2009年ESL之商务英语 01 Making Business Contacts

01 Making Business Contacts

GLOSSARY 

pointer  a tip; an idea or suggestion for a way to do something 

* He asked the famous author to give him some pointers for improving his own writing. 

this side of the fence  in a certain position or situation, where that side ofthe fence is the opposite position or situation 

* She has always had a lot of money and has never been on our side of the fence, struggling to pay the bills. 

out of (ones) comfort zone  in a situation that one is not familiar or comfortable with, usually because it is new and unknown 

* Meghan was out of her comfort zone when she realized that she was the only 

female engineering student in the program. 

networking  the process of speaking with other people in ones profession, sharing contact information and helping 2 each other 

* The university is hosting a networking event so that students can meet people who can help them find a job after graduation. 

referral  a recommendation 3; a statement from person A who tells person B that he or she had a good experience working with person C and recommends that person B work with person C, too 

* Were looking for a good doctor, so were asking our friends and colleagues for referrals. 

track record  a proven ability to do something; past success that shows that one can do something well 

* Tomasuri has a great track record for selling new homes. 

direct mail  letters and marketing 4 materials that are sent to individuals, using their names and trying to personalize the materials as much as possible, usually to sell something 

* The organization is using direct mail to tell people about the work that it does and ask for money to help support it. 

cold calling  the process of calling people whom one has never spoken with before and who might not know anything about oneself or ones company, usually to try to sell them something 

* The club members are doing cold calling, trying to get donations for their event. 

connection  a relationship with another person; knowing another person, usually professionally 

* Francesco wants to get a job at the hospital, so hes asking all his friends and relatives if they have connections there. 

prospect 5  a person who might want to do business with oneself; a potential customer or investor 6 

* Which of these companies do you think are our best prospects 7 for the new product were selling? 

to woo (someone)  to try to get someone to do something by being very nice to that person, or by understanding and responding to that persons needs and desires 

* When Yolanda applied 8 for the job, she tried to woothe hiring manager by sending a box of gifts. 

contact  a person whom one knows, especially professionally 

* Do you have any contacts in the energy industry? 

reception  an event or party where many people gather, usually to drink or eat, often before or after a larger event or conference 

* The conference began with a morning reception where all the participants were able to drink coffee and speak with each other. 

whos who  a list or gathering 9 of the most important and active people in a particular profession 

* He knows a lot of important people, so his parties arelike a whos who of the wealthiest people in the city. 

to tag along  to go to an event with someone, often following that person around 

* Why is your sister always tagging along, following us wherever we go? quid pro 1 quo  an exchange of favors; something that one does or gives in order to do or get something else 

* Theres a quid pro quo at the office: if you want other people to help you with your projects, youll have to help them with their projects, too. 

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS 

1. Who might you contact through cold calling? 

a) Clients. 

b) Referrals. 

c) Prospects. 

2. What is Montels track record? 

a) A record of his professional performance. 

b) A history of how quickly he ran on the track team. 

c) A musical record with many tracks. 

______________ 

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN? 

prospect 

The word prospect, in this podcast, means a potential customer or investor who might want to do business with oneself: Everyone who visits our website is a prospect for buying the items we sell. The word is alsoused to talk about how one feels about something that will happen in the future: How do you feel about the prospect of retiring? A prospect is also an ideaor the possibility of having something happen: The energy industry has good prospects for future growth. When talking about work, prospects are future opportunities for having a good career: She graduated with two degrees with honors, so she has a lot of job prospects. Finally, the phrase to prospect for (something) means to look for a mineral, gold, silver, or oil in the earth: In the 1800s, many people moved to California to prospect for gold. 

reception 

In this podcast, the word reception means an event or party where many people gather, usually to drink or eat, often before a largerevent or conference: After the performance, the symphony 10 members had a reception fortheir biggest financial supporters. A wedding reception is a party that is held after people get married in a church or city hall: They invited morethan 400 people to their wedding reception, which was held at a large hotel. A warm/cool reception is the friendly/unfriendly way that a person is met, welcomed, or reacted to: They were disappointed by the cool reception when they got off the plane. Finally, reception can be the signal for a radio, cell phone,or a similar device: We get really poor cell phone reception where we live, so we can hardly understand the people who call us. 

CULTURE NOTE 

When Americans want to network, they have many events to choose from. Many businesses and social organizations create networking opportunities for their employees and members. 

For example, many professional associations (membership clubs for people doing a certain type of work) host (organize and lead)networking events where their members can meet one another and exchange business cards (small pieces of paper that have a persons name, business name, job title, and contact information). People might go there to find new job opportunities or to learn how to do their jobs better. 

Small business bureaus (organizations for local business owners) also host networking events. Business owners and managers come to network with people from other companies that they might want to do business with (work with; buy and sell from). They might also talk about important industry trends (things that change in one direction over time) and the local economy. 

Many universities host networking events for their students,inviting community leaders and business owners to come and meet with the students. The students might use these events to find job leads (informationabout jobs that they might want to apply for) or simply to get advice about their career path (a plan for what one wants to do professionally and which jobs one should try to get). Now there are many networking websites, too, where people can stay in touch (continue to communicate) with their contacts and ask them for help when they need it. Of course, if you ask your contacts for help, someday you will probably be expected to return the favor (do something in return for what one has received). 

______________ 

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1  c; 2  a 

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 11 

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 448  Making Business Contacts. 

This is English as a Second Language Podcast number 448.  Im your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California. 

Our website is eslpod.com. Go there to download a Learning Guide for this episode 12, an 8- to 10-page guide we have for all of our current episodes 13 that contains the vocabulary, definitions, new sample sentences using the vocabulary, additional explanations, cultural notes, and acomplete transcript of everything we say on this episode. 

This episode is called Making Business Contacts. It is a dialogue between Phan and Montel, and theyre going to use a lot of vocabulary that would be used in the business world when you are talking about people that you want to work with or do work with. Lets get started. 

[start of dialogue] 

Phan: Hi, Montel. Thanks for agreeing to meet with me. 

Montel: Its my pleasure. 

Phan: Since Im new here, I was hoping you might be willing to give me some pointers on how to get new clients. To be honest, Ive never been on this side of the fence before and Im a little out of my comfort zone. 

Montel: Oh, sure, Im glad to give you as much help as I can. Getting clients is a bit of an art, but the key is building relationships. 

Phan: What do you mean? 

Montel: Most of my clients come to me through networking. I get referrals from people who know me and know my track record. 

Phan: Really? I was thinking that I needed to send out some direct mail or do some cold calling. 

Montel: You may need to do that to start, but if I were you, Id also spend time making connections in the business community. Go where you think business prospects may be. To woo new clients, you need to meet them first. 

Phan: How do I find out where theyll be? 

Montel: Again, you make contacts. Youve made the first step today by getting in touch with me. Im going to a reception tonight and it will be a whos who of the business community. Do you want to go? 

Phan: Really? Youd let me tag along? 

Montel: Sure, but theres a quid pro quo. In the future, if you get invited to something like this, you invite me to go along. 

Phan: Thats more than fair. I think I just got my first lesson in making business connections. 

[end of dialogue] 

Our dialogue begins with Phan saying to Montel, Hi, Montel. Thanks for agreeing to meet with me. Montel says, Its my pleasure, which is something that you say when someone thanks you for doing something. You can say, youre welcome, but here, because both people probably want to meet, Montel says, Its my pleasure. 

Phan says, Since Im new here, I was hoping you might bewilling to give me some pointers on how to get new clients (or customers).A pointer, in this case, means an idea or a suggestion for a way to do something. We might also call it a tip. Can you give me some pointers on howto work the television (how to operate the television set)? I dont understand these buttons. Phan says, To be honest, Ive never been on this side of the fence before and Im a little out of my comfort zone. This side of the fence means in a certain position or a situation. That side of the fence would be in another or opposing situation. So perhaps Phan was not working in this part of the company,and is now having to do something she didnt have to do before. She says shes a little out of her comfort zone. To be out of your comfort zone means that you are in a situation that you are uncomfortable with or are unfamiliar 14 with, usually because its new to you. 

Montel says, Oh, sure (meaning yes), Im glad to give youas much help as I can. Getting clients is a bit of an art. To say something is a bit (bit) of something means its a little bit of this thing. In this case, its a little bit or somewhat of an art, meaning you have to know how to do it; its not a science  its not scientific, it doesnt follow certain rules. You have to be creative in order to do it. Montel says, the key is building relationships. 

Phan says, What do you mean? Montel replies, Most of my clients come to me through networking. To network means to meet and talk to other people, usually in your area of business (your profession). You give each other your telephone number, email address, address perhaps, what we would call your contact information, and these are people you can call later and perhaps get business from. So, Montel is recommending that Phan do some networking. Montel says, I get referrals from people who know me and know my track record. A referral is a recommendation of one person to another. Its someone saying that this person is good for what you want. For example, if I am going to paint my house  and I really should paint my house  I would, perhaps, ask my neighbor who had his house painted last month whatpainter or which painting company he used. I would get a referral fromhim; he would recommend someone to me. Track record means your past success, or perhaps failure. If you have a good track record, that means that youve had many successes; youve been very successful. If you have a poor track record,that means that you havent been very successful. Here, Montel means his goodtrack record. 

Phan says, Really? I was thinking that I needed to send out some direct mail or do some cold calling. Direct mail and cold calling are two ways that salespeople 15 try to get new customers. Direct mail is when you send a letter or a brochure, some sort of information to people, and usually you get their names from a list of people who are in your profession or in your kind of business. This is mail that goes to their office, sometimes even to their home, and you are trying to get people to respond to you. Its a type of advertisement. Cold calling is to call someone up on the telephone who isnt expecting yourcall, usually someone you have never talked to before. So you call them and you try to get their business. To do something cold means to do it without any preparation. In this case, it means that you dont know the person before you call them and theyre not expecting you to call. It can be very difficult because most people dont want to talk to a salesperson 16, so you have to be very persistent, meaning you have to continue calling and calling as many people as possible for it to be successful. 

Montel says that You may need to do that (that is, direct mail and cold calling) to start (at the beginning), but if I were you, Id also spend time making connections in the business community. A connection, here, means arelationship, getting to know someone else, usually in a business or professionalsituation. Montel says, Go where you think business prospects may be. A prospect is a person 

who might be interested in doing business with you, someone who we would call a potential client or customer; one of your future customers, you hope. Montel says, To woo (woo) new clients, you need to meet them first. To woo someone means to try to get someone to do something for you by being very nice to that person, by understanding who that person is and what they want. So, a young man might woo a beautiful young girl: try to get her to go on a date with him. 

Phan says, How do I find out where theyll be? meaning how do I know where my prospects will be. By the way, prospect has a couple ofdifferent meanings in English; just take a look at our Learning Guide for some additional explanations. Montel answers Phans question by saying, Again, you make contacts. A contact is someone that you know in a businessor a professional way. Montel says, Youve made the first step today by getting in touch with me. 

To get in touch with someone means to contact someone,to call them or to email them. Montel says, Im going to a reception tonight and it will be a whos who of the business community. Do you want to go? A reception is a small party where people get together to drink, to eat; its often something that is done before or after another large event, a speech or a conference for example. 

Montel is asking Phan if she wants to go with him to this reception, because it will be a whos who of the business community. The expression whos who (whos who) is the group of people who are most important ormost active in a particular area. So if you go to a podcasting conference or convention 17, you would find the whos who of the podcasting world there, the most important people. 

Phan says, Really? Youd let me tag along? To tag along means to go to an event with someone, not necessarily because you were invited.So, if your brother is going out on a date and you say, Can I tagalong? hell probably say no. To tag along means to go with someone even though you werent invited yourself. 

Montel says, Sure, but theres a quid pro quo. Quid(quid) pro quo (quo) is a Latin expression meaning I will do something for you if you do something for me. 

Its an exchange of favors, if you will; something you do for something that someone else does for you. Montel says, In the future, if you get invited to something like this (a reception), you invite me to go along  so, I will let you come to my reception, but in the future, you have to letme go to one of your receptions. Phan says, Thats more than fair (meaning thats very reasonable). 

I think I just got my first lesson in making business connections. 

Now lets listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed. 

[start of dialogue] 

Phan: Hi, Montel. Thanks for agreeing to meet with me. 

Montel: Its my pleasure. 

Phan: Since Im new here, I was hoping you might be willing to give me some pointers on how to get new clients. To be honest, Ive never been on this side of the fence before and Im a little out of my comfort zone. 

Montel: Oh, sure, Im glad to give you as much help as I can. Getting clients is a bit of an art, but the key is building relationships. 

Phan: What do you mean? 

Montel: Most of my clients come to me through networking. I get referrals from people who know me and know my track record. 

Phan: Really? I was thinking that I needed to send out some direct mail or do some cold calling. 

Montel: You may need to do that to start, but if I were you, Id also spend time making connections in the business community. Go where you think business prospects may be. To woo new clients, you need to meet them first. 

Phan: How do I find out where theyll be? 

Montel: Again, you make contacts. Youve made the first step today by getting in touch with me. Im going to a reception tonight and it will be a whos who of the business community. Do you want to go? 

Phan: Really? Youd let me tag along? 

Montel: Sure, but theres a quid pro quo. In the future, if you get invited to something like this, you invite me to go along. 

Phan: Thats more than fair. I think I just got my first lesson in making business connections. 

[end of dialogue] 

The script for this episode was written by someone who needs no pointers in writing scripts, someone who is never out of their comfort zone, Dr. Lucy Tse. From Los Angeles, California, Im Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening. Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast. 

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse, hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. Copyright 2009, by the Center for Educational Development.