Doing business across borders requires precise coordination, especially in the era of “just-in-time” delivery where goods need to be shipped to the customer at exact times. When a product is made in one country, assembled in another, and sold in a third, the companies involved need to be in constant communication from start to finish. Making sure that orders are made and delivered on time is an essential part of international business, and a lot of the monitoring will be done by phone. So, in this episode we’re going to look at ways to check on the progress of an order over the telephone.

A while back in BEP 92 & 93 we met Bill, a buyer for Bancroft’s, a chain of women’s clothing stores in the U.S. He’s placed a large order with Viva, an Italian fashion company, which is being coordinated by Catherine Traynor, Foxtrot’s shipping manager. Foxtrot is Viva’s U.S. distributor.

It’s now several months later and the order is due to be delivered. But Bill has just received a call from Bancroft’s warehouse to let him know that only half the order has been delivered so far. Now he’s calling Catherine to check on the rest of the delivery.

Listening Questions:

1. How does Catherine let Bill know she’s looking for information about his order?
2. Where is the second part of the shipment?
3. What does Catherine offer to do to avoid separate deliveries in future?

Lesson Content:

 
Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Exercises | PhraseCast | Mobile Quizzes

In this Business English Podcast episode, we’ll study the skills and language of bargaining. This podcast is part of an ongoing series on negotiation skills.

Bargaining is the process of swapping or trading concessions – in other words, “You give me something, and I’ll give you something in return.” This is also called making offers and counter-offers. The goal is to reach a compromise – a result in which both sides benefit.

Today’s listening focuses on a typical bargaining situation. Paul is a purchasing manager for a construction company. Tony is a supplier of anchor bolts – large metal screws used in building projects. They are in the middle of a telephone conversation in which they are negotiating an order. Tony has already opened the discussion and clarified Paul’s basic needs. Now they need to agree on the quantity and price.

As you listen, focus on the language that they use to swap concessions and reach a deal.

Listening Questions:

1. What does Paul mean when he says he’ll be “throwing more business your way?”
2. Tony suggests a way of helping Paul get a higher discount. What is it?
3. When Tony says to Paul, “You drive a hard bargain!” what does he mean?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Exercises | PhraseCast

In this episode of our ongoing Business English Podcast series on business negotiations in English, we will discuss how to overcome blockage in a negotiation.

Usually we think of blockage in terms of stumbling blocks, or obstacles, to agreement. But blockage can also be any impediment to creating maximum value. In other words, we’re not only interested in removing obstacles to a deal but also in removing obstacles to a better deal. Doing this successfully often requires thinking outside the box, that is, thinking creatively.

So in this episode, we’ll study overcoming barriers. In particular, we’ll focus on identifying stumbling blocks, exploring alternatives, and moving towards agreement.

Recall that Peter, owner of Textacular, has been trying to buy Maxine’s company, Gamester, as part of his strategy to roll up other small businesses. His ultimate goal is to increase the value of his own operation so he can sell it to a larger company for a handsome profit. In previous episodes, Peter had tried to acquire Maxine’s company, but talks reached an impasse when Maxine wouldn’t climb down from or reduce her price of 15 million.

In today’s listening, Peter calls Maxine back to restart talks. As you listen, focus on the language they use to remove obstacles to agreement.

Listening Questions:

1. How does Peter suggest restarting talks with Maxine?
2. What does Peter identifying as the main stumbling block to a deal?
3. What does Peter mean when he says, “It’s not a question of growth for us, it’s a question of survival.”
4. What is Peter’s key insight that enables Maxine and him to overcome their blockage?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Exercises | PhraseCast

In the concluding episode of our Business English Podcast series on negotiating in English, we’re going to look at closing the deal.

Success! The hard work of negotiation has paid off. You’ve reached agreement. Now it’s time to close the deal. In this episode, we’ll study skills and language for the final stage of the discussion. In particular, we’ll focus on summarizing details, tying up loose ends, reinforcing the relationship and adopting a positive style. We’ll see that the end of talks presents a great opportunity to build stronger partnerships.

In this show, we will look at two short dialogs that demonstrate different styles of negotiation. In the first, a construction materials supplier, Tony, calls his customer, Paul, to agree to the terms of a deal. In the second, a general manager, Maxine, calls the owner of another company, Peter, to tell him that her board of directors has agreed to buy his company.

Listening Questions:
1. In the first dialog, what does the supplier, Tony, want to confirm with his customer, Paul?
2. What kind of positive language do Tony and Paul use at the end of the dialog to reinforce the relationship?
3. In the second dialog, does Maxine say that the board has agreed to Peter’s suggested price?
4. From the conversation, does it sound as though Peter will continue to work at his company through the merger?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Exercises | PhraseCast

If you’ve ever checked into a hotel, there’s one more thing you’ll definitely have to do before you leave, check out of the hotel and pay the bill. So, in this Business English Podcast lesson we’ll be looking at some of the language you might use as you’re preparing to depart.

A while back, in BEP 55 and BEP 56, we were introduced to Alan Chan and Honesto Salvador, two employees of a US electronics manufacturer visiting the USA on a business trip. As part of their training they have made a trip to Boston and will also travel to a nearby plant in New Haven. We join Alan and Honesto at the hotel in Boston as they go to reception to check out and pay the bill.

Listening Questions:

1. How does Honesto feel about breakfast at the hotel?
2. Who was responsible for the minibar charge?
3. Why does Honesto mention his club membership?
4. How will Alan and Honesto get to the airport?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Exercises | PhraseCast

Business travelers can’t always get where they need to go by catching a plane or taking a taxi. Sometimes we need our own means of transport, and that usually means renting a car. So, in this ESL podcast we’ll cover language you can use when choosing a car, discussing features and clarifying insurance options.

In the last episode (BEP 124 – Checking our of a Hotel), we met Honesto Salvador and Alan Chan, who have just finished attending a training program sponsored by their company in Boston. They’ve just arrived now at Logan Airport, where they need to rent a car for their upcoming trip to New Haven.

As you listen, pay attention to the language they use to ask about vehicle types, standard features, extras and insurance options.

Listening Questions:

1. What kind of car would Honesto prefer?
2. What features are standard on all Beevis cars?
3. Why does Honesto not need extra insurance?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Exercises | PhraseCast

 

One of the most common reasons for holding a meeting is to solve a problem. A meeting can be a great place to do this, because it is possible for a variety of people with different experiences and perspectives to work together to identify the problem and come up with possible solutions.

But, while we might have the right people at the meeting, the process is often flawed because one question hasn’t clearly been asked and answered: “What is the problem?” So, in today’s episode we’re going to focus on how to define the problem through discussion and then restate the problem as a challenge. In the second part of this series, we’ll look at how to evaluate and eliminate suggestions and then agree on a plan of action.

We’ll be listening to Kathryn, the head of Human Resources at a medium-sized company, who is meeting with department heads to discuss a problem they’re having with low staff morale across all departments of the company. Morale is a word used to describe a general feeling or mood.

Kathryn wants everyone to consider possible hidden reasons for low morale at the company. We’ll see how she helps participants focus on breaking down the morale problem. As the dialog starts, Kathryn calls everyone to attention and begins the meeting.

Listening Questions:

1) What is the surface problem that Kathryn and the others can see?
2) What does the group decide is the true cause of this problem?
3) What is the challenge that the group faces at the end of the dialog?

*** This lesson is part of our Business English eBook for meetings: Meeting Essentials. Premium members click here to download the complete eBook.

Lesson Content:

 
Members: Study Notes | Online Exercises | PhraseCast | Mobile Quizzes

 

This second part of a two-part Business English Podcast series on running and participating in a problem-solving meeting.

In the first part of this meeting (see BEP 126), the team spent time answering the question: “What is the problem?” In today’s episode, we’re going to focus on how to brainstorm solutions to a problem through discussion, how to evaluate and eliminate suggestions and then agree a plan of action.

Kathryn, the head of Human Resources at a medium-sized company, is meeting with department heads to discuss a problem they are having with low staff morale. The team has identified the root cause of the problem as the separation of staff across 3 different office locations.

Kathryn wants everyone to critique the ideas that the group has brought forward, in order to eliminate impractical suggestions. We’ll see how she confirms the best solution and how her team suggests points for action. As the dialog starts, Kathryn closes the brainstorming session and sums up the input that has been received.

Listening Questions

1) How many ideas does the group come up with for solving the staff morale problem?
2) Which idea does the group agree is the best one to try?
3) Name one of the action points suggested near the end of the meeting.

*** This lesson is part of our Business English eBook for meetings: Meeting Essentials. Premium members click here to download the complete eBook.

Lesson Content:

 
Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Practice | PhraseCast | Mobile Quizzes

 

We’ve looked before at how to set up an appointment on the phone with someone you already know (BEP 119), but what about if you haven’t met the person or established a relationship with them yet? In today’s Business English Podcast, we’ll be looking at how to make contact with a prospective client and, on the opposite end of the line, we’ll examine language you can use to politely decline a request for information or a meeting.

We’ve already met Mario from Viva Fashions in previous episodes. Now Mario wants to meet with the head buyer for a chain of American stores owned by DeBourg Brands but, at this point, he doesn’t even know the buyer’s name. Mario is going to “cold call” the company and see if he can reach the buyer. First, he needs a name, and then he needs to try to speak to the buyer to make an appointment.

Listening Questions – First Call:
1) What techniques does Mario use to get information from Joan?
2) Why do you think Joan agrees to help Mario?

Listening Questions – Second Call:
1) Why does Mario keep saying “thank you” instead of “please” after making a request?
2) What language does Mario use when stating the reason for his call, and why?
3) Throughout the conversation, Mario uses informal language to minimize his request. Can you spot a few examples?

Lesson Content:

 
Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Practice | PhraseCast | Mobile Quizzes

This is the first in a three-part Business English Podcast series on pitching, or presenting, your ideas persuasively and convincingly.

Business people often come up with ideas about how to do things better, or how something can be changed to provide greater cost benefits to the company. Being able to present an idea to your peers and persuade them to support your proposal is a crucial skill for all business managers.

So in today’s lesson, we’ll introduce phrases for organizing and structuring your ideas, supporting your points and using other people’s comments to lead into the next part of your presentation. We will show you how to make coherent, persuasive arguments, and use language effectively to support your arguments. It is your colleagues’ task to find the weak points in your argument and you will have to predict their objections and deal with them before or when they come up.

We’ll be listening to Jill, a manager at an industrial supply company, who’s meeting with other managers and department heads following an announcement of 20% staff cuts across the board. Jill is concerned about the impact these layoffs will have on the sales department, especially because sales have been poor for the last two quarters.

Jill has had an idea about how the company can make use of the Internet to increase sales and allow sales staff to focus more on “value-added” product sales. She has already pitched the idea to her boss and he has agreed to allow her to present it to her colleagues. As the dialog starts, Jill’s boss introduces her and her proposal to the participants at the meeting.

Listening Questions:
1) What is the problem that Pylon was having even before the staff cuts?
2) What are the “value-add” products Jill would like sales staff to focus on?
3) What does Jill say can be done with $5,000?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Practice | PhraseCast

In the last Business English Podcast lesson, we saw how a manager pitched an idea during a meeting. She explained how the company website could be revamped so that customers could order off-the-shelf products directly, instead of having to contacting a sales representative.

In today’s lesson, we’ll introduce language for dealing with unexpected objections, signposting your presentation, supporting your points and persuading other people. Once you’ve pitched an idea, your colleagues will try to find weak points in your argument and you will have to give evidence that your idea is worth supporting. We will show you how to make coherent, persuasive arguments, and use language effectively to support your points.

We’ll be listening to Jill, a manager at an industrial supply company, who introduced her idea in the last episode. She now has to defend and support her argument in front of her peers, who are not sure that her idea is feasible. As the dialog starts, Jill has just made some convincing arguments about the low cost of updating the company website.

Listening Questions:

1) When was Pylon’s website created?
2) What does Jill say the website can become after the redesign?
3) What did Jill’s assistant find that will help them with the website?

Premium Members: Study Notes | Online Practice | PhraseCast

In the first two ESL lessons (BEP 59 & BEP 60) in this three-part series on persuasion, we saw how getting your audience’s attention and demonstrating a clear need were essential to the persuasive process. We learned that in the indirect method of persuasion you should demonstrate the problem before you offer a solution. This mirrors the psychological process of decision-making: First we feel a need, and then we look for a way to satisfy that need.

After you have established the need, you then describe the future benefits if your proposal is accepted. This is the visualization step: Talk about how accepting your proposal will have positive future outcomes or maybe how not accepting it will have negative outcomes. Finally, you need to make a concrete, specific call to action – what the audience can do right now to implement your proposal.

Let’s finish listening to Steve give his proposal to Swift management. See if you can identify the satisfaction, visualization and action steps in his speech.

Listening Questions:
1. How long will it take Swift to get back the investment in air conditioning?
2. How much extra profit can Swift make per year by adopting Nick’s proposal?
3. What specific action does Steve ask his manager’s to take?

Transcript & Study Notes.

Online Activities & Exercises

Life is actually a constant exercise in persuasion, wouldn’t you say? What I mean is we don’t just need to persuade people in the meeting room; actually, we are constantly using the tools of persuasion across a wide variety of situations ranging from serious to casual. In addition to formal situations, everyday persuasions include when to meet, whether to extend a deadline, and even such common things as where to have lunch or which movie to see.

So the persuasive process we learned in BEP 59 , 60 & 62 is useful not just for formal business situations, but across all sorts of contexts that come up many times every day. You don’t always want to use the indirect approach to persuasion, but it’s often very useful.

Here’s an example of the persuasive process at work in an everyday situation: Julie is persuading her husband, Steve, to try a new vacation spot.

As you listen, see if you can identify the five steps of the Monroe sequence:
1) Getting attention
2) Establishing need
3) Satisfying that need
4) Visualizing the future
5) Asking for action

Because this is an informal situation, the language Julie uses is obviously quite casual and she doesn’t include any numbers or statistical data; but, as always, a convincing description of the problem in the need step is the key to successful persuasion. And it’s important to state the problem from the perspective of the audience, which in this case is Julie’s husband.

Transcript & Study Notes.

Online Activities & Exercises

Questions are an important part of almost every conversation. So being able to ask good questions is critical to communication. How can we make our questioning more effective and efficient? In this two-part Business English Podcast series we’ll be looking at some answers.

The communication skills we’ll be learning can be used in any situation, but we’ll be focusing in on an area where questioning techniques are particularly important: needs analysis. This refers to analyzing the needs of a customer as part of the sales process. We’ll study a series of questioning techniques that can be used to “drill down to” – that is, get to or uncover – the information you want.

In today’s Business English listening Brad is a sales manager for Forrest and Brown, a producer of innovative industrial coatings and glues. Coating refers to a chemical that is applied to the outside of something to protect it. For example, paint is a type of coating. Forrest and Brown produces “conformal coatings”; this type of coating is used to protect printed circuit boards, or PCBs. PCBs are small flat boards covered with wiring and electronic parts. Almost all electronic devices – TVs, CD players, phones – have them.

Today Brad is visiting Andy, who is a production manager for Stratos, an assembler of PCBs that are used in household items. We can say that Andy is Brad’s “prospect” – the person he wants to sell to.

Let’s listen to how Brad asks Andy questions to analyze Stratos’ needs.

Listening Questions:
1) What does Brad think of the Stratos facility?
2) How long has Stratos been located in its current location?
3) What kind of devices does Stratos produce circuit boards for?

Transcript & Study Notes.

Online Activities & Exercises

This is the second in a two-part Business English Pod lesson on questioning techniques. Last time in BEP 64 we looked at making small talk and gathering information with open questions, getting specific information with probing questions and guiding the conversation by showing interest.

This time we’ll learn several more advanced questioning techniques, including direct questions, to get information from someone who is being uncommunicative, reflective questions, to guide the conversation, and hypothetical questions, to suggest possible action. Together these techniques form a series that can be used to drill down to the information you need.

As you’ll remember, the listening takes place in a customer needs analysis: Brad, from chemical coatings producer Forrest and Brown, is visiting his customer Andy. Andy’s company, Stratos, puts together circuit boards for use in consumer electronics.

At the end of Part 1 , Brad had just used a probing question to determine what exact kinds of products Andy’s company focuses on. When he discovered that Stratos was making a lot of boards for TVs, Brad decides to follow this line of questioning. As we’ll see, this is because TVs are a good match for Brad’s products.

The specific kind of TV they are talking about is an LCD TV, often referred to as a flat screen TV.

Listening Questions:
1) LCD TVs produce a lot of heat. Why is this important to Brad’s sales pitch?
2) What are Andy’s main priorities in selecting conformal coatings to protect the circuit boards Stratos produces?
3) What are the main good points of the coating that Brad wishes to sell to Andy?

Transcript & Study Notes.

Online Activities & Exercises

What do you do if you don’t have office space for all your employees or many of them usually spend most of their time traveling or working offsite? In the 90s, some clever manager came up with a solution – hot desking – and the rest is history. Hot desking refers to using temporary work areas that are set up for any staff who needs them.

With the invention of laptop computers and the Internet, we can pretty much work anywhere. Now, in many companies around the world from hi-tech software firms to management consultancies and even increasingly in more traditional industries such as banking and engineering, a certain number of work areas are made into “hot desks.” As long as they are empty, any one can work there. Sit down, plug in your computer, and you are ready to go! In companies where a lot of people are traveling, this is a great way to save money because it reduces unused space to a minimum.

In this Business English Podcast lesson, we’ll be continuing our series on business travel. We’re following Honesto, an Ambient Telecommunications employee from Manila, on a training trip to head office in Michigan, USA. The main language focus of the lesson is on making polite requests. Along the way, we’ll also look at some different ways to express likes and dislikes. Honesto has found himself an unused desk and is working along when all of the sudden he gets a new neighbor, Megan.

Listening Questions:
1) What kind of expressions do Honesto and Megan use to make polite requests?
2) What type of training is Honesto taking part in?
3) Where is Megan from?

Transcript & Study Notes.

Online Activities & Exercises

This is the fourth in a series of intermediate business ESL podcasts that focus on business travel. In this series we’re following a group of trainees who work for the telecommunications company Ambient as they visit their head office in Michigan in the U.S.

How do you make friendly chat with your colleagues? What kinds of topics can you talk about? We’ll be looking at some answers. In particular, we’ll cover informal greetings and how to chat about movies. As almost everyone loves to go to the cinema, movies are usually a good topic for small talk.

As our listening begins, it’s Monday morning. Honesto, a trainee from the Philippines, says hello to his American colleague Brenda as she comes in to the office.

Listening Questions:
1) What does Brenda mean when she says “veg out”?
2) What are critics and what did they think about Rush Hour 3?
3) How does Brenda like her coffee?

Transcript & Study Notes.

Online Activities & Exercises

 

This is the first of three Business English Pod episodes on charts and trends from our new eBook – Presenting for Success. Over these three shows, we’ll be learning language for dealing with visuals, describing trends, analyzing and comparing data, and making predictions. “Visuals” refers to any visual element of your presentation – charts, graphs, pictures and so on. A trend is the general direction – upward or downward – of some metric, that is measurement, such as price or revenue. For example, when we say, “The price of oil has risen 30% in the last three months,” that’s a trend.

In this lesson we’ll focus on the basics of how to deal with visuals in your presentation: That is, how to attract attention to them, how to emphasize the key parts, and how to relate points about different visuals as you move through your slides. A slide is just one picture in your PowerPoint presentation.

The listening comes from a presentation at the Central European head office of Ambient, an American mobile phone manufacturer. Ambient has regained market share after a couple of bad years and has now taken over the number two place behind market leader Sirus and just ahead of the third player, CallTell.

You’ll hear Pat, the new finance director in the Central Europe region, in the middle of a presentation to the sales team. As we join them, he is bringing up a slide on revenue trends among the top three players in the business.

As you listen, pay attention to the language that Pat uses to call attention to his points and to relate them to each other.

Lesson Content:

 
Members: Study Notes | Online Practice| PhraseCast | Mobile Quizzes

 

As a non-native speaker of English, you might often find yourself in situations like this: You’re sitting in a meeting or a teleconference, and some of the participants are native English speakers. They are speaking with one another very rapidly, and they are using some idiomatic or difficult-to-understand expressions. Someone says something you don’t understand, or perhaps something that is not true or that you disagree strongly with. You should interrupt to ask what they mean, to clarify, to correct – but you just can’t bring yourself to open your mouth. How do you start? How do you interrupt?

That’s the focus of today’s Business English podcast lesson. We’ll be studying useful language and expressions for interrupting and for resisting or stopping interruption.

The listening takes place in an internal meeting at Strand Technologies, a Hong Kong-based OEM of portable electronic devices, mainly MP3 and MP4 players. OEM stands for “original equipment manufacturer.” It refers to companies that manufacture other companies’ products for them. In this internal meeting, all three participants know each other well so the language is more informal and direct. As you listen, pay attention to how they use assertive language to interrupt each other in order to keep the meeting on track and arrive at positive result more quickly.

Listening Questions

1) What does Bill mean when he says they’re facing a “bottleneck?” What is the bottleneck?
2) Why can’t Bill just retrain the engineers he has?
3) What is Mei Lin’s suggestion to speed up the recruitment process?

*** This lesson is part of our Business English eBook for meetings: Meeting Essentials. Premium members click here to download the complete eBook.

Lesson Content:

 
Members: Study Notes | Online Practice | PhraseCast | Mobile Quizzes

This lesson has been updated in anew series: BEP 69A Redux & BEP 69B Redux.

People are busy. When you telephone people, they often aren’t there to take your call, so you need to leave a message. And almost everyone has to answer the telephone and take a message sometimes. Doing so professionally leaves a good impression on your customers, colleagues and boss.

Today we will hear a bad example and a good example of taking and leaving a telephone message.

Justin Thomas is with Trivesco, a major shipyard, or maker of ships. He is calling Sylvie Peterson at Daneline, a shipping company. Sylvie is a sales and purchase (S&P) broker. A broker is a middleman or negotiator. Sylvie specializes in negotiating the purchase of “newbuildings” or newly built ships. Amy, the receptionist, answers the phone.

Listening Questions

Bad Example
1) Does Amy answer the phone professionally?
2) Is Justin prepared?

Good Example
1) How does Amy answer the phone?
2) What is Mark calling about?
3) How does Amy make sure that she has got Mark’s correct phone number?

Transcript & Study Notes. | Online Activities & Exercises