Originally named for their rarity, technology “unicorns” are now as common as cats and dogs. As the number of companies hitting the $1bn valuation mark that defines a unicorn skyrockets, it’s easy for investors to be giddy with excitement. But, as City AM points out, these magical creatures may be too good to be true:
The so-called “unicorns” are being targeted by traders betting their share prices will fall. Named because of their mythical, elusive status, the number of unicorns running around has been enough to garner speculation that many of these firms are overvalued.
This is a free preview of a video lesson from our Business English Kickstart Course.
This Business English lesson looks at language for answering the telephone in English. Talking on the telephone in has become an extremely important part of business English. You need to be able to answer a call professionally and create a good image of yourself and your company with only your voice.
The Business English Kickstart Course covers the 3 main Business English Skills of meetings, presentations and talking on the phone with 20 lessons appropriate for intermediate English Speakers. The course is available on the Udemy platform which provides desktop and mobile access for Android and iOS devices.
Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on understanding your customer’s needs in the sales process.
As a salesperson, you can’t just walk up to a customer and start pitching your products. How do you know the customer actually needs your products? And why would the customer buy from you without knowing anything about you? No, the sales process doesn’t start with a pitch. It starts with making your initial approach and getting to know your customers, which is what we looked at in our last lesson.
So what come’s next? Well, once you’ve made your initial approach, you can move on to understanding the customer’s needs. And that’s what we’ll focus on in this lesson, because if you understand what the customer needs, then you can offer them the right solutions.
What are the techniques we can use to learn about a customer’s needs? Well, today we’ll cover several, including how to ask direct questions, present alternatives, and ask about priorities. We’ll also look at proposing the next step and asking about buying authority. Once you’ve done these things, you can move on confidently to matching your solutions to their needs.
In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin Aaron, a salesperson with a commercial refrigeration company. He’s talking to a couple of potential customers at a new hotel: Eva, the hotel manager, and Robin, the head chef. Eva and Robin have just given Aaron a tour of the hotel’s restaurant, bar, and café. Aaron has learned a bit about their plans and now he wants to know more about their specific needs.
Listening Questions
1. Which area of the hotel does Aaron present an alternative option for?
2. What are Eva and Robin’s two major priorities?
3. What does Aaron say he is going to do next?
Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s business English lesson on making your initial sales approach.
Sales is right at the core of business. It’s how you connect people with products, and turn products into profits. But most sales aren’t made with a single conversation. There’s a process involved. This process involves many different steps, and at each step, a good salesperson has to use their skills to keep the process moving forward.
In this lesson, we’ll focus on the initial step of the sales process: making the approach. This is when you talk to the potential customer for the first time. You want to establish a good rapport and ask some questions to start learning about their needs. We’ll learn how to compliment a prospect and ask open-ended questions. We’ll also cover how to show interest to get more information, show that you’ve done some background research, and reference other business connections. With these skills, you can get off to a good start with your prospect.
In today’s dialog, we’ll hear a salesperson named Aaron, who works for a company that sells refrigeration and cooling equipment. Aaron is visiting a new hotel in Thailand and talking with Eva, the hotel’s manager and Robin, the head chef. He has arranged to visit the hotel and hopes to start building a relationship and finding out about their needs.
Listening Questions
1. How does Aaron compliment his prospective customers?
2. What does Aaron show interest in to get more information?
3. What business connection do Aaron, Robin, and Eva have in common?
In this Business English vocabulary lesson, we’re going to look at the marketing mix, which is made up of the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place and promotion. We’ll look at the idea of placement, which is all about a product’s market coverage and how it gets to market through logistics and a company’s distribution channels. The final P is promotion, or advertising, which may involve public relations and marketing campaigns, including in-store promotions.
In this Business English vocabulary lesson, we’re going to look at the marketing mix, which is made up of the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place and promotion. First we’ll cover ideas related to the product, which includes differentiation and positioning. A company’s products must also reflect its branding. The second P is price, and we’ll look at ideas such as penetration pricing and loss leaders, as well as price points.
This is the video version of our first 925English lesson, a new series we’ll launch next year. Our first 925English lesson is about how to say hello to colleagues and customers in English. We look at three different situations: How to greet someone you don’t know, how to respond to a greeting and how to informally greet a colleague or friend. For each situation we provide lots of examples and you can practice the language with some short role-plays.
925English is a new business English series for beginners and lower intermediate learners that we’ll launch early next year. 925English lessons will focus on chunks of language and English expressions that you can use in work and business. We’ll look at language you can say in different situations and advice on why and how we use it.
This is a preview lesson from 925 English, a new series we’ll launch next year. Appropriately enough, we’re kicking off with a 925 English lesson on how to greet and say hello to colleagues and customers in English.
925English a new business English series for beginners (CEFR A1-A2) and lower intermediate (B1) English learners. 925 English lessons focus on chunks of language and English expressions that you can use in work and business. We get straight to the point with lots of examples. We give you phrases you can say in different situations and advice on why and how to use them.
So, it’s pretty easy to greet someone in English, isn’t it? We can say “good morning” or “hello” or just “hi.” And we might add something like “my name is Tim Smith,” or a question like “how’s it going?” But what’s the difference? How do we choose which greeting to use? Well, in business, like in life, it depends on the situation. That includes who we’re talking to and where we’re having the conversation. So let’s go through three situations and practice some appropriate ways of saying hello.
Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English idioms for discussing negotiations.
Making deals and coming to an agreement can be tricky business. We give, and we take. We win a little, and we lose a little. And both sides hope that they can get more than they need to give up. This is the tough competition known as negotiation, a competition that puts the drama in the world of business.
And like any kind of drama or competition, we love to talk about it. Who won and who lost? Who got what? How much did they pay? And just how did they get such a good deal? In English, we have lots of idioms to talk about negotiations. Today we’re going to take a closer look at some of these idioms and how to use them.
We’re going to rejoin a conversation between two colleagues, Jose and Neil. Neil has been talking about a tough negotiation he’s been going through with a company from Singapore.
Listening Quiz
1. How does Neil say he’s going to respond to the other company’s demands on payment terms?
2. According to Jose, why might the other side be negotiating with another firm besides Neil’s company?
3. What is Neil’s biggest fear?
Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on idioms related to negotiations.
Negotiation is at the heart of business. We negotiate salaries, partnerships, prices, terms, timelines, business deals, and pretty much everything, in fact! And to do this, we discuss, we persuade, and we make trade-offs all in the name of closing the deal.
Yes, almost everything in business is a kind of negotiation, a push and pull in which we try to get what we want. And it should come as no surprise that in English we have a lot of different idioms for talking about negotiations. Today we’ll look at some of these idioms and how to use them.
You will hear a conversation between two colleagues, Jose and Neil. They are talking about some negotiations they’ve been involved in recently. In particular, Neil has been experiencing some challenges in a negotiation with a company from Singapore.
Listening Questions
1. What surprising demand does Neil say the other company made early on?
2. After explaining his own experience with a Brazilian company, what does Jose suggest Neil try?
3. What does Neil think he might have to do instead of doing what Jose suggests?
