be done
• The whole nine yards: give the customer everything
• You can say that again: Yes, I totally agree with you
• Straight from the horse’s mouth: to get information from a reliable source
• Ball’s in your court: it’s the customer’s turn to act or make a decision
• Barking up the wrong tree: blame the wrong person or look at the wrong place
• In a pickle: to be in a difficult situation
• Between a rock and a hard place: to be faced with two equally difficult choices
• In the same boat: an empathy statement meaning you’ve been there yourself
• Be on the same page: to understand each other
• Let’s shake on that: to reach an agreement with the customer
• Get the green light: get approval for a customer’s request
• I got you covered: to take care of everything for the customer
• Get the big picture: the general, overall or long-term plan

Additional Resources and Credits

If you had fun with these 25 English language idioms and thirsting for more, I highly recommend these following links where you can find more English language idioms you can use in your calls:

• 20 Essential English Idioms for Sounding Like a Native
• English Language Idioms for Business
• English Language Idioms
• LinguaMarina ESL Video

Thank you for spending time learning how English language idioms can help you. Hope this article empowers you to become a better native English speaker and be more confident conversing with your customers. If you found this article most useful, I would love to see you COMMENT or SHARE.