Sales

BEP 93 INT: Sales: Taking an Order

In this Business English Pod episode, we’ll be focusing on the language of taking an order and discussing standard terms, such as delivery time, payment method, and so on.
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BEP 92 INT: Sales - Presenting your Products (FAB)

In this Business English Podcast lesson, we’re going to look at the “classic sales” approach to selling products and services using the FAB technique. FAB stands for features, attributes and benefits and is a commonly used approach for presenting and selling products such as clothes (apparel) and household items.
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BEP 85 INT (Transcript & Exercises) - Sales: Informal Product Presentation

In many countries and cultures around the world, informal occasions - such as a friendly meal or a game of a golf – are more important to the sales process than a formal presentation in the boardroom. And so in this episode, we’ll be studying language for presenting our products in such casual situations (often called “soft selling”). In particular, we’ll see how you can sell your products in relation to your customers’ needs with a few soft-sell techniques.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Listening Quiz BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Gap-fill Exercise BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Dialog & Vocabulary BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Turning Questions Around BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Raising Points of Interest BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Talking About Benefits BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Making Comparisons BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Vocabulary Review BEP 85 INT - Informal Presentation - Flashcards

Listening Questions:

1) Were Matt and Paula able to go to the tunnel face, that is, the end of the tunnel?

Yes. The tunnel had been filled with groundwater, but the water got pumped out the day before Matt and Paula’s visit.

2) What is the main point of interest that Matt and Paula pursue in the discussion?

Matt and Paula are interested in groundwater because this seems to be a problem in Stanley and Bill’s tunnel and because their device, the Vision Wireless Sensor, is excellent at detecting groundwater.

3) What are the advantages that Matt and Paula’s device have over traditional surveying methods?

Traditional surveying methods require a lot of cables, which get in the way; Matt and Paula’s device is wireless. Also, traditional methods usually require the use of high explosives (such as dynamite) and a large piece of a equipment, called a seismograph; Matt and Paula’s device is easy to use. Finally, the survey using Matt and Paula’s equipment can be conducted quite quickly, as opposed to older methods which take a long time and disrupt construction work.

BEP 84 INT (Transcript & Exercises) - Sales: Site Visit

The language we’re going to study in this Business English Podcast lesson will be useful for anyone who needs to host visitors. No matter whether we are giving journalists a demonstration of a factory, or introducing potential customers to your work site, or giving government officials a tour of a project, we need to show people around and point out areas of interest.

In the listening, Stanley Wang works for China Western Railroad Construction Company. He is the site agent – that is, the person in charge of a construction site – for a railway tunnel that is being built. Matt and Paula – who work for a small engineering company called TunnelTech – are visiting potential customers in China. As the dialog begins, Stanley is getting ready to take them into the tunnel for a look around.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Listening Quiz BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Gap-fill Exercise BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Dialog & Vocabulary BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Preliminary Formalities BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Introducing the Project BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Highlighting Points of Interest BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Vocabulary Review BEP 84 INT - Site Visit - Flashcards

Listening Questions:

1) What does Stanley point out in the tunnel? What language does he use to draw everyone’s attention to it?

Stanley points out the new Aliva shotcrete concrete (UK grout) sprayer. Stanley says, “and do you see that over there?”

2) What are the advantages of the machine that Stanley describes?

“It gets the job done in half the time”; also, “flow control” (the rate and density the concrete is applied) is really what “sets it apart,” that is, distinguishes it from the competitor’s products.

3) Stanley mentions two safety hazards. What are they?

Unstable rock and groundwater are the two hazards Stanely mentions. He points out the scaffolding (supporting framework) at the end of the tunnel. This is supporting newly exposed rock which is unstable and may fall. The second and most important hazard is groundwater. This is water contained within the ground (i.e., the soil or rock). At greater depths the water pressure increases and there is a danger water could flood the tunnel.

4) What is the question that Paula asks Stanley about the hazards?

Paula is interested in the stability of the rock and groundwater. As we will see in BEP 85, the follow-on episode to this show, Paula is interested in these aspects of tunnel because of the product he and Matt are selling.

BEP 65 ADV (Transcript & Exercises) - Questioning Techniques (Part 2)

This is the second in a two-part Business English Pod series on questioning techniques. Last time in BEP 64 we looked at making small talk and gathering information with open questions, getting specific information with probing questions and guiding the conversation by showing interest.

This time we’ll learn several more advanced questioning techniques, including direct questions, to get information from someone who is being uncommunicative, reflective questions, to guide the conversation, and hypothetical questions, to suggest possible action. Together these techniques form a series that can be used to drill down to the information you need.

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Study Notes	Phrases & Practice	BEP 65 ADV Questioning 2 - Quiz BEP 65 ADV Questioning 2 - Gap-fill BEP 65 ADV Questioning 2 - Transcript & Vocabulary BEP 65 ADV Questioning 2 - Language 1 BEP 65 ADV Questioning 2 - Language 2 BEP 65 ADV Questioning 2 - Vocabulary Flashcards

Listening Quiz: BEP 65 ADV - Advanced Questioning Techniques (Part 2)

1) LCD TVs produce a lot of heat. Why is this important to Brad’s sales pitch?

Forrest and Brown produces a line of conformal coatings which are highly resistant to heat, but safer and more environmentally friendly to use.

2) What are Andy’s main priorities in selecting conformal coatings to protect the circuit boards Stratos produces?

Brad identifies durability as one of Andy’s main concerns. Andy also mentions environmental and worker safety.

3) What are the main good points of the coating that Brad wishes to sell to Andy?

It uses a room temperature cure, that is, it does not require the use of extra heat in the application process. Also, there is little or no outgassing, that is the creation of harmful gases during application. Thus, it is safer to use.