Glossary and lists
Customer support vocabulary in English
25 support terms for tickets, calls and escalations, with the meaning, the Spanish and an example for each.
Book a trial classThe list
| Term | Meaning | Spanish | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ticket | a record of a customer's issue or request | ticket, caso | I'll open a ticket for this issue. |
| escalate | to pass an issue to someone with more authority | escalar | I need to escalate this to my supervisor. |
| resolution | the solution to a customer's problem | resolución | We reached a resolution within 24 hours. |
| turnaround time | how long it takes to resolve something | tiempo de respuesta | Our turnaround time is under two hours. |
| refund | money given back to a customer | reembolso | We processed the refund yesterday. |
| SLA (service level agreement) | a commitment to a certain level of service | acuerdo de nivel de servicio | We have a four-hour SLA for critical issues. |
| churn | customers who stop using the service | abandono de clientes | High churn is linked to slow support. |
| follow-up | a later contact to check on an issue | seguimiento | I'll send a follow-up once it's fixed. |
| workaround | a temporary solution to a problem | solución temporal | Here's a workaround until the fix ships. |
| outage | a period when a service isn't working | interrupción del servicio | We had a two-hour outage last night. |
| root cause | the real reason behind a problem | causa raíz | The root cause was a server overload. |
| empathize | to understand and share a customer's feelings | mostrar empatía | Always empathize before you explain the policy. |
| de-escalate | to calm down a tense situation | bajar la tensión | She de-escalated the call before offering a solution. |
| knowledge base | a collection of help articles | base de conocimiento | Check the knowledge base before escalating. |
| churn risk | a customer likely to cancel | cliente en riesgo de abandono | This account is a churn risk. |
| CSAT (customer satisfaction score) | a rating of how satisfied a customer is | índice de satisfacción del cliente | Our CSAT improved after the policy change. |
| downtime | time when a product isn't available | tiempo de inactividad | We apologize for the downtime. |
| account | a customer's record or subscription | cuenta | Let me pull up your account. |
| onboarding | helping a new customer get started | incorporación del cliente | Our onboarding team will reach out this week. |
| policy | an official rule the company follows | política | Our refund policy allows 30 days. |
| compensation | something offered to make up for an issue | compensación | We offered a credit as compensation. |
| priority level | how urgent an issue is treated | nivel de prioridad | This ticket is marked high priority. |
| response time | how quickly support replies | tiempo de respuesta | Our average response time is 10 minutes. |
| case notes | a written record of an interaction | notas del caso | Please add case notes before you close the ticket. |
| self-service | letting customers solve issues on their own | autogestión | We added self-service options to reduce tickets. |
How to use these at work
- Actually doesn't mean actualmente. Use currently for current state: we're currently looking into this.
- Atender is often translated word for word as attend, which sounds odd in a support context. Help or assist usually fits better: how can I help you today?
- English support replies tend to acknowledge the problem before explaining the policy: I understand how frustrating that is, then the explanation, not the rule first.
Practice
Multiple choice cloze
Choose the term that fits the gap.
0 of 8 checked
Questions
- What's the difference between SLA and CSAT?
- SLA is a commitment about how fast or well you'll respond. CSAT measures how satisfied the customer actually was afterward. One is a promise, the other is a result.
- Can I practice support calls in class?
- Yes, an English for work class can role-play tickets, escalations and difficult customers using your real product.
Keep going
Want to practise this with Pili?
Book a trial class. She writes back with times in Buenos Aires time.
Book a trial class