هل سبق لك أن حضرت اجتماعًا أو استمعت إلى عرض تقديمي حيث يتحدث شخص ما عن فكرته الكبيرة? وثم, أربعون شريحة PowerPoint لاحقًا, أنت لا تزال غير متأكد تمامًا مما يتحدثون عنه, أو لماذا تعتبر فكرتهم رائعة جدًا? حسنًا, قد تكون هناك فكرة جيدة في مكان ما وراء كل ذلك, ولكن لسبب ما لم تلتزم.
في الجهه المقلوبه, هناك أفكار لا يمكنك نسيانها إذا أردت ذلك. لاي سبب كان, يفهمها الناس, يتذكرونها, وهم يقفون وراءهم.
لنواجه الأمر: الأفكار هي من عشرة سنتات. وامتلاك فكرة رائعة لا يعني شيئًا إذا لم تتمكن من إقناع الآخرين بها. وقبل أن تجعل أي شخص يؤمن بها, تحتاج إلى مساعدتهم على تذكر ذلك. تحتاج إلى جعلها تلتصق. لذا أود اليوم أن أشارككم بعض النصائح لمساعدة أفكاركم على البقاء. لا يهم إذا كنت تقدم عرضًا تقديميًا, اقتراح شيء في الاجتماع, أو الترويج للمستثمرين. أسرار الالتصاق هي نفسها.
There’s an old saying that you should never mix business and pleasure. وبالتأكيد, it might not be a good idea to get too close to your customers and clients. But if you are all business, and you shy away from anything personal, you’ll seem cold. And people won’t connect with you.
في النهاية, you have to find the right balance. You want to be personable, but not nosy. You want to be friendly, but not pushy. And you have to take your time. A conversation with a new customer will be naturally more formal than with an established one. That’s true not only in person, but on the phone as well.
في درسنا الأخير, we learned about paying a visit to a client’s office. اليوم, we’ll look at checking in with a client by phone. كما ستسمع, we often make friendly conversation at the beginning of the call, and you might find yourself showing understanding of a client’s personal situation. But eventually you’ll want to switch from the personal to business. And once you’re talking business, you might mention personal connections, gauge needs, and discuss developments in your industry. This is all part of maintaining and building a relationship with your client.
في حوار اليوم, we’ll rejoin Markus, an account manager for a company that sells servers. Markus is calling up a client named Jana. He wants to check in with her, find out how she’s doing, and see if she needs anything. And you’ll hear him strike a balance between business and personal issues.
أسئلة الاستماع
1. Jana mentions a personal issue at the start of the conversation. ما هذا? 2. When Markus switches from personal matters to business, what topic does he mention? 3. How does Markus ask Jana about their server needs?
Business is all about relationships. And the stronger your relationships are, especially with customers or clients, the more successful you’ll be. This is why we call up our customers or drop by their office. Sometimes we’ve got important business to take care of, but sometimes all we need to do is say hello and check in.
في الحقيقة, visiting with clients often sounds like a chat between friends. We might talk about sports, about family, about travel, or about mutual friends. بالتاكيد, it takes a while to get to this level with a customer. But once we’re there, our conversations are likely to be an interesting mix of the personal and professional.
Bouncing between these two modes naturally is the secret to the client visit. You might find yourself starting out by introducing some interesting piece of news. في مرحلة ما, you may want to gauge the client’s satisfaction with your products or services. And the conversation may also turn naturally to gossiping about the competition. If a client needs a decision or information, you may have to promise to check back on it. وأخيرًا, you might want to make a social invitation, and move the relationship-building out of the office.
في حوار اليوم, we’ll hear Markus, who works as an account manager for a company that sells computer servers. He is visiting the offices of one of his clients, a large Internet service provider. We’ll hear Markus chatting with Jose, his main client contact, and Tricia, another manager.
أسئلة الاستماع
1. What news does Markus deliver to Jose? 2. What does Markus say about his company’s competitor? 3. What does Markus offer to do next Friday?
إذا ضبطت آخر مرة, ستتذكر أن التشبيه هو عندما تقارن شيئًا ما تتحدث عنه بفكرة أخرى. A classic example of a metaphor is “time is money.” But, إذا كنت تريد حقًا استخدام الاستعارات لنقل لغتك الإنجليزية إلى المستوى التالي, ستحتاج إلى تعلم التفكير خارج الصندوق.
