III Spoken English

A Business Call

1. Objective:

• to discuss corporate problems.

Tasks:

• to state and justify your position at a meeting;

• to look for compromise solutions in conflict situations;

• to state alternatives;

• to negotiate the sale of goods;

• to recommend actions to take;

• to ask for opinions;

• to make, accept and reject suggestions;

• to establish how problems have arisen and decide how to deal with them;

• to check that you understand what has been said at a meeting;

• to summarize the views of other participants.

2. Introduction. Think about a business call. Think about 1-2 words in the story in Russian. Translate the words into English.

Hints:

• when discussing something with a sales representative try to understand how he/ she fits into the company structure;

• try to make a compromise to negotiate the best deal;

• make sure that everyone in your group contributes their views;

• justify your suggestions;

• state your position;

• use good alternatives, e.g. It’s a little more expensive than we thought.;

• be a little devious, claiming an agreement has been reached when it hasn’t;

• pool ideas beforehand;

• repeat the same arguments not giving lots of reasons;

• try to follow “win-win” paradigm;

• draw up an agenda for the meeting;

• elicit the counterpart’s ideas.

3. Key words:

1.	a business call	деловой визит (официальный, профессиональный)
2.	to pay a call on the manager	наносить визит менеджеру (официальный, профессиональный)
3.	to call (of people selling things)	наносить регулярные визиты
4.	The Manager calls every day.	Менеджер наносит визиты каждый день.
5.	to call (at, in, on, for)	наносить короткий (непродолжительный визит) (кому-либо)
6.	to call on the manager for 10 minutes
7.	to enter into the conference	формально принимать участие в конференции
8.	to state an alternative	высказывать альтернативу
9.	to present the alternative	предложить альтернативу
10.	to justify your position	оправдать/ доказать вашу точку зрения
11.	to look for a compromise	искать компромисс
12.	to reach a compromise	достигать компромисса
13.	to look for a solution	искать решение
14.	a conflict situation
15.	to negotiate (with, for)
16.	to negotiate with Panasonic for the decreasing of the price/ the quotation
17.	to ask for their opinions	спрашивать их мнение
18.	to make a suggestion	делать предложение
19.	to accept a suggestion	принимать предложение
20.	to refuse a suggestion to reject a suggestion	отказываться от предложения отклонять предложение
21.	to deal with the problem	решать проблему
22.	to check smth
23.	to summarize the views of participants	суммировать мнения участников
24.	to discuss corporate problems	обсуждать совместные проблемы
25.	to recruit new employees	нанимать на работу …
26.	to transfer a manager	перевести менеджера на другое место
27.	а proposal	(деловое) предложение
28.	to waste time	тратить время понапрасну
29.	I think we should … I don’t think we should…	Думаю, нам следует … Думаю, нам не следует …
30.	We can either stay here or leave for Kiev.	Мы можем либо остаться здесь, либо уехать в Киев.
31.	to reduce our running costs by $50,000	уменьшить стоимость на 50,000 долларов
32.	Do you think we should …?	Вы думаете, что нам следует…?
33.	to improve our staff’s level of management
34.	to increase prices
35.	to upgrade personnel	повысить значимость работников
36.	to boom	быстро увеличиваться
37.	Business is booming.
38.	BW’s annual growth rate
39.	the subject of the discussion	тема разговора
40.	be more specific	говорить по существу
41.	be possible
42.	to calculate the sales targets	рассчитывать цифры, которых достигнут показатели продаж
43.	to agree to pay for goods every month
44.	to disagree
45.	expensive
46.	unusual
47.	a credit period	срок кредита
48.	delivery time	время доставки
49.	minimum order	минимальное количество при заказе
50.	a discount
51.	penalty	штраф
52.	an advantage
53.	a disadvantage

4. Activity 4. Student’s organisation of the dialogue “Discuss a discount”.

Example:

Plan

1. Introduce the subject of the discussion.

2. Make a suggestion (what I want).

3. Make a suggestion (what he wants).

4. Suggest an alternative.

5. Reject the suggestion.

6. Justify your decision.

7. Accept the proposal.

5. Activity 5. Make each part of the dialogue “Discuss a discount” with one question or a phrase.

1. I’d like to discuss the price of this dress.

2. Could you give a 10 % discount?

3. I can give you a discount of 3 % on one dress.

4. If I paid in cash, would you increase the discount?

5. No, I’m afraid that’s not possible.

6. It’s company policy. We always insist on this.

7. We agreed to a 3 % discount. I’ll take it.

6. Activity 6. Build up your conversation.

1. Who’s the actual decision maker in buying the product?

2. Who handles the actual process of the purchase?

3. Who else influences the buying decision?

4. I don’t quite get you. – Я не совсем вас понимаю.

5. I want to contact your chief.

6. We do business with Panasonic.

7. We have fixed an appointment for 10.30.

8. Mr. Brown will handle the business.

9. Could you help me?

10. I need your help.

11. You needn’t worry about it. – Вам нет необходимости беспокоиться об этом.

12. You needn’t do it. – Вам нет необходимости делать это.

13. You needn’t have made that trip. – Вам не надо было совершать эту поездку. (Напрасно вы ездили).

14. Business before pleasure.

15. It’s a waste of time.

16. We’ve got two alternatives.

17. What’s your idea?

18. I’m not sure about that.

19. What do you mean by “upgrade”?

20. How do you calculate the sales targets?

21. The price is rather high.

22. It compares favorably with our competitors. – Это лучше по сравнению с нашими конкурентами.

7. Activity 7. Teacher presents the dialogue “Discuss with your colleagues the purchase of chairs”.

Plan

1. Introduce the subject.

2. Suggest an alternative.

3. Ask for an opinion.

4. Express your idea.

5. Ask for an opinion.

6. Disagree with the speaker.

7. Suggest an alternative.

8. Make a point.

9. Check you understand what’s been said.

10. Summarize the views of the participants.

11. Give one point in favor of buying chairs and one point against it.

12. Agree with a speaker/ accept their idea.

1. We need to discuss the purchase of chairs.

2. We can buy either plain blue chairs or green and yellow striped armchairs.

3. What do you think about it?

4. I think we should buy plain blue chairs.

5. How do you feel about that proposal to buy the chairs?

6. I don’t agree I’m afraid.

7. Why don’t we buy plain blue armchairs?

8. The important thing here is that we need convenient chairs for our office.

9. Could you say it again? I didn’t catch that.

10. So you think we should buy either chairs or armchairs for the office.

11. If we buy the chairs, we will save money.

If we buy the armchairs, we will have more comfortable work-place.

12. Let’s buy armchairs. That’s a good idea.

Activity 7.1. Make a dialogue “The image of our company”.

Situation: Hold a meeting to decide what image the company should have:

• business like and efficient,

• friendly and welcoming,

• grand and luxurious,

• good value for money – the goods are always the price charged,

• good services the company offer.

Ask a question: What kind of image should the company have?

~ The company should be …

Activity 7.2. Make a dialogue. Try to negotiate the best deal. You will have to compromise on most of these points if you want to make a deal.

You are a buyer. These are your targets for negotiation:

Provisions	what you want	what you agree
delivery time penalty clause training price credit period	3 weeks late delivery penalty: 15 % for each month of delay free training courses for 3 managers for 2 months 15 p a piece 90 days

Model: What’s the delivery time?

~ It’s 3 weeks.

8. Activity 8. Read the dialogues and answer the questions.

Dialogue 1

A: Hi. I have an appointment with Peter Willis.

B: Could I have your name?

A: Sure. Here’s my card.

B: Right, Mrs Craik. Would you like to take a seat?

A: I’m in a hurry, actually. May I go straight up? I know the way.

B: I’m afraid you’ll need security clearance first.

A: I see.

B: It will take a few minutes, I’m afraid. There’s fresh coffee over there if you’d like a cup while you wait.

A: Yes, please. Don’t worry. I’ll help myself.

B: OK.

Dialogue 2

A: Good afternoon. Can I help you?

B: Yes. I’m thinking of extending my stay by a couple of days. Would you check if it’s OK?

A: Certainly.

B: I’m Mrs Brown, room 312.

A: One moment.

B: Instead of leaving on the fourteenth, I’d leave on the sixteenth.

A: That’s no problem. Shall I change the booking for you?

B: No, it isn’t definite yet. Could I confirm tonight?

A: Yes, of course.

B: Thank you. Sorry about that.

A: It’s all right.

Answer the questions:

1. How many people are involved in the dialogue?

2. What was the purpose of Mrs. Craik’s visit?

3. What kind of proposition did Mrs. Brown make?

9. Activity 9. Read two dialogues, translate them, learn by heart.

Positive idea

A: Good morning, Mr. McLean.

B: Good morning, Mr. Brown.

A: We’ve carefully studied your draft contract. We believe the terms could be acceptable. We’d like to clear up some points.

B: What particular points would you like to clear up?

A: We’ve reached an agreement on some points: the terms of payment and the terms of delivery. The main point is the price of the equipment. It seems too high. Could you make it lower?

B: My partners and I will look into the matter again and in a couple of days we’ll be ready to resume our discussions.

A: I’m glad to hear that. It was nice to see you. Good-bye.

B: It was nice to see you too. Bye.

Negative idea

A: Waste of time discussing all these documents. I wish people would think more and talk less.

10. Activity 10. Introduce the subject.

• I would like to do smth.

• I think we should do smth.

• I don’t think we should do smth.

• We need to discuss this point.

Problem	Introduction of the subject
- a washing machine breaks down - your market share is falling - your main competitor is cutting its prices by 20% - you want to buy a computer - you want to find a job - you have an intention to learn English	I’d like to have the washing machine repaired. I think we should run an advertising campaign. I don’t think we should cut our prices. We need to discuss the purchase of a computer. I’d like to start working. I’d like to learn English. We need to discuss an issue.

11. Activity 11. Suggest an alternative

• We’ve got two alternatives: we can either … or …

• Why don’t we … ?

Problem	Introduction of the subject	Alternatives
- a washing machine breaks down	I’d like to do smth with the washing machine.	have the washing machine repaired	buy a new washing machine
- want to learn English	We need to discuss an issue.	employ a teacher	go to a language school
- want to buy a computer	I think we should discuss the purchase of computer.	buy Pentium	buy Solaris
- your market share is falling	We need to discuss our falling market share.	run an advertising campaign	increase our prices
- your main competitor is cutting their prices by 20 %	I think we should discuss the cutting of prices by our competitors.	wait and see what happens	cut our prices
- want to find a job	I’d like to start working.	ask our friends to help	contact a recruitment agency

12. Activity 12. Ask for an opinion

• How do you feel about this?

• What do you think about this?

• Have you got any views on this?

• Do you think we should do smth about this?

Problem	Introduction of the subject	Alternatives		Ask for an opinion
- a washing machine breaks down	I’d like to do smth about the machine.	have it repaired	buy a new machine	What do you think about this?
- want to find a job	I’d like to start working.	ask our friends	contact a recruitment agency	How do you feel about this?
- your market share is falling	We need to discuss our falling market share.	run an advertising campaign	increase our prices	Have you got any views on this?
- buy a computer	…	…	…	…

13. Activity 13. Make a suggestion.

• We could do smth.

• We should do smth.

• Shall we do smth?

• Why don’t we do smth?

Problem	Introduction of the subject	Alternatives		Ask for an opinion	Make a suggestion
a washing machine breaks down	I’d like to do smth about machine.	have it repaired	buy a new one	What do you think about this?	We could ask Nick to repair it.
want to find a job	…	…	…	…	…

14. Activity 14. Accept/ Reject the suggestion

Accept	Reject
That’s a good idea. Yes, let’s do that. Great!	I’m not sure about that. That’s a good idea but … It’s a waste of time. It would be risky. It wouldn’t be right.

15. Activity 15. Make a point.

• The important thing here is to do smth.

• The basic point in this case is …

Problem	Introduction of subject	Alternatives		Ask for opinion	Make a suggestion	Accept suggestion	Make a point
want to find a job	I’d like to start working	ask our friends to help	contact a recruitment agency	How do you feel about it?	We could put an advertisement in the paper	That’s a good idea	The important thing is to let employers know about it.
want to buy a car	…	…	…	…	…	…	…