Telephone English | English for Telephoning | Business English Pod

BEP 228 – Telephoning: Making Sales Calls in English (2)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for the second part of our lesson on making sales calls.

Being successful in sales begins with getting your foot in the door. If you can sit down with someone in their workplace and show your product, or talk about your service, you’re more than halfway to making a sale. But if you don’t get the chance to sit down face to face, making the sale will be a lot harder.

There’s lots of advice out there about making cold calls in English. But usually you’ve got more to work with than just a phone number. A good lead might be someone you’ve talked to at an event, or someone you’ve been referred to by another customer or friend. So, you’ve got a name and number and perhaps a previous conversation or mutual acquaintance.

You call the person, you use your best professional greeting, you make a connection and you try to get them to talk about their company and their needs. Now comes the hard part. You need to make the next step and actually ask them to agree to meet with you. Today we’ll learn some great techniques that will help you get to that point. We’ll start with showing the value of your product or company, then we’ll cover asking for a meeting, dealing with a refusal, emphasizing the need to meet, and expressing gratitude.

In the dialog, we will hear the second part of a telephone conversation between Kate and Tina. Kate is a salesperson with a company called Thompson Medical. And Tina works at a dental office. Kate’s company sells machines called “autoclaves,” which are used to sterilize tools in medical clinics.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Kate mention ‘flexibility in the setup’?
2. How does Kate respond when Tina says that it’s hard to schedule a meeting?
3. What does Kate offer to do if Tina agrees to sit down and talk?

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BEP 227 – Telephoning: Making Sales Calls in English (1)

Business English, Sales English, Telephone English / March 17, 2013

In this Business English lesson, we take a look at making sales calls.

Many people hate making sales calls in English. They pick up the telephone and instantly feel a pit in their stomach. They might be afraid of rejection. Or they might know that most people hate receiving sales calls. But fear not! When you pick up the telephone, you’ve got an opportunity. If you approach it positively, you’ll have more positive results.

You start with a list of leads. This might just be names and numbers. They might be people you’ve met at a networking event or a trade show. Now it’s time to work those leads. In the first call, you’re not going to give them a hard sell or a pitch. You can save the real selling for a face to face meeting. And that’s your short-term goal: getting someone to agree to sit down with you.

You’re not the first person who has ever called someone to arrange a meeting. And there are some tried and true techniques that you can rely on. Today, we focus on the first part of a sales call. We’ll look at using a friendly professional greeting, showing respect for time, and referencing other clients. We’ll also look at both asking about a client’s needs and summarizing those needs.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Kate, a salesperson with a company called Thompson Medical. She’s calling Tina, who works at a dental office. Kate’s company sells “autoclaves.” An autoclave is a machine that sterilizes, or cleans, tools and equipment. It’s an important piece of equipment in any medical office.

Listening Questions

1. Why do you think Kate mentions that Tina must be very busy?
2. What does Kate say about another clinic that she visited?
3. What are the basic problems that Tina’s office has with their current system?

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BEP 215 – Telephone English: Keeping in Touch (2)

Business English, Socializing, Telephone English / September 16, 2012

In this Business English Pod lesson, we continue to look at language for keeping in touch with colleagues and customers by telephone.

Good business is built on good relationships. And good relationships are built on good communication. Of all the tools we use for communicating over long distances, the telephone is one of the best. We can listen and respond to the other person immediately. We can hear the other person’s voice and emotions. And we can use our own voice to convey feeling.

But talking on the phone isn’t always easy. It can be hard to set the right tone and strike a good balance between work and personal issues. There are certain techniques you can learn to help you do just that. In this lesson, we’ll hear several.

Today we’ll cover how to lower the formality in a conversation, show interest in where someone else is located, and keep the conversation going. We’ll also learn how to offer personal information and transition to work issues using a topic that has already been introduced.

We will hear Susan, the shipping broker from our last episode. She is calling from Amsterdam to a customer named Paul. Paul is an expat working in Santos, Brazil. Susan and Paul are chatting about personal matters a bit before getting down to business.

Listening Questions

1. What does Paul say about the weather?
2. What does Susan say about Venice?
3. Which word or topic that Chris mentions does Susan use to transition to work matters?

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BEP 214 – Telephone English: Keeping in Touch (1)

Business English, Socializing, Telephone English / September 9, 2012

In this Business English Pod lesson, we look at how to keep in touch with your colleagues and customers over the telephone.

Can you imagine doing your work without your phone? It’s a regular part of most people’s work day. Talking to people is a big part business. And the talking that we do is not always about work. Whether it’s with a client, customer, or colleague, the conversations we have on the phone usually have a social element as well.

There’s a very good reason for this. Good business relies on good relationships. And if you can connect with someone on a personal level, your work will be easier and smoother. And when that someone doesn’t work in the same office, that connection will often happen on the phone. It doesn’t matter if they are across the street or across the globe.

So what are the skills you need to keep in touch by phone? Well today, we’ll look at several important techniques, including cutting to work issues, asking someone about past and personal issues, and personalizing our sign-offs, or goodbyes.

In the dialog we’ll hear Susan, a shipping broker in Amsterdam, talking with Chris, a colleague in the UK. Susan and Chris used to work in the same office together, but now they’re in different countries and have to keep in touch by phone. Let’s listen in and see how they get along.

Listening Questions

1. What is the purpose of Susan’s call?
2. What past issue does Susan ask Chris about?
3. What does Susan invite Chris to do?

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BEP 199 – Telephone English: Controlling the Call (2)

Business English, Communication, Customer Service, Telephone English / December 11, 2011

In this Business English lesson, we’ll continue our look at language and techniques for controlling a telephone call in English.

If you’re like most people, talking on the telephone is a basic part of work life. We talk with colleagues, customers, potential clients, suppliers, company reps – the list goes on and on. In fact, the telephone has become even more important as we spend less time at our desks and more time dealing with people remotely.

As you surely know, talking on the telephone is not always easy. We can’t use the same techniques that we might use when talking to someone face-to-face. We need to learn a new set of skills. It is these skills that we are looking at in this series about controlling the call. If you learn to do this well, you’ll end each conversation with a sense of achievement and purpose.

In today’s lesson, we’ll hear a conversation between Chris and Nick. Chris is calling Nick to inform him about some price changes and to arrange a meeting. As you will hear, the caller carefully controls the conversation and gets the outcome she wants.

Listening Questions

1. What reason does Chris give for the change in prices?
2. When will the price changes take effect?
3. Why does Chris want to meet with Nick?

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