今日のレッスンのためのビジネス英語ポッドへようこそ 英語で交流するwith your clients on the phone.
There’s an old saying that you should never mix business and pleasure. そして確かに, 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.
最終的に, 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.
私たちの最後のレッスンで, we learned about paying a visit to a client’s office. 今日, we’ll look at checking in with a client by phone. あなたが聞くように, 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.
今日の対話で, 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.
リスニングの質問
1. Jana mentions a personal issue at the start of the conversation. それは何ですか? 2. When Markus switches from personal matters to business, what topic does he mention? 3. How does Markus ask Jana about their server needs?
今日のレッスンのためのビジネス英語ポッドへようこそ 英語で交流するwith your clients.
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.
実際には, visiting with clients often sounds like a chat between friends. We might talk about sports, about family, about travel, or about mutual friends. もちろん, 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. ある時点で, 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. そして最後に, you might want to make a social invitation, and move the relationship-building out of the office.
今日の対話で, 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.
リスニングの質問
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?
前回チューニングした場合, 比喩とは、話していることを別のアイデアと比較するときのことです。. A classic example of a metaphor is “time is money.” But, あなたが本当に比喩を使ってあなたの英語を次のレベルに引き上げたいのなら, 既成概念にとらわれずに考えることを学ぶ必要があります.