Category Archives: Sales

BEP 60 ADV (Transcript & Activities) – Persuasion 2: Establishing the Need

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BEP 60 Study Notes

BEP 60 PhraseCast
BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Quiz

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Gap-fill

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Language 1

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Language 2

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Language 3

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Vocabulary Flashcards


Listening Quiz: BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2: Establishing the Need

1) What’s the highest temperature in the welding room?

2) What does Steve present first – the problem or the solution?

3) What kind of strategies does Steve use to paint a vivid picture of the need for his solution?

BEP 59 ADV (Transcript & Activities) – Persuasion 1: Getting Attention

Do you ever need to persuade or convince someone of your point of view? Do you need to win support for a proposal, or get backing for a project? Of course you do. Persuasion – convincing someone of something – is an essential part of almost everything we do, from informal discussions to formal negotiations. To be successful, you need to be persuasive. You need to get people to accept a different point view, to see things your way. How can you be more persuasive? In this three-part series, we’ll be giving you some answers.

Throughout the years, many talented speakers and researchers have been developing ways to persuade people effectively. One of the most widely used methods is Alan H. Monroe’s. In the mid-1930s, Monroe created a persuasive process called the “Monroe sequence” that has become a standard in business, media and politics. Once you know it, you’ll recognize it everywhere – in speeches, statements, proposals, advertisements. It’s popular because it is logical and effective.

So over the next three episodes, we’ll be studying language and strategies for persuasion based on the Monroe Sequence.

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BEP 59 Study Notes

BEP 59 PhraseCast
BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Quiz

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Gap-fill

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Language 1

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Language 2

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Language 3

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Vocabulary Flash Cards


Listening Quiz: BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1: Getting Attention

Bad example
1) Whose needs does Franz focus on? That is, whose needs is he taking into consideration when he makes the proposal?

2) Why is Franz’s proposal so ineffective?

Good example
1) What does Steve do at the beginning of his presentation?

2) Whose needs does Steve focus on – the workers’ or the management’s?

BEP 48 (Transcript & Exercises) – Cold Calling: Dealing with Objections and Closing the Call

Download BEP 48 ADV – Cold Calling: Dealing with Objections

This is the last in our three-part Business English Podcast series on cold calling. In this lesson, we’ll learn how to deal with several typical kinds of objections that a potential customer might raise.

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Study Notes

Phrases & Practice
BEP 48: Dealing with Objections and Closing the Call – Quiz

BEP 48: Dealing with Objections and Closing the Call – Gap-fill


Listening Quiz: (Click a question to see the answer)

BEP 48 ADV – Cold Calling: Dealing with Objections and Closing the Call

1) When Steve asks for an appointment, what is Linda’s first response?

2) What is Linda’s second objection?

3) How does Steve deal with Linda’s objections?

BEP 47 (Transcript & Exercises) – Cold Calling: Clarifying Benefits and Making a Pitch

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BEP 47 ADV – Cold Calling: Clarifying Benefits and Making a Pitch

Today is the second in our three-part Business English Podcast series on a useful telephone and sales skill: cold calling.

You can always make yourself more persuasive by asking well-considered questions and really listening to the answers. This principle is true whether you are selling a product or an idea. So in part two we are going to look at some key selling skills: strategically clarifying and summarizing your prospect’s concerns and incorporating them into your pitch to make it more persuasive.

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Study Notes

Phrases & Practice
BEP 47: Clarifying Benefits and Making a Pitch – Quiz

BEP 47: Clarifying Benefits and Making a Pitch – Gap-fill


Listening Quiz: (Click a question to see the answer)

1) What’s the main issue or problem that Linda sees with her current system?

2) What does Steve mean by a “one-stop” service?

3) What does Linda suggest instead of meeting with Steve?

BEP 46 (Transcript & Exercises) – Cold Calling: Getting off to a Good Start

Download BEP 46 ADV – Cold Calling: Getting off to a Good Start

Today’s episode is the first in a three-part Business English Pod series on cold calling, the skill of making unsolicited telephone sales calls. Unsolicited means “not asked for”. So cold calling is the skill of making a sales call to someone who is not expecting you.

Cold calling skills are very useful in many parts of business life. To cold call successfully, you need to be persuasive. And persuasion is fundamental to business success, whether you are trying to convince a customer to buy something or your boss or colleagues to accept your point of view.

In today’s listening you’ll here two examples, one bad one good. We.ll listen to the bad one first. Josh Knight of Nexus Communications International is cold calling Linda Darling, who works for the law firm Drucker and Smythe. So Linda is Josh’s prospect, or potential customer.

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Study Notes

Phrases & Practice
BEP 46: Getting off to a Good Start – Quiz

BEP 46: Getting off to a Good Start – Gap-fill


Listening Quiz: (Click a question to see the answer)

BEP 46 ADV – Cold Calling: Getting off to a Good Start

1) Does Linda’s company use audio and video conferencing?

2) What is the benefit of the service that Steve is selling?

3) How does Linda describe the current system?