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BEP 409 – Quality Control 2: Customer Service

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Customer Service, English Collocations /

BEP 409 LESSON - Quality Control 2: Customer Service

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson, the second in a two-part series on quality control. In this lesson, we’ll focus on quality control for customer service.

For companies that sell products, quality control is critical. Not just for ensuring consistency, safety, and reliability, but for meeting customers’ expectations. When customers buy from your company, they’re thinking about more than just the product itself. They’re thinking about how well you serve them.

Customer service involves a huge range of activities. Pretty much any time a customer interacts with a person or a system in your company, it’s customer service. And you need to think about everything from how easy it is to use the website, to the tone your employees use on the phone.

When we talk about customer service, and the quality of customer service, there are many special expressions we use. Many of these are combinations of words that we call “collocations.” You might often learn individual vocabulary words, but we don’t always think, or speak, in individual words. We speak in chunks of language. These chunks are called collocations. In fact “customer service” itself is a collocation. Those two words go together to create a new idea.

In today’s dialog, we’ll continue a conversation between Emma and Paolo. Emma is a consultant that helps companies with quality control. And Paolo runs a company that makes and services solar panels. As they discuss the work that Emma will do for Paolo’s company, they use many English collocations. We’ll explain those collocations later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. What two goals does Paolo have regarding customer service quality?
2. What does Paolo’s company do after every install or service call?
3. What has Paolo’s company not done yet, in a documented way?

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BEP 408 – Quality Control 1: Manufacturing

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations /

English Collocations for Quality Control and Manufacturing

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson, the first in a two-part series on quality control. In this lesson, we’ll focus on the manufacturing side of things.

Successful companies understand the importance of quality. At minimum, quality control is about meeting industry standards or regulations. Beyond that, quality is a huge factor in brand reputation and customer satisfaction. And a commitment to strong QC, or quality control, can also lead to significant cost savings.

Given these benefits, no wonder many companies have entire teams or positions dedicated to monitoring quality. And, just like any other area of expertise, quality control comes with its own special language. Much of this language appears in set expressions that we call “collocations.” In fact, I just used one when I mentioned “monitoring quality.” To monitor quality is a common collocation related to quality control.

Collocations are just natural combinations of words. Certain verbs and adjectives always go with certain nouns. And certain nouns often combine to create a special meaning. If you just learn new words individually, you might miss these natural combinations.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear a conversation between Paolo and Emma. Paolo works for a company that manufactures, sells, and services solar panels. Emma is a quality control consultant. Paolo’s company is looking to hire Emma to conduct a quality control audit, or a review of their systems. During their conversation, they use lots of English collocations, which we’ll explain later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. What does Paolo say they did after completing a safety audit?
2. What kind of testing will Emma’s work not include?
3. What is the purpose of “pulling samples” in quality control?

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BEP 399 – English for Sales: Financial Services (3)

Business English, Finance and Accounting, Sales English /

BEP 399 LESSON - English for Sales: Financial Services 3

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson, the third in a three-part series on how to sell financial services.

For people with money, choosing a wealth manager is a high stakes decision. They want to be able to sleep well at night, knowing their hard-earned money and assets are in good hands. They want to choose a financial services professional – or a firm – they can trust.

To build the trust required to sell financial services, you need to ask the right questions and provide the right information. To develop rapport and understanding with a potential client, you might ask about their major financial concerns. And you might have to answer tough questions about your performance to convince them that you’re the right choice.

In our last lesson, we learned a lot of great collocations, or common expressions, related to financial services. Some expressions are well-known, but you may find yourself explaining some jargon or special terms to a potential client. And at a certain point in the discussion, you’ll have to find a diplomatic way of introducing the topic of fees.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin a conversation between Robert and Jessica. Robert works for Vickers Wealth Management as a financial advisor. Jessica is a potential client. She’s looking for someone to help manage her assets. Now, they’re nearing the end of their first conversation in Robert’s office.

Listening Questions

1. What are Jessica’s biggest worries about?
2. What is Robert going to send to Jessica to help her understand his company’s performance?
3. What special wealth management term does Robert explain to Jessica?

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BEP 398 – English for Sales: Financial Services (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, Finance and Accounting /

BEP 398 LESSON - Sales: Financial Services 2

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson, the second in a three-part series on selling financial services.

When many people think of making money, they think of having a job and earning a salary. But if you’ve ever saved money or made an investment, you know there are other ways to make money. I mean, the money itself can do the work, if you make smart decisions with it. And just as there are lots of ways to invest money, there are lots of words we use to talk about money and investments.

In our last lesson, we were introduced to the world of “wealth management.” And we met a character in the dialog who was “planning for retirement.” These expressions, “wealth management” and “to plan for retirement,” are what we call collocations.

A collocation is a natural combination of words. Proficient English speakers know to use the verb “to plan for” with the noun “retirement.” The words combine to create a collocation, or a set expression. Learning collocations can help you sound more natural, and it can be easier to remember words together, rather than separately.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin Jessica, the person who’s planning for retirement, and Robert, a wealth manager. Jessica is visiting Robert’s office to learn more about his services. And Robert is trying to gently persuade Jessica to become his client. During their conversation, they use many English collocations, which we’ll explain later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. What kind of approach does Robert say his firm takes to wealth management?
2. Besides managing investments, what is another service that Robert’s firm offers to people like Jessica?
3. What type of investing does Jessica say she is particularly interested in?

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BEP 390 – English Collocations: Online Marketing (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, Marketing English /

BEP 390 LESSON - English Collocations: Online Marketing 2

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English collocations for discussing online marketing.

The world of ecommerce is extremely competitive. Millions and millions of people are shopping online every day, viewing millions of options. How can businesses stand out in this sea of competition? How can they ensure their potential customers can even find their website? They turn to online marketing. So it’s no wonder there’s so much time, energy, and money put into marketing and measuring performance.

If you’ve ever had a discussion with an online marketing expert, you’ll know there’s a whole new language built up around it. Think about an expression like “search engine optimization,” or SEO. That’s a good example of a type of expression that we call a “collocation.”

A collocation is just a group of words that go naturally together to form an expression. You’ve already heard me use a few English collocations. Consider “measuring performance,” as an example. The verb “measure” and the noun “performance” go together frequently and naturally. By looking at collocations you can learn words together, not in isolation.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin Eduardo, Emma, and Neil, who work for a kitchenware retailer. Last time, they discussed content marketing. Today, we’ll hear them talking about search engine optimization and some ways of measuring success. During their conversation, they use many English collocations, which we’ll explain later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. At the start of the conversation, what does Eduardo hope has increased?
2. According to Emma, what have they invested a lot in?
3. What does Neil say about their English site that might not be true about the German version?

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BEP 389 – English Collocations: Online Marketing (1)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, Marketing English /

BEP 389 - Business English Collocations: Online Marketing 1

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English collocations related to online marketing.

Every year, ecommerce accounts for an even bigger chunk of retail sales around the world. How big of a chunk? Almost 5 trillion dollars. And with so much selling happening online, it’s not surprising online marketing has become a hot topic.

With this increasing importance has come a ton of new words and expressions. If you find yourself confused, you’re not alone. And as you navigate this new lexicon, it can be very helpful to focus on a type of expression called “collocations.”

Collocations are simply natural combinations of words. For example, you may know that we use the word “traffic” to talk about how many people visit a website. Well, did you know we normally say “drive traffic” when we talk about techniques for bringing people to a website? We don’t say “make traffic” or “move traffic.” It’s not a grammatical rule. It has just become a natural combination of words.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Eduardo, Emma, and Neil, who all work for a retailer that specializes in cooking equipment. They’re discussing their company’s online marketing performance. During their conversation, they use lots of English collocations, which we’ll explain later in the debrief.

Listening Questions

1. What does Eduardo regularly do to understand their online marketing performance?
2. What does Neil say is becoming harder, especially with new privacy rules?
3. What does Emma say is not a good technique for reaching younger audiences?

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BEP 382 – Collocations for Discussing a Partnership (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, ESL Podcast /

BEP 382 – English Collocations for Discussing a Partnership (2)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English collocations for discussing a business partnership.

The expression “two heads are better than one” tells us that it’s easier to solve a problem with someone else rather than alone. This isn’t just true on an individual level. It’s also true on an organizational level. Two companies, if well matched, can accomplish more together than they can alone.

But successful partnerships aren’t developed overnight. There’s a lot that goes into building a relationship, exploring possibilities, and coming to terms on an agreement. And in today’s lesson, we’ll hear a conversation about a new partnership that has taken a lot of time and discussion to develop. In the conversation, you’ll hear many useful expressions that we call “collocations.”

Collocations are simply words that go together naturally. A second ago I talked about “building a relationship.” That’s a collocation. The verb “build” goes together with “relationship” very naturally. Native English speakers learn these combinations over time, by hearing them over and over again. As a language learner, it’s useful to study English collocations so you can sound more natural.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Carlos and Miranda talking with a business consultant named Rolland. Carlos and Miranda’s company, Pineview Wines, is about to enter into a new partnership with Visser Hotels. In their conversation they use many English collocations for talking about partnerships.

Listening Questions

1. What does Rolland call the partnership at the start of the conversation?
2. What has a lawyer helped Pineview Wines do?
3. While benefiting from close collaboration, what do Carlos and Miranda want to maintain?
 
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BEP 381 – Collocations for Discussing a Partnership (1)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, ESL Podcast /

BEP 381 – English Collocations for Discussing a Partnership (1)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English collocations related to business partnerships.

The world of business is highly competitive. But does this mean companies never cooperate? Of course not! In fact, partnering with other companies can be a great way to achieve your business goals. That might mean cooperating with a company in the same industry or in a completely different industry.

But good partnerships take a lot of work. And before you get to the actual partnership stage, there’s a lot of discussion. In this lesson, we’ll hear a discussion about a potential partnership between two companies. And during this conversation, the speakers use a lot of useful expressions related to partnerships. The type of expression you’ll hear is called a “collocation.”

A collocation is just a natural combination of words. For example, we talk about “cultivating” or “nurturing a relationship.” But we don’t say “make” or “create a relationship.” It’s not a rule of grammar. It’s just a common and natural pattern for native speakers. And if you want to sound more natural, you should learn these collocations.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Carlos and Miranda, who work for a wine producer called Pineview Wines. They’re talking with a consultant named Rolland about a possible partnership with a hotel chain called Visser. During their conversation, they use lots of English collocations we can use to talk about partnerships.

Listening Questions

1. What have Carlos and Miranda asked Rolland to sign before their discussion?
2. According to Miranda, fostering collaboration with hotels is a good way for their winery to achieve what goal?
3. What does Rolland emphasize two companies must share in order to work together?

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BEP 373 – English for Supply Chain Management (2)

Business English, English Collocations, Supply Chain /

BEP 373 - English for Supply Chain Management 2

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English for supply chain management. Today we’re going to look at the retail side of the supply chain.

In today’s world, distance isn’t always a barrier to doing business. It doesn’t matter if your company is located in France, Thailand, or the U.S. You can sell to customers anywhere in the world.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Getting your products onto shelves in other continents, or even other parts of your country, is complex. It relies on a web of people, warehouses, and information. And it might involve multiple forms of transportation, including trucks, ships, cargo planes, and trains.

We call this web of activity the supply chain. And in today’s lesson, we’ll rejoin a meeting at an American clothing company, where managers are discussing the retail side of their supply chain. During their conversation, they use lots of language specific to supply chain management. This language includes what we call “collocations,” or natural combinations of words.

When English speakers learn collocations, they don’t learn them one word at a time. Rather, they learn the words together, as a single expression. You can sound more fluent and natural in English if you learn these collocations, especially the ones related to your industry. As you listen to today’s dialog, try to pick out some of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Cam and Tanya, who work for a clothing company called Boston Vintage. Tanya is a supply chain manager located in Malaysia. Cam is based in the U.S. and works as a production planner. They’re talking about expanding their retail operations in southeast Asia, and they use many collocations specific to supply chain management in their conversation.

Listening Questions

1. What does Tanya say is very ambitious?
2. What does Tanya say has fortunately not been impacted by being so busy?
3. According to Tanya, what will having a 4PL enable them to do?

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BEP 372 – English for Supply Chain Management (1)

Business English, English Collocations, Supply Chain /

BEP 372 - English for Supply Chain Management and Logistics (1)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English for logistics and supply chain management. Today we’re going to look at the manufacturing side of the supply chain.

When you pick a product off a shelf at a local store, it’s easy to forget what a long hard road that product has travelled. It may have parts and materials from all over the world. It may be shipped to multiple locations for processing. And once it’s ready and packaged, it may travel long distances to make it to your neighborhood.

This enormous network of information, people, materials, and processes is called a supply chain. And the people who coordinate everything are involved in supply chain management. Good supply chain management can make the difference between a happy customer and an angry customer, and between profit and loss.

In this lesson, we’ll listen to a meeting at a clothing company with a complex supply chain connecting the U.S. and Asia. During the meeting, the colleagues use many English expressions we call “collocations.” Collocations are simply natural frequently occurring combinations of words. A good example of a collocation is “supply chain management.”

Native English speakers use collocations like this automatically. And specific groups of people or fields of work have certain collocations they commonly use. By studying these collocations, you’ll improve your vocabulary and sound more fluent. As you listen to the conversation, try to pick out some of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Cam and Tanya. Cam is a production planner for Boston Vintage in the U.S. Tanya is a supply chain manager helping to develop the company’s supply chain in southeast Asia. Cam and Tanya use many collocations specific to supply chain management in their conversation about the manufacturing side of the supply chain.

Listening Questions

1. What is Tanya’s first big concern on the manufacturing side of things?
2. What does Cam say that people on the ground have expectations about?
3. What does Tanya say will increase costs but help manage risk?

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