BEP 48 – Cold Calling: Dealing with Objections and Closing the Call

This is the last in our three-part Business English Podcast series on cold calling. In today’s lesson, you’ll learn how to deal with several typical kinds of objections that a potential customer might raise.

When Steve first asked for an appointment, Linda didn’t agree right away, did she? As you know, it’s normal for even a good prospect to give you one or two negative responses, so it’s important to be ready to deal with these and “turn them around” skillfully.

Today we’ll be listening to the last part of the cold calling dialogue between Linda and Steve. As you listen, pay attention to how Steve turns around Linda’s objections.

Listening Questions

1. When Steve asks for an appointment, what is Linda’s first response?
2. What is Linda’s second objection?
3. How does Steve deal with Linda’s objections?

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BEP 47 – Cold Calling: Clarifying Benefits and Making a Pitch

This is the second in our three-part Business English Podcast lesson on a useful telephone and sales skill: cold calling.

You can always make yourself more persuasive by asking well-considered questions and really listening to the answers. This principle is true whether you are selling a product or an idea. So in part two we are going to look at some key selling skills: strategically clarifying and summarizing your prospect’s concerns and incorporating them into your pitch to make it more persuasive.

Where we left off last time, Steve had just introduced his company’s services and asked Linda a needs analysis question. Now lets listen as he clarifies her needs and makes his pitch.

Listening Questions

1. What’s the main issue or problem that Linda sees with her current system?
2. What does Steve mean by a “one-stop” service?
3. What does Linda suggest instead of meeting with Steve?

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BEP 46 – Cold Calling: Getting off to a Good Start

Today’s lesson is the first in a three-part Business English Pod series on cold calling, the skill of making unsolicited telephone sales calls. Unsolicited means “not asked for.” So cold calling is the skill of making a sales call to someone who is not expecting you.

Cold calling skills are very useful in many parts of business life. To cold call successfully, you need to be persuasive. And persuasion is fundamental to business success, whether you are trying to convince a customer to buy something or your boss or colleagues to accept your point of view.

In today’s listening you’ll here two examples, one bad one good. We’ll listen to the bad one first. Josh Knight of Nexus Communications International is cold calling Linda Darling, who works for the law firm Drucker and Smythe. So Linda is Josh’s prospect, or potential customer.

Listening Questions

1. Identify four things that Josh does wrong.
2. What is Josh selling?

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BEP 23 – Telephoning: Handling a Difficult Customer

A new version of this lesson is available here: BEP 23c – Telephone English: Getting Action

In a recent Business English Podcast (BEP 22), we looked at how to deal with technical problems when speaking on the telephone in English. Today, we’re going to talk how to deal with problems with the caller, which are of course much harder to handle! But, with the proper language and phrases, you can show the caller that you want to help, and reassure them that you can help solve the problem.

We are also pleased to announce that our new feed is now available in iTunes. Please click on the link below to update your subscription:
https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/business-english-pod-learn/id206603090

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BEP 22 – Telephoning: Handling Enquiries and Technical Problems

A new version of this lesson is available here: BEP 22c – Telephone English: Making Enquiries

In this Business English Podcast lesson we continue our series on making telephone calls in English by looking at how to deal with technical problems and clarify information using alternative choice questions. This questioning technique is useful when you need to clarify important information or reach a decision.

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