Business English para Dummies Read Free Page A

acquire
    to not be trustworthy: to not be reliable, dependable, or honourable
    interposed questions: placed-between, interjected, or inserted queries
    to steer: to navigate, to guide, to direct
    to suffice: to meet the requirements, to be sufficient, to satisfy the demands

    Take the “so what?” test
    While preparing for your next meeting with a customer, scrutinise your sales arguments by taking the “so what?” test. Examine if the customer may possibly reply “so what?” to one or the other benefit you are intending to quote . This answer would mean that the customer doesn’t attach any importance to the mentioned benefit. In this case you should withdraw the respective argument.
    Palabras para recordar
    so what: who cares, what difference does it make
    to quote: to refer to, to mention, to name, to cite, to make reference to
    to withdraw: to remove, to eliminate, to do away with, to get rid of
    Pay attention to body language
    Salespeople, who not only listen to their customers attentively but also observe them closely, can tell quite accurately whether they are currently in a positive or negative mindset.
    Sales representatives are used to conducting many more conversations with their customers face-to-face than on the phone. This works to their advantage: “Only when you are face-to-face with a customer, you can interpret words correctly,” explains Xenia Busam, trainer at the CoachAcademy in Stuttgart. “Only in combination with body language can you make sure that you clearly understood your counterpart .”
    Since most human beings have a natural intuition for body language, we can interpret it correctly in most cases without thinking about it too much. “It is difficult, however, when someone is not speaking and we can only observe them and try to guess, according to their body language, what they are thinking at the moment,” says Xenia Busam.
    Typical behavioural patterns
    This happens to be the case during major presentations, at which a sales representative talks at length to an audience. “When someone leans back in an overly relaxed manner, this indicates that their mind is elsewhere,” Xenia Busam explains. On the other hand, taking notes, eye contact with the presenter and a slightly bent-forward upper body all suggest acute awareness . If a listener’s facial features harden around the mouth and he squints , this points toward disapproval or annoyance . “The mouth and eyes are a giveaway ,” the trainer explains. “Also, if someone avoids eye contact and looks to the side, this is usually a sign of disagreement.”
    Question your assumption
    The most effective way to confirm your assumption during a presentation is to address the listeners directly. “ Judging by your look , you doubt my reasoning ?” is a possible approach to coax someone out of their shell. “Either he will react surprised – which disproves your hypothesis – or your impression will be confirmed,” says Xenia Busam.
    It is also tough to be sitting across from someone with a “poker face.” “People like that aren’t playing games,” Xenia Busam accentuates. “But they have mastered the art of reducing their body language to a bare minimum .” That is why they appear aloof and one is at a loss trying to figure out what exactly they are thinking, regardless which expression they put forward.
    The best method to assess the attitude of such a listener is to prompt them to a ovement or reaction, as Xenia Busam recommends: “You can, for instance, hand them a brochure or a sample.”
    A subtle distinction
    Skilled buyers and negotiating partners largely have their body language under control. Yet there is a method to discern consciously adopted body language from natural body language. “Natural body language always sets in for just a moment, right before one starts to speak,” explains Xenia Busam. “Consciously used body language, however, happens simultaneously to speaking.”
    Sweat the small stuff
    If a