Category Archives: Advanced

BEP 53 ADV (Transcript & Exercises) – Handling Complaints: Empathizing

Good customer service is essential to success in any industry, but it is particularly important in the service and hospitality sector. “Hospitality” means treating guests well; and here, we’re talking specifically about hotels. Because service is so vital to hospitality, hotels are a good place to look for excellent service practices.

We’ll see that a very important part of handling angry customers is showing empathy: Empathy is similar to sympathy – it means showing that you understand the customer’s pain.

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Study Notes
Phrases & Practice		 BEP 53: Complaints – Empathizing – Quiz

BEP 53: Complaints – Empathizing – Gap-fill


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

Bad Example:

1) How does the customer, Steve, learn the service associate’s name?

2) What is Steve’s problem?

3) How could Jenna have handled the complaint better?

Good Example:

1) When Steve says, “I’m at the end of my rope,” what does he mean?

2) What does Sandy do to calm Steve down?

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

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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

Download the podcast for BEP 47 ADV – Cold Calling: Clarifying Benefits and Making a Pitch

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?