Business English Pod / Intermediate English / Page 9

BEP 119 – Telephoning: Making an Appointment

A2, Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Telephone English /

In this Business English Podcast, we’ll be looking at the language used to make appointments on the telephone.

We live in the era of remote communication: teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and online meetings. More and more group efforts are getting done from a distance. In theory, at least, it’s possible to work closely with anyone in the world without leaving our desks. Nevertheless, there’s something about a face-to-face meeting that no virtual one can replace. We still need to shake people’s hands, read their body language, and make personal connections. That’s why – even today – one of the commonest uses for the telephone is to make appointments. In this episode, we’ll take a close look at making appointments on the phone.

Gordon Knight works for Bridgewater, a U.S. pension fund. (Pension funds are institutions that invest retirement savings.) At a recent conference, Gordon met Penny Yip, a senior financial analyst for the Asia Markets office of Solomon-Clyde. Solomon is a boutique – or small and specialized – global investment company that deals only with institutional customers – very large clients, like Bridgewater. Now, Gordon plans to be in Malaysia, and he phones Penny to set up an appointment to discuss possibilities for investment.

Listening Questions:

1. Where and when does Gordon say he met Penny?
2. When does Gordon suggest meeting with Penny?
3. Why does he want to meet with Penny?
4. What time do they finally agree on?

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BEP 96 – Socializing: Business Meals

A2, Business English, Intermediate English, Socializing, Travel /

In most parts of the world, having lunch or dinner together is an important part of doing business. In places such as North America, eating meals is a way of building a relationship or celebrating a partnership. And in other cultures, such as China, much of the real work of making deals actually often gets done over the dinner table.

No matter where you are doing business, it’s important to be able to handle the basics of dining out. This includes ordering food, recommending dishes, proposing a toast, and paying for the check, among other things. These skills will be the focus of this episode.

In the listening, we continue to follow Mario and Francesca, who represent the Italian fashion company Viva, on their visit to the U.S. As planned, they are having dinner in Las Vegas with their distributor Adriana, who works at the American company Foxtrot. Bill, one of their new customers, has also joined them.

When the dialog begins, the group has already made some small talk and looked at the menu. Now they are ready to order.

Listening Questions:

1) Why doesn’t Francesca want to try the “steak tartare?”
2) How does Francesca signal that she’s ready to go back to the hotel?
3) Who pays for the meal?

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BEP 93 – English for Sales: Taking an Order

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Sales English /

In this Business English Pod lesson, we’ll be focusing on the language of taking an order and discussing standard terms, such as delivery time, payment method, and so on.

The listening takes us back to the Foxtrot showroom in Las Vegas. As you’ll recall, Foxtrot is the American distributor for Viva, an Italian clothing, or Apparel, manufacturer. Bill is a buyer for a chain of department stores, who has now decided to purchase from Viva. Foxtrot representative Adrianne and her Viva partner, Mario, discuss Bill’s order with him.

Before we get started, it’s important to emphasize that this conversation is not really a negotiation, but rather a situation where most parts of the deal are already agreed to. So, in this episode, we’ll be studying vocabulary for summarizing the terms of a typical commercial order and learning phrases for managing customer-vendor relationships, for example by reassuring the customer to build goodwill.

Listening Questions

1) When he says, “We operate on a narrow window for deliveries,” what does Bill mean?
2) The term chargeback refers to all or part of a fee being refunded, or returned, to the buyer. For what situation is Bill quite “strict on chargebacks?”
3) When would Bill like the first delivery to be made, and why?

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BEP 92 – English for Sales: Features, Advantages, Benefits (or FAB Presentation)

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Presentations in English, Sales English /

For today’s Business English Podcast lesson, we’re going to focus on the “classic sales” approach to selling products and services. This approach is based on explaining the features, attributes and benefits of your products using the “FAB” technique.

The FAB technique is useful for people working in the manufacturing and retail trade – anyone who has to present products. In particular, we’ll look at how this approach can be applied in the Merchandizing business. Merchandizing is the trade name for businesses involved in the design and manufacture of clothing and household items.

In the dialog, we rejoin Marco and Francesca on their trip to a fashion trade show in the U.S. Their company, Viva, has just created an exciting new line of clothes. With the help of their American partner, Foxtrot, they are hoping to get a couple big sales contracts with U.S. department stores.

The listening takes place in the Foxtrot showroom. We’ll hear Francesca speak to a potential customer, Bill, who is a buyer for Bancroft’s, a retail chain store that targets professional women.

Listening Questions

1. What is the key feature of Viva’s fall colors this year? Can you name some of the colors?
2. Why is the Viva Professional line more expensive?
3. As described in the dialog, what are the main benefits of Viva’s clothing line?

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BEP 89 – Telephoning: Making Arrangements

A2, Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Telephone English, Travel /

In this Business English Podcast lesson we’re going to look at useful language for handling the practical details of a business visit, such as airport pickup and restaurant or hotel booking. And we’ll also practice ways to create and maintain goodwill by demonstrating flexibility and responding politely on the phone.

Viva is an Italian fashion company. Viva representatives Marco and Francesca are preparing to attend a fashion expo in Las Vegas with their American distributor, Foxtrot. A fashion expo, or exposition, is a kind of trade show or conference in which potential buyers look at manufacturers’ goods.

In the dialog Marco is calling his contact Adriana at Foxtrot to discuss the details of the visit. As you listen try to answer the following questions.

Listening Questions

1) What information does Adriana get from Marco?
2) What does Marco need help with?
3) Does Marco have any special requirements for the hotel?
4) What kind of food does Marco hope to eat?

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