Bonjour !
In our last lesson, we focused on how to form the questions you need to gather customer details, using est-ce que and question words like quel. Now, we'll put those skills into practice in a real-world context.
Today, we'll focus on the learning outcome: Ask for and correctly record a customer's name, phone number, and address. This means not only asking the right questions but also understanding and accurately capturing the answersâa critical skill for your future role in a call center.
1. Asking for the Customer's Name
In the previous lesson, you learned the key phrase Quel est votre nom ?. Let's build on that with some professional variations.
Liste d'expressions en français pour la communication avec les clients francophones
The document 'Liste d'expressions en français' provides a direct, professional phrase for asking for a customer's full name. This is a great resource for standard, polite questions.
In this document, find the first section titled 'à la réception/At reception'. Locate the phrase for 'What is your full/legal name please?'. This is the standard question you will use.
The key phrase is:
Quel est votre nom complet s'il vous plaĂźt ?(What is your full name please?)
Now, let's see this in a realistic phone conversation.
N°1 : Appel téléphonique pour une demande de rendez-vous,
This video, 'Appel téléphonique pour une demande de rendez-vous', shows a receptionist handling a call. Listen to how she asks for the caller's name.
Watch from 00:19 to 00:30. Pay attention to the two questions the receptionist asks: one for the name, and another to ask the caller to spell it.
In the video, you hear:
Puis-je vous demander votre nom et votre prénom, s'il vous plaßt ?(May I ask for your last name and first name, please?)Pourriez-vous m'épeler le nom, s'il vous plaßt ?(Could you please spell the name for me?)
This second phrase, asking for spelling, is extremely important for ensuring accuracy. We will dedicate our entire next lesson to the alphabet and spelling, but it's crucial to learn how to ask this question now.
2. Asking for and Understanding a Phone Number
Asking for the number is straightforward. The challenge lies in understanding the numbers as a native speaker says them.
First, the question itself:
Quel est votre numéro de téléphone ?(What is your phone number?)- Or, a slightly more formal version you heard in the first video:
Pouvez-vous me donner votre numéro de téléphone, s'il vous plaßt ?
Now, let's tackle how to understand the answer. French phone numbers have a specific rhythm.
Understanding Phone Numbers in French (Tips for fast spoken French!)
The video 'Understanding Phone Numbers in French' from the channel 'Learn French With Alexa' is the perfect guide for this. It explains the rules and gives you a chance to practice.
First, watch from 01:15 to 03:14. Focus on two key points: numbers are said in pairs (e.g., 45 = quarante-cinq), and how the difficult numbers (70s, 80s, 90s) are constructed. Then, get a pen and paper and watch the 'game' section from 04:03 to 06:56. Try to write down the numbers as she says them, then check your answers.
Key takeaways from the video:
- French phone numbers are given in pairs of two digits. For example, 06 84 30 73 83 is said "zéro six, quatre-vingt-quatre, trente, soixante-treize, quatre-vingt-trois".
- You must be comfortable with numbers up to 99, especially the complex ones:
- 70s:
soixante-dix(60+10),soixante-onze(60+11)... - 80s:
quatre-vingts(4x20),quatre-vingt-un(4x20+1)... - 90s:
quatre-vingt-dix(4x20+10),quatre-vingt-onze(4x20+11)...
- 70s:
Test your understanding!
A customer tells you their number is "zéro sept, soixante-douze, quarante et un, quatre-vingt-dix, cinquante-huit". What do you write down?
Show answer
You should write: 07 72 41 90 58
soixante-douze= 60 + 12 = 72quarante et un= 41quatre-vingt-dix= 4 x 20 + 10 = 90
3. Asking for the Customer's Address
Finally, let's cover how to ask for an address. This often requires more than one question to get all the details.
Liste d'expressions en français pour la communication avec les clients francophones
The 'Liste d'expressions' document has a dedicated section for asking about an address. These phrases are clear and professional.
Find section 13, 'Adresse/Address'. Note the different questions for the street address, city, and postal code.
You will need a few key questions:
Quelle est votre adresse ?(What is your address?) - For the street and number.Dans quelle ville habitez-vous ?(What city do you live in?)Quel est votre code postal ?(What is your postal code?)
A typical French address is structured like this:182 Avenue de Guéroult (Number + Street Type + Street Name)75001 Paris (Postal Code + City)
You can hear an example of asking for an address in the first video we watched. In the clip from 00:51 to 01:16 (LINK), after getting the phone number, the receptionist simply says Et une adresse, s'il vous plaĂźt ? (And an address, please?). This is a slightly more conversational but still polite way to ask.
4. Putting It All Together: A Complete Dialogue
Let's look at a full dialogue that brings together asking for a name and phone number, and includes a very realistic situation: misunderstanding the information and asking for clarification.
Les expressions utiles pour parler au téléphone en français
The article 'Les expressions utiles pour parler au téléphone' includes an excellent example dialogue of someone booking a restaurant table. It perfectly models the process of gathering and confirming information.
Read the dialogue under the heading 'RĂ©server une table au restaurant'. Pay close attention to how the agent handles the noisy connection, mishears the name, and asks for spelling and confirmation of the phone number.
Let's break down the key moments in that dialogue:
- Asking for the name:
Et câest Ă quel nom ?(And what name is it under?) - Handling misunderstanding:
Désolée, je vous entends trÚs mal. Vous avez dit Anaël Badessi ?(Sorry, I can't hear you very well. Did you say Anaël Badessi?) - Asking to spell:
Excusez-moi, est-ce que vous pouvez Ă©peler ?(Excuse me, can you spell that?) - Asking for the phone number:
Puis-je avoir un numéro de téléphone pour votre réservation ?(May I have a phone number for your reservation?) - Confirming part of the number:
Pouvez-vous répéter les deux derniers chiffres ?(Can you repeat the last two digits?) - Confirming the full number:
Donc câest bien le 03 82 74 56 39 ?(So, it is indeed 03 82 74 56 39?)
This dialogue is a fantastic model for you. It shows that it's okay not to understand immediately. The professional approach is to politely ask for repetition or clarification to ensure you record the details correctly.
Conclusion
Excellent work today! You have now moved from just forming questions to using them in a practical sequence to gather and understand essential customer information.
Key Takeaways:
- You can ask for a name, number, or address using the structure
Quel(le) est votre... ?or more polite forms likePourriez-vous me donner... ?. - French phone numbers are read in pairs of digits, and mastering the numbers 70-99 is essential for comprehension.
- An address requires multiple pieces of information: street, city, and postal code.
- It is professional and necessary to politely ask for spelling (
Ă©peler) or repetition to ensure the information you record is accurate.
Preview of the Next Lesson:
In our next session, we will fully equip you to handle spelling requests. We will cover the learning outcome: Request the spelling of a name or code and confirm it by reading it back. This involves learning the French alphabet and the specific phrases used to manage this process over the phone.
Ă bientĂŽt