Advanced English lessons by Business English Pod

BEP 288 – Sales English 4: Dealing with Doubts

Advanced, Business English, Sales English / May 29, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on dealing with a customer’s doubts about a proposed solution during the sales process.

Customers rarely agree to buy after an initial pitch. Sales typically involves a lot more work than just the initial approach. You need to get to know the customer, understand their needs and offer them good solutions. And somewhere along the way, you’ll have to deal with their questions and doubts. After all, people want to be sure they’re making the right choice, and that they’re spending their money wisely. And even when you’ve shown them all the right reasons to buy from you, they might still be on the fence. So what can you do?

Well, there are a few useful techniques that can help you deal with a customer’s doubts. We can ask about reasons, and propose solutions. We can also relieve their fears and anticipate their concerns. And finally, we can show them why the other alternatives are not good choices. In today’s lesson, we’ll learn how to use these techniques.

In the dialog, we’ll rejoin Aaron, a salesman at a commercial refrigeration company. He’s been talking with a hotel about providing cooling systems for their restaurant and bar. Aaron has taken the time to get to know his customer, and he’s submitted a proposal that he thinks matches their needs. But now the customer has some doubts. Besides Aaron, you’ll hear Eva, the hotel manager, and William, the contractor who’s renovating the hotel.

Listening Questions

1. What is Aaron’s solution to Eva’s first concern?
2. What other concern of Eva’s is Aaron able to guess?
3. Why does Aaron think that not choosing his solution for the freezer is a bad idea?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 287 – Sales English 3: Matching a Solution to Needs

Advanced, Business English, Sales English / May 22, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on matching solutions to customers’ needs during the sales process.

Have you ever been frustrated by a salesperson who tried to sell you something you didn’t need? Yes, we all have! And so if you’re the one doing the selling, remember that a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t likely to work. Instead, you need to build a relationship and learn about your customer’s needs. Only then can you provide the right solution.

In our last two lessons on the sales process, we looked at how to make your initial approach and understand the customer’s needs. So in this lesson, we’ll look at the next step in the process: matching a solution to those needs.

There are several techniques we can use to offer a solution to a customer. We can warn them against doing things a certain way. That is, we can advise them against solutions that don’t match their needs. We can also emphasize cost benefits or quality, and ask hypothetical questions in order to persuade them. And finally, once we’ve used these techniques, we can finish by summarizing agreement.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin Aaron, a salesperson with a commercial refrigeration company. He has been talking to customers at a new hotel who need equipment for their bar and restaurant. Aaron has visited the hotel to meet them and talk about their needs. Now Aaron is putting together a proposal, and he calls the hotel manager, Eva, to talk about some of his proposed solutions.

Listening Questions

1. What does Aaron advise Eva against doing at the beginning of their conversation?
2. What point does Aaron emphasize when he recommends the Coil-Pro unit?
3. At the end of the conversation, how does Aaron introduce his summary of their discussion?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Quizzes | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 276 – English Presentation Skills 3: Wrapping Up

Advanced, Business English, Presentation in English / October 4, 2015

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on wrapping up a presentation in English.

Some people say that the start of a presentation is the most important part. That’s where you grab people’s attention and give them a reason to listen. But the end of your presentation is just as important. If you do a great job of engaging your audience but then have a weak finish, they’ll walk away with a bad last impression. And you want to avoid that at all costs.

So what exactly is involved in a good conclusion to a presentation? What do you need to do to make sure people walk away feeling that they learned something, they want to buy something, or they agree with you?

Today, we’ll learn some great ways to do just that. We’ll look at a variety of English presentation techniques such as summarizing key ideas, closing inspirationally, and opening up for questions. We’ll also learn how to connect your ideas with the big picture and wrap up at the end of the presentation.

In this lesson, we’ll hear how two different speakers finish their presentations. The first speaker is Nick, a recruiter for a medical supplies company. He’s been trying to convince potential recruits that his company is great to work for. In the second dialog we’ll hear Diane, who’s finishing up a report about her company’s third quarter financial statements.

Listening Questions

1. In his summary, Nick mentions several topics that he covered. What are they?
2. To inspire his listeners, what does Nick ask them to think about?
3. What does Diane say is the company’s larger vision?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Online Practice | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 275 – English Presentation Skills 2: Engaging your Audience

Advanced, Business English, Presentation in English / September 27, 2015

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on delivering an engaging and organized presentation.

Getting up in front of a room full of people to give a presentation in English can be a difficult task. Whether you’re reporting information or trying to convince people to buy something, you need to catch their attention. Then you need to keep it. And at the end of it all, you want them to walk away feeling like they learned something, or they agree with you, or they want to buy what you’re trying to sell them.

Sure, it might seem difficult, but there are skills you can learn to make it much easier. Several techniques in both presentation and delivery can help ensure an engaging English presentation that will wow your listeners.

In today’s lesson, we’ll take a closer look at some of these techniques, including asking people to imagine a situation in order to persuade them, and focusing on the “why” behind your ideas rather than the “what.” We’ll also learn how you can use a single thread throughout your presentation and how you can transition between ideas. And finally we’ll cover how to check in with your listeners and add emphasis.

Today we’ll hear two short dialogs from different presentations. In the first, we’ll rejoin a recruiter called Nick who is presenting to some potential recruits for a medical supplies company. In the second, we’ll hear finance manager Diane continue with a report about her company’s quarterly financial results.

Listening Questions

1. What does Nick ask his listeners to imagine?
2. What is the key idea that Nick keeps coming back to?
3. After talking about fuel savings, what does Diane do before moving on to her next idea?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Online Practice | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3

BEP 274 – English Presentation Skills 1: Getting Started

Advanced, Business English, Popular Lessons, Presentation in English / September 20, 2015

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on getting your English presentation off to a good start.

We all know a skilled presenter when we see one. It’s a person who catches our interest right away and connects with the audience. He gives us the information we need without droning on and putting us to sleep. He’s clear about his purpose, he’s organized, and he answers our questions.

But most skilled presenters weren’t born with those skills. They learned to be good presenters. And you can learn the same skills in order to inform, persuade, or motivate any audience. In today’s English presentation lesson, we’ll take a closer look at some great techniques you can use at the start of a presentation. We’ll learn how to get started, build rapport with the audience, and introduce a single key idea that can run throughout your presentation. We’ll also cover how to state your purpose and headline your key ideas.

Of course, your approach to a presentation might be different depending on your audience. So today we will hear two short dialogs from the start of two different presentations in English. In the first, we’ll hear a recruiter named Nick, who works for a medical supplies company. He’s giving a presentation to a group of potential recruits at a university. In the second dialog, we’ll hear a finance manager named Diane giving an internal presentation about her company’s third quarter financial statements.

Listening Questions

1. What question does Nick ask his audience at the start of his presentation?
2. What is the key idea that Nick says his company is all about?
3. What does Diane say is the purpose of her presentation?

Premium Members: PDF Transcript | Online Practice | PhraseCast | Lesson Module

Download: Podcast MP3