BEP 202 – Trade Show English 1: Engaging Potential Customers
Welcome back to Business English Pod. My name’s Atalie, and I’ll be your host for today’s lesson on working at a trade show.
Trade shows can be fantastic opportunities to meet good prospects, network with others in the biz, and even close sales. But there are definite dos and don’ts about working the trade show circuit.
At a trade show, there are a lot of people. That means a lot of potential customers and leads, but it can also be easy to waste time on bad prospects. So you have to be outgoing to draw people in, but you also have to figure out quickly who is really worth talking to. And to engage good prospects and get rid of bad ones, you need excellent communication skills.
In this lesson, we’ll look at how to be approachable, connect with customers, and make a quick pitch. We’ll also learn how to pass a prospect off to another team member and how to set up an appointment.
We are going to hear Kevin and Jenny, who work for a Chinese packaging company called D-Pack. They’re working a booth at a large trade show. They are dealing with Andrew, who works for a manufacturing company. Andrew has come by D-Pack’s booth, and Kevin and Jenny have to work their magic.
Listening Questions
1. What does Andrew’s company want to do?
2. Why does Kevin talk about their big US clients?
3. What are Jenny and Andrew going to do at 10:00 the next day?
Download: Podcast MP3
