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General Education General Education OfficeOffice

BUSINESS ENGLISHBUSINESS ENGLISHLA.231/LA.331/LA.231/LA.331/

LA.3501LA.3501

Unit 6: SalesUnit 6: Sales

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ObjectivesObjectivesBy the end of this class you should be able to…

1.Identify what types of jobs involve sales.

2.Be familiar with English vocabulary for buying and selling.

3.Use the past simple and past simple references.

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Buying and SellingBuying and SellingIn the past, salespeople traveled from house to house to get people to buy their goods and services.Advertising changed that by telling the buyer where to go to get the best deal, and nowadays the Internet does this same thing.Can you think of how the Internet has replaced door-to-door sales?

Email, Spam-mail, Pop-Ups, and even SMS advertising

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The InternetThe InternetNowadays you can shop on the Internet for anything you want.We surf the web to compare prices, get quotes, and if the item we want is in stock we can place an order without going to a store.

But some things will never change, like providing excellent service and creating relationships with customers, even online.

Modern sales force techniques are focused on increasing sales by getting the (1) buyer’s interest, (2) building desire for the product, (3) showing the benefit of the product, and (4) closing the sale.

The Internet does not change this philosophy.

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Relationship SellingRelationship Selling A successful salesperson is someone who builds

relationships with customers. We call this a “customer base”, and making a new customer is more expensive

than maintaining an existing customer. When you have “customer loyalty”, your customer’s

keep coming to you for business because they trust you.So a solid customer base is done by getting your

customer’s trust. With customer loyalty you will have a continual

stream of residual income, or better known as “repeat business”.

It all centers on closing the sale; what we call increasing sales…

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SalesSalesA) ListeningListen to three people talking about the products they buy and when they buy them. Complete the chart on P50.

Speaker Product Place How often

1 clothes mail order

2 online

3 once a year

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Sales – Adverbs of Sales – Adverbs of FrequencyFrequency

B) Using the products in Exercise A. How often do you buy them?Use the words in the box.

usually once a week at the weekend sometimes everyday

C) Re-arrange these words to make sentences

how / business / do / often / on / travel / you / ?

Tubtim / 8.00 / at work / before / is / usually

John / a / Sous Chef / times / helps / the / three / week

Tubtim is usually at work before 8.00.

How often do you travel on business?

John helps the Sous Chef three times a week.

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Sales – Choosing a Sales – Choosing a ProductProductA) Vocabulary 1

Read the Delfos sales leaflet. Find expressions which mean the following:

1 There are some good offers.2 The buyer pays only a small amount of money at the beginning.3 The buyer pays some money every four weeks for a year.4 There is no cost for transporting the goods to the buyer.5 It doesn’t cost extra to pay over 12 months.

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Sales – Choosing a Sales – Choosing a ProductProductB) Read these sentences. Does a buyer or a seller say them? Write B or S in each box.

1 We offer great deals.2 I’d like to place an order.3 Do you give a guarantee?4 I’d like to compare prices.5 Are the goods in stock?6 Can you pay a deposit?7 We always deliver on time.8 Can I make monthly payments?

SBBBBSSB

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Sales – Choosing a Sales – Choosing a ProductProduct

Listen to a conversation between a buyer and a seller. Underline the correct answers.

1)Which model does Karl want? PS7 / TX7

2)How long is the guarantee? three years/two years

3)How much deposit is needed for large orders? 15% / 10%

4)What does the seller say is a larger order? over 50 units/over 25 units

5)Does the seller always have goods in stock? yes / no

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A Success StoryA Success StoryA) Before you read the article, discuss these questions.

1) some business start very small, then become global companies. What examples can you give?2) What do you know about the company IKEA?

B) Match these words (1-4) to their meanings (A-D)

1) distribute a) sell only or mainly one type of goods2) specialise b) attractive and fashionable3) stylish c) a set of similar products made by

a particular company4) range d) supply goods from one place to

shops or customers

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A Success StoryA Success StoryC) Look through the article to find out what these numbers

refer to.1 17 2 150 3 2005 4 6,000 5 17.3

D) Decide whether these statements are true or false.

1 Kamprad started IKEA over 60 years ago2 IKEA began designing its own furniture in 1947.3 IKEA’s strategy was to make original furniture at low prices.4 IKEA entered the Japanese market 20 years ago.5 IKEA opened a new store in London in 20056 Sales increased by over 6 billion euros in four years.

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A Success StoryA Success StoryE) Look through the article to find the missing word(s) in

these sentences.1 When his business _________, Kamprad distributed his

products from a milk van.2 Demand for his furniture __________ rapidly.3 In the next 40 years, the number of stores _________ to

over 150 in 29 countries.4 Sales for the IKEA Group _________ steadily, year after

year.

What do these four verbs have in common?

grew

increased

went up

rose

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Language Focus – Past Language Focus – Past SimpleSimple• We use past simple to talk about completed actions

in the past.Last year, we increased our sales by 15 percent.

• We usually form the past simple by adding –d or –ed to the verb.

save – saved launch – launched export – exported• About 150 irregular verbs form the past simple differently.

cost – cost be-was-were grow-grewspend – spent give – gave go –went

See P123 for most common irregular verbs

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Language Focus – Past Language Focus – Past SimpleSimple

A) Listen to how the –ed endings of these verbs sound1 saved/delivered /d/ 2 launched/worked / t/ 3 decided/visited /Id/

B) Listen and put these verbs into the correct group(1,2,3)

started finished advised lived decidedopened missed booked invited

C) Listen again and practise saying the verbs.

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Language Focus – Past Language Focus – Past SimpleSimple

D) Complete this Sales Report. Use the PAST SIMPLE of the verbs in brackets.

Report on Sales Trip – South Korea

Last December, I _______ 1 (visit) our major customer from big department stores in South Korea.On 5th December, I _______ 2 (meet) Mrs Kyoung Ai Lee in Seoul. We _______ 3 (send) 200 brochures in June.On 6th December, I _______ 4 (make) a presentation to Mrs Lee’s sales staff on our products and _______ 5 (advise) them how to display them.The following day I _______ 6 (go) to Seoul, and our agent _______ 7 (introduce)Me to Mrs Ha, the chief buyer of a new department store in the capital. She_______8 (ask) me to send her 500 brochures. I _______ 9 (give) her some samples of our products.I _______ 10 (fly) back to head office in Paris on the 9th .

Report on Sales Trip – South Korea

Last December, I _______ 1 (visit) our major customer from big department stores in South Korea.On 5th December, I _______ 2 (meet) Mrs Kyoung Ai Lee in Seoul. We _______ 3 (send) 200 brochures in June.On 6th December, I _______ 4 (make) a presentation to Mrs Lee’s sales staff on our products and _______ 5 (advise) them how to display them.The following day I _______ 6 (go) to Seoul, and our agent _______ 7 (introduce)Me to Mrs Ha, the chief buyer of a new department store in the capital. She_______8 (ask) me to send her 500 brochures. I _______ 9 (give) her some samples of our products.I _______ 10 (fly) back to head office in Paris on the 9th .

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Language Focus – Past Language Focus – Past Time ReferencesTime References• Some time references refer only to the past.

The special deals ended two months ago.Last week we sold 500 units – a record!

• The prepositions on, from, for, in to and during often refer to periods of time in the past.

He lived in France for five years. He moved to Germany in 1999.

The goods left the warehouse on 31 March.

They worked hard on the sales campaign from February to November.

During October, we reached our sales target for the year.

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Language Focus – Past Language Focus – Past Time ReferencesTime References

A) Read the article on page 55 and underline the correctwords.

e.g., Miguel Perez studied business at Santiago de Compostela University in Spain in / on / from

1999 to 2002.

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Skills – Presenting a Skills – Presenting a productproduct

A) At a trade fair, a department store buyer talks to a salesperson about microwave ovens. Listen and complete this chart:

Model: __R215_____ 1Target market: people with _________ 2 kitchensColours: black, ______ 3, blue, __________ 4Features: __________ 5 design, easy to _______ 6Price: ________ 7Delivery: _________ 8 days

smallwhite silver

unusual use

within 385

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Skills – Presenting a Skills – Presenting a productproduct

B) Look at the Useful language box below. Listen to the conversation again. Tick the expressions you hear.

Useful languageBuyer SellerAsking for informationCan you tell about….? Of course. What would you like to know?I’d like some information about… Our most popular model is ………

Target MarketWho is it for? It’s for people with / who …..ColoursWhat about colours? It comes in four colours.

It’s available in four colours.FeaturesDoes it have any special features? It has an unusual design.

It’s easy to use.It’s very reliable.

PriceHow much is it / are they? The trade price is ….

DeliveryWhat about delivery? We can deliver within three days.

We offer free delivery within ten days.

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SummarySummary

1. Identify what types of jobs involve sales.

2. Be familiar with English vocabulary for buying and selling.

3. Use the past simple and past simple references.

During this class we have learned how to: