WORK FROM HOME

SERIES A
99 PROGRAMS
PRODUCTION

50
Essential
English
Phrases
for IT
Employees

by
RaSaKaPa
 PREFACE

M
CO
Handling communication with customers while working from
home is quite a task by itself, especially when you are dealing
with clients from different parts of the world and work in
different time zones.
S.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, the work culture has changed for
many IT employees with most of them working from home.
M

Communicating with customers should be very precise and

clear, otherwise you will end up conveying the wrong message.
RA

If you try to impress the customer by over-committing, they

will definitely start expecting more from you. Unless it’s for a
genuine agreed upon deadline, It is always safe to turn down
requests to stretch your timings well-in-advance. BUT
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ALWAYS BE POLITE WITH CUSTOMERS.

Communicating with customers would be very hard without a

personal phrasebook. In this book, I am providing 50 ready-to-
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use phrases which are more generic in nature. They can be used
with little or no modification whether you’re a support
executive or a delivery manager.
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1. Happy to help. You are most welcome. I’m glad I could
help.
When the customer thanks you for your support/help you
may respond with few ready-to-use phrases and not think
twice about it.

2. I appreciate your help and guidance.

You can use this to thank customers for providing

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suggestions/insights on resolving an issue. If it’s your own
team members, then you can use “Thanks .You’ve been
really helpful.”

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3. I don’t want to take too much of your time. Let me keep
it simple.
If you feel the customer is in a hurry especially towards the
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end of the meeting, you can use these phrases. In some
cases it would be apt to add “Does that make sense?”
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4. Let me get back to you on that

If you’re engaged in a conversation with the customer.
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There are times when you may not have the answer at
hand. You may have to do some research or discuss with
the team to provide an appropriate answer. You can use
this phrase to convey it to the customer. You can add
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“Please give me 30 minutes” if you want to mention time.

5. Could you please repeat that again? I didn’t understand

it.
When you don’t understand something the customers said,
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you can very well ask her/him to repeat it again. The other
version could be “Sorry for interrupting. Could you please
explain it in detail?” when you want the customer to explain
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something clearly. You can use “I didn’t get it” but again it
depends on the rapport you have with your customer.
6. I don’t have access to it. Could you please provide me access?
Access to resources viz. repositories, software tools, machines,
servers etc. are necessary to complete your work. Use straight
short sentences to mention it during conversations, discussions or
meetings.

7. I doubt whether we would be able to do this today

Giving timelines for completing tasks should be done with great
care. You can’t be rude but at the same time you should also

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avoid over-committing or promising quick turnaround time
which is not possible practically. You can replace “doubt” with

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“am not sure” also.

8. Could you please share this in an email?

When you’re in a meeting, you may not be able to remember
everything the customer discusses. If you feel that something is
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too important or too complex to note it down during the
meeting, you can ask the customer to share it in an email.
M

9. We have fixed the issues. Please let us know your thoughts.

I know this is something very specific to bug fixes in development
RA

projects. But even in a support project, you can use a modified

version of this for conveying to the customer about your effort
and ask for feedback viz. “I have reset the password. Please check
your mail. Kindly reset the password and you should be fine”.
Another example is ” I have restarted the machine. Please let me
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know if you could access it now.”

10. Please let me ask you one thing. Could you clarify on how
you want this done?
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Sometimes, the customer may not be very clear on what needs to

be done. They may just sound dissatisfied with your work. In that
case, you have to explicitly ask them their expectations. You can
ask them for a picture, an example or wire frame etc. In most
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cases, an essential addition shall be “Kindly provide an example”.

You can also use “May I ask you one thing” as well.
11. Let me repeat it one more time.
When customers can’t understand what you are
saying, they may not come out explicitly. You just have
to sense it through your intuition ( a long pause or
something like that could be a clue). In that case,
repeat what you were saying one more time a little
slowly.

12.I was able to resolve the issue in 4 hours. But there

was another issue which took 2 more hours

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When you report delay to the customer, it would
sound very nice and convincing if you give proper

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reasons for the delay.

13. I completely understand that. We are doing our

best to get it done.
If the customer shares her/his concerns about issues
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or delay in delivery, you can use phrases to share their
concerns and make them feel comfortable and
confident. Of course, empty promises won't have value
M

unless backed up by real work and delivery. Don't use

time, when you just intend to provide some comfort.
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14. If you have some time, i want to have a brief chat

with you to discuss...
If you want to discuss something very important with
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a busy customer, you can ask them politely if they can

spare some time.

15.We are sorry that we did not get much done today.
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Reporting daily status is one of the most important

tasks for employees working from home. Sometimes,
you may not end up being very productive for the day.
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You can always tell them why the day was not
productive by providing some genuine reasons.
16. I will keep you posted.
If customers expect you to update the status of an
important task, you can tell them in plain language
like " I will update the status by EOD today". A more
refined version of the same is " I will keep you
posted". And if you are not including the customer in
a mail chain and the customer expects you to do so,
you can simply tell them "I will keep you in the loop".

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17. Could you please help me out? Can you provide
some support on completing this?

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If everything you have been doing flops and you
desperately need a helping hand, then you should
ask for help using simple sentences whether orally or
in chat/communicator apps or in an email.
S.
18. Could you please give me the basic outline of the
issue?
M

If an issue is reported and you don't really

understand it, you can ask the customer to break it
down in simple words.
RA

19. Can we discuss the plan for the day. Do you have
a minute?
OG

If you or your team are not assigned any tasks, you

may still want to ask the customer for work when you
know there is work to be done.

20. Let me focus on the task at hand and then I'll

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take up ...
If there are many issues which demand your
attention and you feel the customer is not too happy
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with the progress, you can tell them you'll take one
task at a time and get it done.
21. I understand your concerns and I will resolve
things as soon as possible.
Everyone reports to someone in the corporate
world, if your boss/customers expresses concerns
about the pace of work or the quality, it is better
to provide them some confidence through
soothing phrases.

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22. Let me know if you need my help on this.
If you volunteer to help the customer, you can do it

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promptly. But don't include any commitments
when you volunteer as you may not be aware of
the depth of the problem at that point of time.
S.
23. I made a mistake by changing things. I think i
should revert back the changes
M

Oftentimes, you make some changes to something

and it goes wrong and breaks other things. You
can replace "things" with almost anything viz.
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inputs, arguments, UI, program etc.

24. I truly appreciate that.

OG

When the customer helps you in any way, you can

respond either with a plain "Thanks" or add more
to it.
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25. I am sorry for the inconvenience. We will make

sure it doesn't happen in the future.
When something goes so wrong that things
escalate to the top management, you can't help
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but communicate to the client with a sorry note.

26. If you ask me, I think it is better to...
In open meetings where your suggestions are
welcome, you can always put forward your
thoughts.

27. I am not sure if this will work. But let me give

it a try.
When you try new things, a new approach, it's
better to let the customer know in advance.

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28. I’ll get it marked in my calendar.
If you are supposed to share a status and get the

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customer feedback before proceeding further
down, you can mark in your calendar and let the
customer know about it as well.
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29. I really don’t have the latest updates, let me
check with the team and get back to you.
If you are asked the status and you don't have it,
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give a pause and discuss with other team members

before giving a response. Avoid assuming things
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and do not rush with a made-up response. This also

applies for questions that solicit an answer with
statistics viz. How many left, How much time do
you think it will take.
OG

30.I think I am not getting it right. Could you

please help me connect the dots.
When you are in a meeting/discussion you may
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often be overwhelmed with too much information

that you might miss the central point/context. But
towards the end when the customer asks " Is there
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anything i can help you with or Any questions?",

then you can ask the customer to summarize the
points.
31. I think I got a handle on this. Give me a few
minutes, I will fix it right away.
When you suddenly get an insight, you can express it
in the middle of the discussion and implement the
new insight/solution then and there.

32. Let me change the...and...if it is okay with you.

If you feel changing something has a positive effect,
you can ask for the customer's nod/permission before

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making those changes.

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33. I am not exactly sure. Let me find out for you.
Do not assume things when responding to clients on
important timelines, resources or management
related topics. Always check with your manager or
your fellow team members and get the facts straight.
S.
34. I certainly understand what you’re saying, But...
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When you disagree with the customer, it is really

difficult as we are supposed to assume that " The
customer is always right". But if something the
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customer proposes doesn't seem to work out more

than once, then you should express it politely. This
should be done without pointing fingers at the
customers for the suggestions / solutions that did not
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work out.

35. Do you have a minute? Just want to share my

vacation plan in advance: I am on vacation from...
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Always inform the customer about your vacation plan

in advance. Even if you have it in your status in
communicator apps, it is better to tell them explicitly.
If it's an emergency, you can say something like this "
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I want to request some time off? i have an emergency

at home"
36. Would you please prioritize the tasks for me?
Which one should i start with...
If there is a list of tasks lined out for you, it is good
to ask the customer to prioritize it. You never know
which one is important, a small look and feel issue
like a misspelled LOGO must be more important
than a very important workflow issue.

37. Please give me a moment. Let me summarize

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the points discussed and you can correct me if i
have got it wrong

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At the end of a discussion, you can take a moment
to summarize the points/issues discussed and let
the customer correct if you have missed out
something or got anything wrong. You can cut it
short and stop at "summarize the points" and add
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"one more time".
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38. You're right. Thanks for pointing it out.

When the customer points out any
errors/bugs/issues, you can accept the mistakes
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graciously.

39. Let me begin with...Let me start

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with...then...after that...and finally

If you're hosting a meeting, using the right phrases
to lay out the sequence in which you want to
discuss and follow it through the end of the
meeting.
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40. Let me share the problem I found with the…

When you do a thorough analysis on any issue and
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you want to share the insights with the customer,

you can always do that in a meeting/discussion.
41. Before we move on to ... I want to…
When you want to explain something important before
moving on to the agenda of the meeting, you can take a
few minutes to cover/convey that. Also, at the end you can
say “Now let’s move on to” and continue.

42. It would be a better idea to/if…

If some issue is blocking progress and you have
suggestions to get things back on track, you can put
forward your thoughts.

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43. That’s all from me...Now please let me know if you
have any questions/doubts or concerns

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If you're hosting a meeting, it wouldn't look nice to end it
abruptly. You have to ask the audience/members in the
conference/webex meetings if they have got any
questions/concerns about the things discussed in the
meeting.
S.
44. Please feel free to interrupt if you have any
questions...
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During meetings/presentations, the assumption is that the

Question & Answers are always reserved to the end of the
meeting. But if you want your session to be interactive,
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please pass the message to the audience. Add "at any point
of time" and/or "I will have them answered then and there"
to make the audience more comfortable to interrupt and
ask questions.
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45. If we go back to our earlier meetings...we decided to...

Sometimes customers can change course and request for
enhancements/modifications on the go. In those
circumstances, you can bring up the decisions and points
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agreed upon in earlier meetings. If again, the customer

proposes the enhancements/modifications, then you can
agree to do it. But make sure your boss is aware of
situations like this. "In our discussion yesterday, we
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decided to", "Earlier we decided to" are other phrases that

can become handy to handle the situation.
46. Please hold on, Let me note it down...
During meetings, make sure you get the important
things noted down. After the meeting, share the
meeting notes with the customers to make sure you
got everything noted down and not missing any
points of importance.

47. Thanks for offering to help, but I let try and do

it myself.
Even when customers are offering to help on issues,
you shouldn't take it as long as you can try and do it

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yourself. Always reserve the help for the things you
can't do yourself and where you need help

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desperately.

48. I haven't done it anytime. Don't think i can do

it. Could you please...
If the customer requests you to do tasks on
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tools/technologies which you have no experience or
even theoretical knowledge, it is better to be very
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open about it. You can use "I don't have any
experience on..." to stress your point. If you know
someone who can do it, you can suggest the
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customer but not before you take the person's

consent.

49. We are on track. As agreed, we would be able

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to...
When the delivery date approaches, customers may
get nervous and want to know about the status
quite frequently. You have to handle it and make
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the customer feel confident. At this point, do not

bring up issues which you could handle yourself.

50. If you need more information, feel free to...

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Make your customers feel easy to contact you

anytime for information and status.
 THANK YOU

Kindly provide
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